Rising Gen: Stride’s Next-Generation Peer Group

Rising Gen is the Stride Family Business Alliance peer group for next-generation family members who work in their family business and are on the path toward ownership and leadership. It exists to give rising leaders two things they rarely get: an inside look at how other family businesses in the Capital Region actually run, and confidential time with peers to talk about what is top of mind — working across generations, carrying a legacy forward, and pushing the business ahead.

Who Rising Gen is for

Rising Gen is for second-, third-, and fourth-generation family members currently working in the family enterprise, whether they lead a division today or are still finding their footing. Meetings are exclusively for next-generation members; the senior generation has its own group, the Steward Generation Peer Group.

How a Rising Gen meeting works

Each gathering is hosted by a member family at their own business. The evening opens with a tour and the host family’s history — how the company grew, diversified, and handed off leadership — followed by a facilitated peer conversation on generational working styles, legacy, and progress, led by Stride founder Jason Packer. What is said in the room stays in the room.

Title card of the Stride Rising Gen event video: Hoffman Family Tour, September 17, 2026, with Patrick Hoffman and Tom Hoffman, Jr.
The Rising Gen tour of the Hoffman family enterprise, September 17, 2026 — watch the recap.

Recent gatherings

  • Hoffman Family Tour & Next-Gen Meeting — September 17, 2026, at Hoffman Development Corporation in Albany. Tom Hoffman, Jr. and Patrick Hoffman opened the doors of the company behind Hoffman Car Wash — 61 years in business and still family owned — for a tour from the car wash headquarters to the manufacturing floor at InnovateIT. Read the recap and watch the video.
  • Next Gen Leaders Gathering — March 5, 2026, at Nine Pin Cider Works in Albany.

Who leads it

Rising Gen is co-chaired by two next-generation leaders living the journey in their own family enterprises: Christopher Walrath (G2), Vice President of Growth at Walrath Recruiting and a 2025 Albany Business Review 40 Under 40 honoree, and Rosie DeFilippo (G3), Executive Manager at Albany Management, Inc. Sessions are facilitated by Jason Packer, Founder and CEO of Stride and a fourth-generation family business leader himself.

What members take away

  • Practical tools for working across generations — with a parent, an uncle, a founder — without the friction.
  • A real-world look at how multigenerational Capital Region businesses grew, diversified, and handed off leadership.
  • A confidential circle of peers who are facing the same decisions at the same stage.

How to join Rising Gen

Rising Gen is open to next-generation members of Stride member families. Both Stride memberships include two member slots, so a next-generation leader can join alongside a parent or a senior owner — see Membership. To be included in the next gathering, email Jason Packer at jpacker@stridefba.com or call 518-441-8406, and watch the Events page.