News Release Details

Consultant is Latest Addition to Strengthen Marakon’s Focus on the Financial Services Sector

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2014-- Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing management, economic, and financial consulting services, today announced that Maria Teresa Blanco has joined Marakon, a management consulting practice at CRA. Ms. Blanco’s background includes 15 years of experience advising companies in the banking industry on strategic, regulatory, and risk issues. The arrival of Ms. Blanco, in addition to the recent arrivals of John Rolander and Srini Venkateswaran, support a vision of growing Marakon’s management consulting offering in core sectors, such as financial services.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Maria Teresa Blanco to CRA and Marakon,” said CRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Maleh. “Maria’s expertise in banking is a great addition, and she is the latest hire to support our vision of a comprehensive and expanded Financial Services offering at Marakon.”

Marakon Leader Mason Kissell added, “As banks get back to the business of growth, value disciplines are more relevant than ever. We are focused on building a Financial Services offering with leaders who collectively understand the diverse needs of the sector and are highly regarded for their insights. Maria Teresa Blanco brings a new dimension to our banking practice and we are excited to welcome her to the team.”

Ms. Blanco said, “The banking industry is at a critical juncture. Banks are facing pressing strategic issues, trying to fundamentally change their business models to adapt to greater regulation while seeking new ways to grow in a challenging environment. The timing is right to help expand Marakon’s Financial Services offering, and I’m excited to join this growing team and build a banking practice.”

Ms. Blanco has led numerous engagements across all aspects of the Investment Banking, Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking, Sales and Trading businesses, as well as Transaction Banking, Risk, and Regulation. Most recently, she was a Partner in the Corporate and Institutional Banking practice at Oliver Wyman. Prior to that, she was a Managing Director at Banc of America Securities and served in a variety of roles, such as Chief Operating Officer for Global Markets, Head of New Product Development, and banker responsible for insurers and re-insurers in debt capital markets. Previously, she was a member of the North American Wholesale and Investment Banking practice at McKinsey & Company.

Ms. Blanco has co-authored Dangerous Markets, a book on financial crises, with specific authorship of chapters on crises causes, banking in emerging markets, and technical appendices. She is on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic College Fund. Ms. Blanco has led multiple diversity efforts (e.g., served on Bank of America’s Diversity Council, founded the BAC’s Women’s Forum). She holds a Master of Business Administration from Yale University, where she specialized in Financial Theory, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Caracas, Venezuela).

About Marakon

Marakon specializes in strategy and helping CEOs and their leadership teams achieve winning performance and stronger organizations. Marakon has been working with business leaders for more than 30 years and has built a reputation for working with a client portfolio that has consistently outperformed its peers. Its consulting teams combine deep sector experience and functional knowledge. Marakon’s approach is underpinned by value creation as the common denominator for decision making, a rigorous process based on a deep set of facts, and the assessment of alternative strategies as a mechanism to build leadership team commitment to the best path forward. More information is available at http://www.marakon.com.

About Charles River Associates (CRA)

Charles River Associates® is a global consulting firm specializing in litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting, and management consulting. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout the world. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc., is available at http://www.crai.com.

Source: Charles River Associates

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