Erika Madari Matwij – MKRF2026 speaker
Erika Madari Matwij
Founder of the Institute of Family Business and Human Inside, expert in family business and succession
The Perspective of the Congress Founder
Erika founded the International Congress of Family Businesses to create something that was missing in Slovakia — a space where entrepreneurial families meet not only as business owners, but as families facing the same questions. Questions for which there is often no time in the business environment and, in family life, often not enough courage to openly address.
The congress is a response to what Erika sees in her everyday work with entrepreneurial families: that the most difficult decisions are not made in boardrooms, but around the family table — and that there is no universal guide for them, only the experience of those who have gone through them before you.
Keynote
What If There Is No One to Pass the Business On To?
How to think about the future of a family business without a successor? Erika and Giorgio Colutta will open a topic many families avoid facing — how to think about the future of a business when there is no successor. They will show why generational succession is not the only path forward and how a business can continue serving the family even without the next generation taking over. They will share experiences and decisions that need to be made early — before time makes them for you.
About the Speaker
Erika Madari Matwij is the founder of the Institute of Family Business (IRB) and Human Inside. With over 14 years of experience, she helps family businesses successfully navigate generational transitions and ensures a smooth and effective succession process.
She supports entrepreneurial families in aligning their family values with professional business management to achieve sustainable growth and multi-generational continuity.
In her work, Erika designs and implements comprehensive succession strategies, including the creation of family constitutions, facilitation of family councils, and setting up mutual agreements among family members.
As the only Slovak member of the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (IFERA), she brings an international perspective and deep expertise to the long-term success and stability of family businesses. She is also a member of the Family Business Center.
Through IRB, she and her team organize the International Family Business Congress and the Successors Academy, both designed to support founders in handing over the business and successors in taking the lead.