A chief learning officer, or CLO, is a relatively new C-level family office position responsible for a range of services devoted to the nonfinancial needs and capacities of the family. The role was first created in the corporate world in the early 1990s, elevating a variety of training and educational functions to a strategic level in dynamic organizations. The goal was to enhance and systematize learning for individuals, teams, and entire organizations, making continuous learning a systems-level priority.

In the early 2000s, family wealth thought leader James E. (Jay) Hughes, Jr., suggested the concept of a CLO for family enterprises and family offices, where it has gradually taken hold. The initial intent was to emphasize that families need to be “learning organizations” where each family member’s learning style, needs, and goals were fostered for the good of the entire system. The main focus was on the many areas of education needed for the family to “flourish,” e.g., education about finances, trusts, ownership roles and responsibilities, philanthropy, governance, and leadership. However, CLOs are generally responsible for whatever the family enterprise might need in order to support the family’s growth and well-being. 

In practice, the CLO role has typically expanded to encompass most of the domains related to the Cultivation of Family Capital cluster in the Ten Domains of Family Wealth model. These include governance, family dynamics, education, transition planning, and aspects of health and well-being. The role also inevitably encompasses training and consultation to the staff of the family office itself, helping elevate the knowledge and skills that advisors need to serve their client family members and principals.

The CLO role is in increasingly high demand. Depending on the breadth of the role, the number of family members to be served, and the skills of the professional, a CLO may have a full-time position in a family office or one professional may split  his or her time among several part-time CLO positions.  More family enterprises and family offices see its value, but there are still relatively few practitioners with the skills or experience to fulfill its wide-ranging duties.