William J. Spencer
Founder and Principal
Spencer Legacy Group
Managing Director
Pangaea Group, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
William Spencer serves as Principal in the Spencer Legacy Group. He is an expert in conflict resolution, managing change and collaborative action. For over three decades his professional leadership has demonstrated the power of collaborative action and transformed the way people, families, businesses, social systems and nations work together to achieve common goals.
Will has worked as a facilitator and advisor to several of America’s wealthiest families and family owned businesses. In this capacity his work has included assessing family dynamics and serving as a mediator in family disputes. In several cases he has led family retreats involving up to 54 cousins of high net worth families in order to define and resolve disagreements that impact on business operations and family decision-making. For more than a decade he co-directed the Maui Transitions Center that served more than 40 CEO’s and executives, among others, as they faced life decisions and issues of personal transition.
Will was formerly the Director of the Federal Commission and Executive Director of the National Peace Academy Campaign that lead to the creation of the United States Institute of Peace. He was instrumental in the founding of the International Negotiation Network at the Carter Center of Emory University and has acted as a mediator in four civil wars.
As a business consultant, he advises Fortune Fifty companies in strategic planning, conflict resolution, corporate visioning, organizational development and conference facilitation. Will has worked with CEO’s, family businesses and major corporations creating value for client organizations by facilitating team dynamics, focusing and resolving personal and organizational conflicts and leading problem solving efforts in the workforce. He has served the largest global professional service firms and their work across many industries, including tax, legal, financial and strategy consulting and technology. For a decade he was a Managing Partner of Interaction Associates, Inc. in Cambridge, MA and San Francisco, CA.
Will graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a double major in Biology and American Studies. He was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, with an emphasis in arms control and area studies. He maintains a lifetime interest in sociobiology scholarship and inquiry. He authored Political Will, to be published in Fall 2018.
He founded the Pangaea Group in 1990 to provide expert assistance to help businesses and society better manage cooperation, conflict and change. SLG is a registered trade name of the Pangaea Group, Inc. He and his spouse, Dayle Spencer, live in Jasper, GA.