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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No.   )

Filed by the Registrantý

Filed by a Party other than the Registranto

Check the appropriate box:

o


Preliminary Proxy Statement

o


Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))

ý


Definitive Proxy Statement

o


Definitive Additional Materials

o


Soliciting Material under §240.14a-12


Filed by the Registrant ☒
CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)


(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

ý


No fee required.

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Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11.
(1)Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies:
(2)Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies:
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(4)Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction:
(5)Total fee paid:

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Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.

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Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.



(1)


Amount Previously Paid:
(2)Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.:
(3)Filing Party:
(4)Date Filed:
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐

Table

Confidential, for Use of Contents

LOGO

the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))


Definitive Proxy Statement

Definitive Additional Materials

Soliciting Material under §240.14a-12
CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Notice
(Name of Special MeetingRegistrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
No fee required.

Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.

Fee computed on table in lieuexhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11


[MISSING IMAGE: lg_charlesriver-bw.jpg]
CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

to be held on July 20, 2016

18, 2024

CRA International, Inc. hereby gives notice that it will hold a special meeting of shareholders in lieu of an annual meeting of shareholders at its offices in the John Hancock Tower,at 200 Clarendon Street, 109th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116, on Wednesday,Thursday, July 20, 2016, beginning18, 2024, at 8:00 A.M.a.m., local time,eastern standard time. The annual meeting is being held for the following purposes:

1.

To consider and vote upon the election of three Class IIIII directors;

2.

To conduct an advisory vote to approve our executive compensation;

3.

To ratify the appointment by our audit committee of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accountants for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2016;28, 2024; and

4.

To transact such further business as may properly come before the specialannual meeting or any adjournment thereof.

Our board of directors has fixed the close of business on Wednesday,Friday, May 11, 201624, 2024, as the record date for the determination of our shareholders entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at, the specialannual meeting and any adjournment thereof. Only shareholders of record on May 11, 201624, 2024, are entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at, the specialannual meeting or any adjournment thereof.

By order of the board of directors,





GRAPHIC

Peter M. Rosenblum
Secretary

[MISSING IMAGE: sg_jonathanyellin-bw.jpg]
Jonathan Yellin
Secretary
Boston, Massachusetts

April 29, 2016

26, 2024

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT

Please sign and return the enclosed proxy, whether or not you

plan to attend the specialannual meeting.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS

FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS IN LIEU OF ANNUAL MEETING

OF SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON JULY 20, 2016:

18, 2024:
The Proxy Statement and 2015 Annual Report2023 annual report to Shareholders

will be, on or prior to May 24, 2016,31, 2024, available at
http://www.crai.com/proxy


www.envisionreports.com/crai



CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
200 Clarendon Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

(617) 425-3000


PROXY STATEMENT
SPECIAL MEETING IN LIEU OF
ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

to be held on July 20, 2016

18, 2024

This proxy statement relates to the special meeting of shareholders in lieu of the 20162024 annual meeting of shareholders of CRA International, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “CRA” or the “Company”) The specialannual meeting will take place at our Boston offices as follows:

Date:July 20, 2016
Time:8:00 a.m.
Place:CRA International, Inc.
John Hancock Tower
200 Clarendon Street
10th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts
Date:

July 18, 2024
Time:
8:00 a.m.
Place:
CRA International, Inc.
200 Clarendon Street
9th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Our board of directors is soliciting proxies for the specialannual meeting and any and all adjournments of the specialannual meeting. The shares represented by your properly signed proxy will be voted in accordance with your directions. If you are a registered holder and do not specify a choice with respect to a proposal for which our board of directors has made a recommendation, the shares covered by your signed proxy will be voted as recommended in this proxy statement. We encourage you to vote on all matters to be considered. You may revoke your proxy at any time before it has been exercised.

        We are mailing this

This proxy statement and the enclosed form of proxywill be made available to shareholders on or aboutprior to May 24, 2016.


