About

Who We Are

Danielle Walsh, CPA

Danielle Walsh

Danielle is the founder and President of Walsh Family Business Advisory Services, a consulting firm that specializes in assisting family owned and operated businesses navigate the rough waters of management and ownership succession.

Danielle is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Chartered Accountant (CA) and a member of the Family Firm Institute (FFI), an international association of family business professionals providing in depth information on family businesses from around the world as well as ongoing education and training in the field of family business consulting. Danielle has obtained the FFI Certificate in Family Business Advising and the FFI Certificate in Family Wealth Advising. In addition, she is an accredited trainer in association with the Personality Insights Institute (personality assessments and analysis), which can help members of family businesses develop methods to improve communication  in a business setting while maintaining family harmony. She is currently the president of the Family Enterprise Xchange Ottawa Chapter, formerly know as the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise. She is also teaching the only family business course (Managing the Family Enterprise) offered at the undergraduate level in Ottawa at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University.

She developed her philosophy and desire to help family businesses based on the workings of her father, Grant Walsh, the Chair of her company’s Board of Advisors whom has over 20 years of experience as the former Director and Founder of the KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business (Canada).

It is Ms. Walsh’s  personal  goal to carry forth her father’s mission, which continues to be the desire to significantly alter or better yet to reverse  the negative family business succession statistics that continue to plague family business owners.

 “While the majority of family business owners would like to see their business transferred to the next generation, it is estimated that 70% will not survive into the second generation and 90% will not make it to the 3rd generation.” (Family Firm Institute, www.ffi.org, 2011).

Given the body of knowledge that now exists in the field of family business, there is no reason why the majority of family business owners who choose to transition their family business to the next generation should not do so successfully.

Danielle has been called upon to give presentations on the business of family business with a focus on succession planning to local, national, and international associations. She has also expanded her university family business course to universities in other countries.

Grant Walsh, Senior Consultant

Grant Walsh

Grant is the former Director and founder of the KPMG Enterprise: Centre for Family Business in Ottawa, Canada and for the past twenty years, his professional services have been dedicated solely to assisting family businesses in working through their management and ownership issues with a focus on the transition/succession process.

Grant is a senior consultant for Walsh Family Business Advisory Services. He is working alongside his daughter to offer family business succession planning services to companies in Canada, the United States and abroad.

Mr. Walsh is an active member of the Family Enterprise Xchange (formerly the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise) and serves on both the National Board and the Board of the Ottawa chapter. He frequently writes articles on family business and has authored several publications; one on behalf of Agriculture Canada entitled “Managing the Multi-Generational Family Farm” with his most recent publication entitled “Family Business Succession: Managing the All Important Family Component”.

Grant  is often called upon to make presentations locally, nationally and internationally as well as providing advice to local business groups and the local media on family business issues.

Grant is also a long-standing member of FFI (Family Firm Institute). Mr. Walsh’s career background includes; corporate finance, sales and marketing within a large multinational pharmaceutical company;  public administration in a large teaching hospital;  owner/manager of a local residential construction firm and associate professor of graduate studies (Finance and Strategic Planning) at the University of Ottawa.