Carmen Bianchi

Carmen Bianchi has been a Family Business Consultant since 1991. She is the founder and director of the EMC Business Forum at San Diego State University, servicing the growth needs of family and closely held businesses. She was the founder of the University of Texas at El Paso Family Business Forum and was the executive director of the Forum. Ms. Bianchi has relocated to the San Diego area and is the founder and a principal of Carmen Bianchi & Associates, a consulting firm in Family Business. She currently teaches a class on Family Business Management in the College of Business at SDSU in the MBA program.

As a family business consultant, Ms. Bianchi has served as a facilitator for family business retreats and conflict resolution as well as an advisor on a variety of strategic business issues. Ms. Bianchi is an expert in family systems and the relationship between family, business ownership and the professional roles within a family firm.

Ms. Bianchi received national recognition and was elected to be the President 2007-2009 of the Family Firm Institute, the premier organization in the U.S. for professionals specializing in family business and wealth management. She was awarded fellowship status by The Family Firm Institute in recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of family business advising.

Ms. Bianchi has been invited by numerous national and international organizations to speak on family business issues. She has traveled and continues to travel all over the world including countries such as Lebanon, China, India, Finland, Chile as well as parts of South Africa and Europe speaking about family business practices and dynamics.

She presented a two day seminar on family business issues and case studies at the American University of Beirut in May 2006 and in October 2006 she presented a two day seminar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2008, she presented at the University of Hyderabad and at the GRG School of Management Studies in Coimbatore, India. Carmen was invited to South Africa to speak to family businesses involved in agriculture and worked with numerous South African families on spouse and family issues.

At the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference in February 2000, Carmen Bianchi & Associates was awarded the "Best Workshop Award in Family Business".

Ms. Bianchi was born in South Africa where she was brought up in her family's businesses, Bianchi Hotels, Inc. and Bianchi Investment Corp. She was a financial comptroller of South African Breweries Hotel Division. She speaks six languages, having completed her high school in Florence, Italy and attending the Sorbonne University in Paris. She received both her Bachelor's and Master's from the University of Texas, El Paso.

When not consulting to family businesses, Carmen can be found playing tennis or bridge, jogging, bicycling, skiing, running the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, and visiting art galleries and theatre.