31, 2024 on the Internet at www.envisionreports.com/crai.



Table of Contents


PROXY STATEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS


PROXY STATEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

Special Meeting in lieu of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

1

Purpose of the specialannual meeting

1

Record date

1
Quorum

Quorum

1

Vote required; tabulation of votes; revocation of proxy

1

Solicitation of proxies

2

Internet access to proxy materials

2

Directions to our offices

2
PROPOSAL ONE: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Proposal One: Election of Directors

43
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate Governance

54
Overview

Overview

54

Executive officers and directors

65

Board and committee meetings

98

Audit committee

109

Nominating and corporate governance committee

109

Compensation committee

1110

Executive committee

1110

Board leadership structure and role in risk oversight

1110

Director candidates and selection process

1211

Communications with our board of directors

1312
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

Transactions with Related Parties

13

Review, approval or ratification of transactions with related parties

13
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

14
COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

1516
Director compensation

Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers

16

Director compensation

16

Director stock ownership guidelines

17

Compensation committee interlocks and insider participation

1817

Compensation discussion and analysis

18

Compensation committee report

38

Compensation policies and practices as they relate to risk management

3933

Executive compensation

4034
CEO Pay Ratio

Proposal Two: Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

5351
Pay Versus Performance Table

Equity Compensation Plans

5452
5556
EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

Proposal Three: Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accountants

57
5758
5759
59

Principal Accountant

60
5860

Fees and services

58

Pre-approval policies and procedures

5960
SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS

Shareholder Proposals

6061
AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Available Information

6061




ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

Purpose of the specialannual meeting

At the specialannual meeting, we will submit the following proposals to our shareholders:

Proposal One:   To elect three Class IIIII directors to a three-year term;

Proposal Two:   To approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to our named executive officers, as disclosed in this proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (including in the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables and accompanying narrative disclosures); and

Proposal Three:   To ratify the appointment by our audit committee of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accountants for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.

28, 2024.

Our board of directors does not intend to present to the specialannual meeting any business other than the proposals described in this proxy statement. Our board of directors was not aware, a reasonable time before mailingmaking this proxy statement available to our shareholders, of any other business that properly may be presented for action at the specialannual meeting. If any other business should come before the specialannual meeting, the persons present will have discretionary authority to vote the shares they own or represent by proxy in accordance with their judgment, to the extent authorized by applicable regulations.

Record date

Our board of directors has fixed the close of business on Wednesday,Friday, May 11, 201624, 2024, as the record date for the specialannual meeting. Only shareholders of record at the close of business on that date are entitled to receive notice of the specialannual meeting and to vote at the specialannual meeting. At the close of business on Monday, April 25, 2016, 8,966,78022, 2024, 6,915,601 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding. After May 11, 2016, aA list of the shareholders entitled to notice of the specialannual meeting will be available to shareholders for inspection by any shareholder at our principal office at 200 Clarendon Street, T-9, Boston, Massachusetts.

for the duration of the annual meeting of shareholders.

Quorum

Our by-laws provide that a quorum at the specialannual meeting consists of a majority in interest of all shares of our common stock issued, outstanding and entitled to vote at the specialannual meeting. Shares of our common stock represented by a properly signed and returned proxy will be treated as present at the specialannual meeting for purposes of determining the existence of a quorum at the specialannual meeting. In general, votes withheld from any nominee for election as director, abstentions, if applicable, and broker "non-votes," if applicable,“non-votes” are counted as present or represented for purposes of determining the existence of a quorum at the specialannual meeting. A broker "non-vote"non-vote occurs when a broker or nominee holding shares for a beneficial owner returns a proxy but does not vote on a proposal because the broker or nominee does not have discretionary voting power, and has not received instructions from the beneficial owner, with respect to the proposal.

