Women are poised to take control of an unprecedented share of wealth, setting the stage for a seismic shift in financial decision-making. By 2030, they are expected to manage $30 trillion in assets, according to a report from McKinsey & Co.
This growing financial influence is already evident in households, where more than two in three women take the lead on investment decisions, according to the CFP Board.
Yet despite their increasing control of capital, the broader investment landscape remains overwhelmingly male-dominated. In 2023, women-led startups received less than 3% of venture capital funding, Forbes reported — a stark reminder of the barriers that persist.
But some in the family office space are working to change that by empowering female entrepreneurs and bringing women to the forefront of conversations about generational wealth. Crain Currency asked two women leading family offices how they support women-owned businesses.
Rose Vitale, managing partner of the DRA Family Office
Rose Vitale was just 6 years old when she first asked her parents about entrepreneurship. Years later, she became the first in her family to strike out on her own and build a business.
“It was one of the most difficult things of my life to do when I had essentially no experience, not really any money and no mentors or help,” she said.
Through her years as a serial entrepreneur, Vitale developed a passion for helping female founders. Today, she is managing partner of the DRA Family Office, a San Diego-based private investment firm backed by a single-family office. DRA, founded in 2019, launched a $10 million fund in 2022 to give women business owners access to capital.
In May 2024, Vitale launched the Female Founders Institute, a nonprofit providing resources to female entrepreneurs.
“As I was getting into the space of allocating capital, I saw that there was a huge need for it,” she said. “It led me down a path of what’s really missing in the space. It’s not just capital allocation. Women need the support. They need to be surrounded by the right people, the right teams.”
Vitale also hosts the Female Investor Podcast.
“I decided that I wanted to go out there and listen to the stories of other women entrepreneurs. I wanted to hear what their struggles were,” she explained. “I think oftentimes, as women, we feel like we’re on this island by ourselves, especially in the entrepreneurial space.”
Through her podcast and social media presence, Vitale has built strong relationships with other entrepreneurial women.
One of the companies the DRA Family Office has supported is Vertical Harvest, a vertical, hydroponic agriculture company co-founded and led by CEO Nona Yehia. DRA provided funding for the company’s farm in Maine.
Vitale plans to continue her mission of supporting female entrepreneurs. The Female Founders Institute is working to launch innovation hubs in cities, with the first targeted for late this year.
“I’m going to be putting the first one in Michigan to pay homage to where I’m from,” she said. “And so, we’re going to strategically launch these throughout the U.S. in cities where we see opportunities for women to really create innovation in their particular regions.”
Sharon Olson, founder and president of Olson Wealth Group, Inspired Life Family Office
Sharon Olson grew up on a farm in southeastern Minnesota, where she had a paper route at age 7 and sold eggs to help fund her college education. After graduating, she started building a client base as an independent adviser at a financial planning and wealth management firm.
“It was thrilling to connect with business owners and entrepreneurs, especially women, and help them structure their futures strategically,” Olson said.
Olson Wealth Group’s Inspired Life Family Office, a multifamily office based in Bloomington, Minnesota, was founded in 1994, with the family office established in 2020.
In 2022, she wrote an article for Forbes highlighting the lack of family office services tailored to women. What has changed since then?
Olson pointed to the major transfer of wealth expected to put trillions more in the hands of women in the coming years.
“This seismic shift is driving a transformation in family offices, where women are stepping into leadership roles, redefining governance and integrating technology that aligns with modern values — transparency, impact and adaptability,” she said.
As a certified exit planning adviser (CEPA), Olson has worked with female business owners to navigate successful sales. She described working with a woman who owned a manufacturing firm structured as a C corporation and wanted to sell her business. Olson Wealth Group guided the woman through the process, from evaluating offers to leveraging tax planning strategies.
“By addressing every aspect of her transition, we empowered her to achieve not just a successful sale but a financially secure future,” Olson said.
Today, there are over 8,000 family offices worldwide, and that number is expected to surpass 10,000 by 2030, according to Deloitte. The firm also found that women are more likely than men to partner with a family office for wealth management. As more wealth shifts into the hands of women, family offices will have increasing opportunities to collaborate with them on both wealth management and entrepreneurial ventures.
At the Inspired Life Family Office, the team takes a multigenerational approach, inviting family members as young as 11 years old to participate in meetings.
“I think by encouraging younger generations to attend these meetings, especially young girls, it’ll be just a natural flow into the leadership of family offices,” Olson said.
“Legacy family offices are at a crossroads. Will they continue old patterns, or will they recognize that diverse leadership — especially more women — creates more resilient legacies?”
Author – Carrie Pallardy