Maria Mehranian
Maria Mehranian is the Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer for Cordoba Corporation, a full-service civil engineering, construction management, and program management firm specializing in transportation, education & facilities, and water & energy. Cordoba is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Oakland, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino, California.
As Managing Partner, Maria Mehranian plans, organizes, directs and reviews a wide variety of company programs and directives and has supervisory responsibility to develop sales and revenue goals, and monitor the company's profitability and cost control systems. She serves as Acting CEO in the absence of the President, and provides direct and indirect supervision to managerial, professional, technical staff. Maria Mehranian earned a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the American College in Tehran.
Prior to serving as the Managing Partner, Ms. Mehranian managed the company's very successful urban and Transportation Planning Division. During that time she expanded Cordoba's Infrastructure Development practices to international markets by taking on assignments in China and Mexico. She was able to assemble a team of architects, engineers, land economists, and planners to design a multi million dollar state-of-the art Produce Mart in Beijing, China. She was also responsible for completion of a project analyzing the impact of NAFTA on transportation trends between Mexico and US. Ms. Mehranian has managed a comprehensive, two phased construction training program for the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) to train multiple groups of the local workforce to assist in the construction of the new US Embassy Building in Yerevan, Armenia. This program served as an economic development measure which will provide hundreds of new employment opportunities.
Previously managing the company’s transportation planning sector, Maria now plays a key role in overseeing Cordoba’s water projects, including the development of renewable water resources strategies.
Maria has been serving on the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board since 2008, having been appointed by Governor Brown for two consecutive terms. She has chaired the Board in 2012 and 2013. In the past two years, she has participated in a number of water policy panels and served as guest lecturer at universities on water quality and supply issues.
She successfully led the Armenia Fund between 2004-2009 in raising millions of dollars in providing multi-level, large-scale humanitarian and infrastructure development assistance to the Republic of Armenia and Karabakh by uniting the resources of Armenians around the world.
For over 20 years, Maria has dedicated her career to building Cordoba into one of the top engineering consulting firms in the nation. For her efforts, Maria's rapid rise through Cordoba's executive ranks caught the attention of academic institutions and was included in a case study prepared by the Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University recording her career growth and the firm's success.
Throughout the years, Maria has been responsible for the firm's strategic financial planning, including capital financing, cash flow operations, profit/loss responsibilities, and project delivery. Maria's ongoing relationships with the California business community and financial institutions allow her to develop long and short-term growth plans. In addition, Maria led Cordoba into international markets by heading multi-million dollar planning projects.
Prior to serving as the C.F.O., Maria managed the company's very successful urban and transportation planning division. Her portfolio includes a number of landmark infrastructure projects that shaped California's current infrastructure. Maria’s studies were instrumental in developing Regulation IV, a city ordinance that regulated employees' solo driving patterns by promoting alternative commute modes.
As an urban planner Maria played a key role in developing a number of large scale infrastructure development plans including: the downtown strategic plan, a blueprint of development in downtown Los Angeles that planned for 100,000 housing units in the area. This plan was strategically used to preserve and protect the industrial zones while rezoning the underutilized space for office spaces.
Affiliations
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board
Board of Advisors at Woodbury University School of Business
Dean’s Leadership Board at Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering
Recognitions and Awards
• Ms. Mehranian received the prestigious Corporate Woman of the Year award in 2004 given by legislators of the 43rd and 44th Assembly and 21st Senate Districts of California. This award is given to an individual for demonstrating outstanding leadership and professional skills.
• Ms. Mehranian received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May 2008. This award is given to remarkable Americans who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage.