Is “next-gen” becoming a buzz word in conversations about wealth? While engaging next generation is necessary for families of wealth to thrive, what does that really mean and how do we optimize it? Might next-gen reflect, more than age, a state of mind? Perhaps more than anything, might it reflect openness to next-gen ideas? Next-gen are the stewards of our future. We must, with great humbleness, inspire them to help us find answers to existential global crises that confront us all.

Genomics technologies offer unprecedented potential to protect our families from disease and to enhance well-being. Thought leaders must connect in ongoing dialogue with the public to address ethical, moral, privacy, societal, legal and behavioral consequences of genomics applications. Scientists require our assistance. Unprecedented challenge requires unique partnership.

To the Editor of The New York Times:
The extraordinary Robin Williams has given us yet another extraordinary gift: an urgent invitation to discuss one of the most challenging medical and ethical issues of our time. What do we do with knowledge of our futures, especially when clouded by the likely emergence of dreaded medical disorders?

To the Editor of The New York Times:
Empathy must transcend economic class. The wealthy must not be maligned or objectified, or we further isolate and alienate them. Their active involvement is critical to resolving the most pressing economic, social and political issues of our time.

To the Editor of The New York Times:
It is not an easy time to be wealthy. On some level, a laughable problem. But in this era when everyone from the pope, to our president, to Nobel Prize-winning economists deem income inequality to be among the most pressing and potentially divisive issues of our era, all sorts of ugly sentiments about the wealthy have risen to the surface.