Leonora Zilkha Williamson is an award-winning executive coach, facilitator, and speaker as well as a professor at Vanderbilt University, where she teaches negotiation, corporate social responsibility, and family enterprise. In 2019, she founded Platinum Rule Advisors, a consulting firm devoted to coaching, facilitation, training, workshops, and retreats for families, family businesses, and family offices. As a college professor and family coach, she particularly loves working with NextGens and with senior family members on defining their legacy.

Her career includes roles at Brown Brothers Harriman, J.P. Morgan, the Boston Consulting Group, and Estée Lauder, which is publicly traded and family controlled. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School, she is also a certified coach through the International Coach Federation and a member of the Harvard-affiliated Institute of Coaching; the Forbes Coaches Council; and 100 Coaches Agency, in partnership with Marshall Goldsmith. She was named the #1 Executive Coach in Nashville in 2021 and 2022 by Influence Digest and was a 2022 Nashville Business Journal Women of Influence winner. A devoted meditator, Williamson is certified in mindfulness meditation teaching and uses mindfulness regularly with her clients, along with the Enneagram. She is also a regular speaker on family legacy, family enterprise governance, and negotiation.

Williamson’s interest in family enterprise is deeply personal. Her maternal grandfather was a trust and estates lawyer, and her father’s family has owned various business for over a century. Today, her family is the majority owner of Maine-based boat companies Sabre Yachts and Back Cove Yachts, and Williamson serves on the boards. Family enterprise has been the backdrop for much of her professional experience, especially at Brown Brothers and Estée Lauder. When she transitioned from corporate work and investing to coaching nearly a decade ago, her calling to work with families was clear.

Williamson has lived in eight countries, speaks five languages, and carries two passports. She was a founding partner of women’s angel investment group The JumpFund. She has served on dozens of boards, both nonprofit and for profit. She lives between Nashville, Tennessee and Maine with her two children and a golden retriever named Sally.