Amy V. Borgmann is working to demystify the Zell Family Office for a new generation — while preparing the three-generation, 20-member family and the office for the future.
Since joining the office three years ago — just ahead of its formal launch in early 2023 — Borgmann has been instrumental in evolving it from a founder-centric operation into a forward-looking office for long-term family continuity. She was brought in specifically to work with the descendants of Sam Zell and quickly established herself as a strategic partner and guide during the transition. The largest group of the family currently is the third generation, who are in their early 20s to mid 30s.
Borgmann is a part of a team of learning and engagement professionals dedicated to fostering relationships with the family.
“I see myself as a connector for the family in terms of their relationships with the office,” says Borgmann, senior director of family engagement and learning for the Zell Family Office. “Anything that touches the family; our team is the focal point. We work directly with the family members to help them identify the right resource and guide them through the process, all while increasing their knowledge.”
Bringing the family office to the next generation
When Borgmann joined the family office, one of her first tasks was to engage family members who had not traditionally considered the family office “theirs.”
“I work to demystify the family office, especially for the generation in their early 20s,” Borgmann says. She started by working to get to know all the family members by embarking on a listening tour: learning about them as people and about their goals, and providing information to deepen their understanding of the office and the resources available to them.
“It can be as simple as renting an apartment. I sit with them and help them understand what they need to think about beyond what is in front of them,” Borgmann says. “A lot of them can do these things on their own — but my job is to develop their thinking into ‘what else?’ What asset disclosure should they provide? What kind of insurance do they need? And how should they compare different options?”
A big part of her job is cultivating learning journeys for the family. Borgmann recently created a family working group with the youngest generation of the family. The purpose of the group is to promote family connectivity and engagement while strengthening their knowledge as it relates to the family system and helping to define their family’s future objectives. The current focus is on governance, with a goal of nominating a future board member for their family company. Borgmann is facilitating this effort through skill-building and hands-on learning.
In addition, Borgmann is incorporating aspects of learning at the annual family meeting. The office selects a theme for the annual family meeting and the team designs experiences, including inviting thought leaders and creating customized games to enhance the knowledge of family members.
“I spend a lot of time figuring out what they want to learn and how best to deliver knowledge in an engaging and digestible manner,” Borgmann says.
She has also put a lot of effort into family communication, including partnering on the creation of a family portal. The family portal provides family members with news and educational information that relates to them as individuals, as a family and their family enterprise. Using a variety of formats and topics has been key.
“We are fortunate to have a family of lifelong learners with different learning styles, and this has allowed us to be innovative with the delivery of our content,” Borgmann says.
Borgmann has worked with a family member to make Zell-Toks: light, short videos that explain topics including basic financial literacy, such as what an estate plan is. The Zell-Toks are short: three minutes or less.
“We recognize that some of our family members might only have three minutes – and you can say a lot in three minutes,” Borgmann says.
The office has also created learning modules and a series of knowledge bursts with topics ranging from improving well-being to financial literacy.
“We have individuals in the family that work in the office, and we have people who are out there living life in a very different fashion. You have to be able to speak to all of them,” Borgmann says. “I think sometimes in this industry, we take for granted what it’s like to be a young 20-year-old and not understand the complexity of certain financial terms or concepts. For example, ‘You say estate planning, but why should I do it? I don’t want to think about death.’”
Borgmann also introduced an educational program called Zell-Being targeting all aspects of well-being.
“We spend a lot of time focusing on the well-being of the family and we incorporate that into the office, because the well-being of our employees is important too,” Borgmann says.
Zell-Being — a speaker series for both the family and employees of the family office, direct investment business and shared services — looks at different types of capital that are important beyond financial capital: their human capital, their legacy, their social interaction. Topics have included organizational leadership, relationships in the workplace and compassion.
“They’re not in one bucket, but we find really interesting people who provide a different sense of well-being and human capital, and we explore what they can offer,” Borgmann says. The team also incorporates other engagement activities, such as a day of service and mental health awareness events.
Looking to the future
Several of Borgmann’s future projects also center on family education.
“We are collaborating with two other family offices to strategize on the learning curriculum and create content that could work for all of us,” Borgmann says. “We’re looking to take everyday concepts for this demographic and make something not bespoke in terms of the individual, but for that demographic group, that could be universally used between our offices, and in a fun and engaging way.”
Borgmann envisions creating content in a variety of formats, including videos, workbooks or games.
“You want people to engage with whatever you’re doing, and we have to remember that everyone has really busy lives,” Borgmann says. “It has to be a little bit fun to bring them in.”
She hopes to create a library of these resources that is available via the family portal.
“That’s not to eliminate the conversation with our office,” Borgmann says. Rather, the goal is to give them on-demand information that may spur further questions they can bring to her. “People are different, and they need to be talked to in different ways.”
Part of the focus on the future is adapting to the use of AI and seeing how it can make her job more dynamic. Currently, Borgmann is using AI to find imagery and to make her writing more engaging.
The office uses its own internal instance of AI, so security is less of a concern than if she were using a public AI tool. And the content she creates for the family — such as basic information on what a trust is, or tips for having a healthy relationship with money — does not usually include sensitive information.
Still, she says, she enjoys putting together announcements of family news for the family newsletter and would not want to turn that over to AI.
“There’s a lot of creative thought that goes into some of these things, and I don’t want to lose that,” Borgmann says. “But it’s exciting to see where it will go. If it can make all of our jobs easier, that’s great.”