Josh Baron
Co-founder and Senior Advisor
Dr. Josh Baron is a Co-founder and Senior Advisor at BanyanGlobal. For the last decade, he has worked closely with families who own assets together, such as operating companies, family foundations, and family offices. He helps these families to define their purpose as owners and to establish the structures, strategies, and skills they need to accomplish their goals. Josh is a Senior Lecturer in Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a part of the Strategy Unit. In the MBA program, he teaches in the required core strategy course as well as an elective course called Ownership and Competitive Advantage. He also teaches in several executive education programs. He was formerly an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, where he taught MBA courses on Family Business Management and Managing Conflict in Family Business, and in the Enterprising Families Executive Education Program.
Josh has worked with clients in North America, South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. He began his career at Bain & Company, consulting to Fortune 500 companies. In 2000, he joined a small team of people to help build a new organization called The Bridgespan Group, which has become America’s leading consulting firm for foundations and non-profit organizations. He moved on to found his own firm advising family philanthropists before joining BanyanGlobal.
Josh publishes and speaks frequently on subjects concerning family enterprises. He has a particular interest in how ownership creates a competitive advantage, how families can escape major conflicts, and how philanthropy can help families achieve their broader goals. He has written more than 20 digital articles about family businesses for Harvard Business Review, and is co-author of their Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful Enduring Enterprise. Josh has also written for The Huffington Post, Trust & Estates Magazine, and Family Business Magazine, among others, and has been cited in The New York Times and Forbes. He is also the author of a book about international relations.
A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, Josh received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business and a BA in International Relations with Honors. He also holds a Masters with Distinction in International Relations from the University of Cambridge and a Masters and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.
When he is not working with clients, Josh and his wife most enjoy spending time with their twins, who in their endearing ways provide endless opportunities for developing fresh insights into family dynamics.
