Industry: Education
Stephen Blunck
Senior Consultant, Maven Associates

VP, Serent Capital
Associate, Advent International
Senior Associate Consultant, Bain & Company
MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
BS, Brigham Young University
Representative Projects
- Developed and implemented procurement and cost reduction initiatives for multi-billion-dollar public retailer
- Designed organizational growth strategy and decision-making framework for charter school network expanding across regions
- Led the merger of two human capital management enterprises to consolidate market share and drive growth synergies
- Created strategy to accelerate company growth for data center company
- Implemented value creation initiatives for at-risk healthcare entity, including leadership build-out, growth strategy, and new geography expansion
- Supported ed-tech company with merger integration, financial operations, capital structure, and tracking against key performance indicators
- Negotiated with lenders to obtain ~$600M in financing to facilitate company recapitalization
- Led due diligence workstreams for multiple potential private equity transactions, with combined enterprise value of ~$6B
Expertise
Industries
- Business Services
- Healthcare
- Financial Services
- Retail
- Education
- Technology & Software
- Human Capital Management
- Pharmaceuticals
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- M&A Strategy
- Finance
- Profit Improvement
- Organizational Design
- Due Diligence
Representative Clients
Companies
- JCPenney
- Uplift Education
- TalentWave
- Professional Health
- Care Network
- KEV School Solutions
- Data Center Co.
- ATI Physical Therapy
- InVentiv
PE Firms
- Serent Capital
- Advent International

- FounFounder, Practiko, LLC
- Managing Director, WM Partners
- Co-founder, PadInMotion
- Principal, Bain & Company
- MBA, Harvard Business School
- MSc, Economics, LSE
- BA, Economics, ITESM
Representative Projects
- Co-led the creation of a ~$300M fund focused on nutritional supplements. Sold to Clorox for ~$700M. Rolled up five nutritional supplement players, doubling revenue and increasing EBITDA 10x within three years.
- Created a customer focused growth strategy for a major pharma company focused on customer driven growth doubling stock value within 12 months
- Co-founder of PadInMotion, providing tablet technology for patients at hospitals, achieving exponential growth in first five years
- Developed detailed growth strategy (brand-pack) to reactivate growth for a beverage company in a mature market to reach >8% CAG
- Redesigned organization of major retailer in Mexico to double LATAM business in 5 years with lower costs
- Redesigned new commercial model to boost efficient growth for a major pharma company
- Developed multiple R&D and growth strategies for a variety of mid and large pharma customers across different therapeutic areas such as oral contraceptives, cardiovascular, and ophthalmology
- Conducted due diligence and created an expansion strategy for a network of radiotherapy centers
Expertise
Industries
- Chemicals
- Consumer Products
- Education
- Financial Services
- Health & Wellness
- Healthcare Services
- Industrials
- Pharmaceuticals
- Retail
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- M&A Strategy
- Post-merger Integration
- Organizational Design
- Marketing
- Profit Improvement
- Due Diligence
- Strategy Implementation
Representative Clients
Companies
- 3 of the top 5 pharma companies
- National chain of pharmacies
- Mid size pharma
- Network of radiotherapy centers
- Leading mass retailer
- Global beverage company
- Leading multinational food player
- Global beer company
- Leading international green house operator
PE Firms
- Top tier PE firms
- Mid size PE firm
- Founding member of WM Partners focused on health and wellness
- International producer of specialty chemicals

- Founder, CiTTA Partnership
- Associate Principal, Civic Consulting Alliance
- Senior Associate, McKinsey & Co.
- Manager, GE Healthcare
- Senior Scientist, GE Healthcare
- Research Assistant Professor, NYU School of Medicine
- MBA, University of Chicago
- PhD, Medical Physics, University of London
- BA, Physics, University of Oxford
Representative Projects
- Created a growth strategy for a social enterprise contract manufacturing firm (a ~$25M division of a ~$850M company)
- Assessed market feasibility for a new B2C product idea for a traditionally B2B healthcare diagnostic company, followed by developing and executing a go-to-market strategy to bring product to market
- Developed and piloted four new social enterprise business models for 25 diverse network affiliates of a ~$250M national nonprofit, with eventual nationwide impact on affordable, sustainable homeownership
- Created a business model and business plan to scale a nationwide initiative in early childhood professional training for a ~$75M nonprofit
- Conducted comprehensive and in-depth customer surveys as inputs into a market expansion strategy for a healthcare software company
- Created 3-10 year strategic plans and implementation roadmaps for many nonprofits & higher education institutions, ranging in size from ~$1.5M to ~$1B
- Conducted feasibility assessment and developed financial projections for new social enterprise ideas for established nonprofits, including a museum
- Conducted market research & risk identification for a clean tech start-up
- Led program management of the Chicago Climate Action Plan
Expertise
Industries
- Education
- Energy
- Healthcare Services
Project Types
- Growth Strategy
- Strategic Planning
- Business Modeling
- Go-to-Market
- Market Research
- Social Enterprise
Representative Clients
Companies
- PointClickCare
- Coventry Diagnostics
- Alliance Equipment
- Cherokee Nation Industries
- PowerenTech
Nonprofits and Public Sector
- The Jane Goodall Institute
- United Way for Southeastern Michigan
- University of California Riverside
- Museum of Science and Industry Chicago
- NeighborWorks America
- City of Chicago