Purpose is our why.
Being in alignment with our purpose makes living our best life possible.
AS GUIDES AND NAVIGATORS, WE TAKE OUR CLIENTS ON A JOURNEY TO A LIFE ALIGNED WITH PURPOSE, VALUES, AND MEANING.
Values are our North Stars.
They are expressed through our careers, families, and contributions to the world.
Meaning moulds our legacy.
Looking back on a meaningful life is the quintessence of success.
AT PVM STUDIO, WE LOVE WORKING WITH PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS WHO ASPIRE TO LIVE PROFOUNDLY IN SYNC WITH THEIR VALUES AND WANT TO CHANNEL THEIR TIME, TALENT AND TREASURE IN SERVICE OF DEEPER PURPOSE AND MEANING
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Our Clients
FAMILIES
Coming Together with Purpose
Legacy-building requires effort. Research shows that family values are as important to emerging generation members as they are to the founding generation. P|V|M Studio helps contextualize those values, find alignment, and plan a path forward that inspires everyone.
INDIVIDUALS
Wisdom in action
Seeking meaning in life can sometimes feel like an elusive ideal. P|V|M Studio empowers individuals to craft a life of purpose and meaning, turning moments of joy, transition, or deep introspection into fulfilling paths forward.
FAMILY BUSINESSES
Meaningful Enterprises
The benefits of social engagement to businesses are manifold. From brand and reputation-building to deepening employee pride. P|V|M Studio has expertise to help develop and activate powerful solutions for a wide array of stakeholders.
FOUNDATIONS
A Culture of Success
Foundations exist to make a difference. P|V|M Studio is a trusted partner to help establish (or revisit) focus areas, theories of change or impact measures and improve governance structures and professional development strategies for long-lasting impact.
Our Team
We are bold, connected, and empathic professionals dedicated to outstanding service and passionate about creating a better world. We are speakers, researchers, writers, strategists, and coaches. We work in the halls of privilege and the unpaved roads of the last mile. We actively support the efforts of athletes, celebrities, and the wealthiest families in the world. Our work has taken us to Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. We bridge networks and craft strategies to strengthen bonds, help create remarkable legacies, and bring greater purpose and meaning to our clients’ lives.
ANITA NOWAK
Anita is an empathy expert and award-winning educator dedicated to next-gen leadership. She is also a certified coach who works with intergenerational families to achieve social impact through philanthropy and the author of Purposeful Empathy (forthcoming). After nearly a decade as a professional fundraiser, Anita re-oriented her career to higher education, holding a variety of leadership roles focused on social impact at McGill University. She was founding Director of the Social Economy Initiative, and more recently, responsible for a prestigious undergraduate Fellowship program to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Anita teaches Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation for the Desautels Faculty of Management, and was awarded Professor of the Year in 2014 and 2019. Anita is a two-time TEDx speaker (85K+ views), who has also given exclusive talks about empathy to C-suite executives. She facilitates small workshops with ease, moderates panel discussions with enthusiasm, and delivers powerful keynote addresses to 1000+ audiences. She is also an experienced media commentator. Throughout her life, Anita has been a highly engaged volunteer with a variety of non-profit organizations, including the Climate Reality Project and Room to Read. She is currently an advisor to the Canadian Business Youth Council for Sustainable Development. She is a two-time McGill alumna (Bachelor of Commerce and PhD in Education). She also holds a Master in Media and Communications from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She is a Fellow with the International Women’s Forum, a Reiki practitioner and is committed to work that advances sustainability and social justice.
CAREN CROLAND YANIS
Caren advises celebrities, athletes, businesses, families, and start-ups. She has a track record of building organizational capacity in non-profits, advising family offices, and delivering keynotes about impact investing at wealth management and estate planning conferences. As Executive Director, she built Oprah Winfrey’s philanthropies at the height of The Oprah Winfrey Show and served as President of Crown Family Philanthropies in Chicago. She is an Adjunct Professor at Tulane University, teaching Foundations of Strategic Philanthropy, and lectures at Johns Hopkins in their Sports and Entertainment Impact Certificate program. She speaks regularly at the University of Chicago Booth School and Northwestern Law and has guest lectured at NYU Wagner and Duke. Caren has worked in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and on “cross-boundary” programs in the Middle East. She was a member of UNICEF’s Orphan’s and Vulnerable Children Task Force and informally consulted with Richard Branson’s team on the Elders Project and the Entertainment Industry Foundation on program evaluation. She is Acting Chair of The Poetry Foundation (which received a $200 million bequest from Ruth Lilly), a member of the Board of Visitors at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, an Advisor at the Women in Philanthropy Institute (WPI), and an Advisor to the Pardee RAND Graduate School of Public Policy at the RAND Corporation. She holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College and has a certificate in Strategic Leadership for Nonprofit Organizations from Stanford. In her spare time, Caren hosts salons that bring bold thinkers together for meaningful conversations. She is passionate about guiding people to make the world a better place.
Scholars in Residence
Michael is a grantmaking expert with two decades of philanthropic coaching and strategic advising experience, working with foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and families on strategies and techniques to achieve maximum impact with their philanthropic donations.
Having overseen over $175 million of philanthropic giving for projects in more than a dozen countries, Michael has significant experience with grants to educational, cultural, religious, social, medical, and scientific research organizations. He has served the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, held a senior position at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, advised the Rockefeller Archive Center, and co-founded a philanthropic advising firm.
Michael is a member of McGill University’s Advisory Board for the UK and Europe, serves as a subject matter expert for the Engaged Philanthropy course of Business Families Foundation, and is a trustee of two foundations. He volunteers his time with the Geneva-based Fondation pour les Enfants Extraordinaires, advises the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and co-founded an international, peer-to-peer philanthropy network for single family offices. Prior to entering the world of philanthropy, Michael was Executive Director of a Geneva-based NGO monitoring the UN.
Michael holds two law degrees and a Bachelor and a Master of Arts in Political Science from McGill University.
Michael enjoys practicing yoga, reading about current events, and is completing his certification as an executive coach.