Who We Are
We are a family helping families.
We help our clients to navigate their financial as well as emotional inheritances.
Partners in both business and in life, our experience includes a combined forty years in human health, psychology and finance as well as leadership positions on the boards of our own family office and foundation.
We work with individuals, couples, families, and family offices, and we speak to groups of all sizes about the complex dynamics of wealth in the context of well-being.
We live with our two teenage daughters and dogs in Mill Valley, California.
Marlis Jansen, MA, LMFT
Co-Founder and CEO
Marlis is a licensed psychotherapist (CA LMFT118093) and certified coach who is trained in wealth psychology. In addition, she is a sixth-generation member of a family of stewardship. This combination of professional training with lived experience gives her a unique perspective on the nuances and complexities of owning financial wealth.
Prior to founding Graddha, Marlis worked in healthcare information technology. As a product developer, she designed call center based services to assist patients in making health care decisions. Marlis also served as Director of Business Development and Director of Product Development in a couple of health care startups. Later, her experience as a mom inspired her to contemplate how we ascribe value to people and work.
Marlis holds a Bachelors degree in Anthropology from Harvard University, a Masters degree in Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Psychology and Behavioral Finance from Creighton University Heider College of Business. She received her certification in integral coaching from New Ventures West.
She is an active member of the Purposeful Planning Institute, Family Firm Institute, The Heritage Institute and serves on the faculty of The Ultra High Net Worth Institute. She also serves on the board of the Stone Age Institute and, since 2009, has served as Vice President of The Springcreek Foundation, her family’s private philanthropic foundation.
Marlis is proficient in French, Spanish and Norwegian. She loves to enjoy home cooked family dinners, hike Mt. Tam with her family and dogs, travel in unfamiliar countries and cultures, and compel family members to join her in a raucous board game as often as she possibly can.
Kjartan brings to Graddha a combination of financial acumen, facilitation training and relevant personal experience. With over two decades in finance, he is committed to normalizing it for clients so they can better navigate the complex landscape of wealth. This involves helping clients define their values, and then creating deep alignment with their financial lives and relationships.
Kjartan’s work is informed by multiple roles in several industries. He began his career in technology consulting. He subsequently held roles in investment banking (equity research), venture capital (clean technology), and as a start up CFO.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Bergen in Norway, which included a year studying in Germany as a Ruhrgas scholar. He also holds a Masters degree in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan. Additionally, he is a CFA® charterholder.
In addition to serving on the board of the family office Springcreek Advisors since 2008, he is an active member of the Purposeful Planning Institute, the Family Firm Institute, and The Heritage Institute. He serves on the board of the Ree and Jun Kaneko Foundation, and recently deepened his knowledge of trust administration (Cannon Financials Trust Fundamentals) and family enterprise (Family Firm Institutes Certificate in Family Business Advising).
Kjartan speaks five languages. When not working with clients, he can be found pursuing adventure on his skis, bike, or surfboard. He likes to travel with his family to his native Norway and anywhere else he can manage to explore and experience the world with them. Kjartan served in the Norwegian Army and is a serious meditator.
Kjartan Jansen, MA, CFA
Co-Founder and CFO
Gabby works with Graddha as a Client Engagement Manager and brings with her 15 years of experience working at the intersection of finance, technology, and families. She has a passion for helping families build and maintain healthy relationships through purposeful planning and open communication.
She has held leadership roles at some of the largest and fastest-growing corporations including Google, eBay, and Ethos, a venture-backed company that helps families with estate planning at scale. Prior to her technology career, she worked in financial services at Barclays Capital with clients across the United States and Europe.
Gabby received her BA from Princeton University in Economics (where she received the Schultz Thesis Award), an MBA from Wharton (where she was a Mayer Fellow), and is currently obtaining her Masters in Family Therapy. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.
Gabrielle Sills, MBA, LMFT-in-training
Client Engagement Manager
