Family businesses are core players in addressing grand challenges worldwide. These firms are especially well-positioned to integrate social, business, and environmental goals into their operations. Having the connection between a family and a business promotes the concern for financial and non-financial goals, a long-term view, and doing good for the world.  Combined, these factors can drive positive change in the communities where family businesses exist.

However, having family leadership shape business decisions can also bring difficulties, given the paradoxes that emerge with the combination of family and business. These paradoxes include tradition versus change, family liquidity versus business growth, or founder control versus successor’s autonomy. These paradoxical attributes of family firms have sparked research to understand better how family firms manage these paradoxes and, more recently, when and how family businesses lead an impact on the world around them. With a commitment to preserving their nonfinancial preferences and socioemotional wealth, family firms are well-positioned to engage in social practices Field proactively. By embracing purpose-driven strategies and a “holistic conception of value”, through their leadership role, they can inspire others, contribute to sustainable development goals, and serve as role models for businesses seeking to make a meaningful difference.