Vote required; tabulation of votes; revocation of proxy

A plurality of the votes properly cast at the specialannual meeting will be necessary to elect the three Class IIIII directors to a three-year term.
A majority of the votes properly cast at the specialannual meeting will be necessary to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to our named executive officers as(as disclosed in this proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K,S-K) and to ratify the appointment by our audit committee of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accountants for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. 28, 2024.
Abstentions and broker "non-votes"non-votes will not be considered when determining whether or not the necessary proportion of votes properly cast at the


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special annual meeting on any proposal was achieved. If you are a registered shareholder and you return an executed proxy with specific instructioninstructions on how to vote, the designated proxies will vote according to your instructions. However, if you are a registered shareholder and you return an executed proxy without specific instructions on how to vote, the designated proxies will vote


1


in accordance with the recommendations of our board of directors set forth in this proxy statement. You may revoke your proxy at any time before it has been exercised.

Each share of our common stock outstanding on the record date will be entitled to cast one vote.

Our transfer agent, Computershare, will tabulate the votes at the specialannual meeting.

Solicitation of proxies

Our board of directors is soliciting proxies for the specialannual meeting and any and all adjournments of the specialannual meeting. No compensation will be paid by any person in connection with our solicitation of proxies. We will reimburse brokers, banks and other nominees for the out-of-pocket expenses and other reasonable clerical expenses they incur in obtaining instructions from beneficial owners of our common stock. In addition to our solicitation by mail, our directors, officers and other employees may make special solicitations of proxies personally or by telephone, facsimile, courier or e-mail. We expect that the expense of any special solicitations will be nominal, and we will pay all expenses incurred in connection with them.

Internet access to proxy materials

The notice of specialannual meeting, this proxy statement and our 20152023 annual report to shareholders will be, on or prior to May 24, 2016,31, 2024, available on the Internet athttp://www.crai.com/proxy. www.envisionreports.com/crai. This website does not use "cookies"“cookies” to track or identify visitors to the website.

Directions to our offices

The specialannual meeting will be held at our offices in the John Hancock Tower,at 200 Clarendon Street, 109th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts.
For those planning to attend the specialannual meeting, directions to these offices are below.


From Logan International Airport:   Follow the signs to Boston through the Sumner Tunnel. Turn right up the entrance ramp onto Expressway I-93 North. Take the Storrow Drive exit on right. Follow Storrow Drive West and take the Copley Square exit on the left. Turn right at the set of lights onto Beacon Street. At the second set of lights, turn left onto Clarendon Street and proceed for five blocks.


From Points South via I-951-95 and I-93:1-93:   Follow I-95 North to Expressway I-93 North. Stay on I-93 through the tunnel and into the financial district. Take the Storrow Drive exit on the right. Follow Storrow Drive West and take the Copley Square exit on the left. Turn right at the set of lights onto Beacon Street. At the second set of lights, turn left onto Clarendon Street and proceed for five blocks.


From Western Massachusetts and Points South via the Mass. Pike:   Follow Mass. Pike (I-90) East to the Copley Square/Prudential Center exit 22.133 (old exit 22). Follow the Copley Square exit and take the first left onto Dartmouth Street. Turn right onto Boylston Street. Turn right onto Clarendon Street.


From Points North via I-951-95 or I-93:1-93:   Follow I-95 South to I-93 South. Take exit 26,18 (old exit 26), North Station/Storrow Drive. Follow Storrow Drive West and take the Copley Square exit on the left. Turn right at the set of lights onto Beacon Street. At the second set of lights, turn left onto Clarendon Street and proceed for five blocks.

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From Public Transportation:   The public transportation locations nearest to our offices are Back Bay Station (Orange Line, Commuter Rail and Amtrak) and Copley Station (Green Line).


Parking:   There are several parking areas along Clarendon Street. There is an underground garage on the left between Boylston Street and St. James Avenue. There is a parking garage on the right one block past the John Hancock Tower on200 Clarendon Street. If those are full, proceed down Clarendon Street, take a right on Columbus Avenue, take a right on Dartmouth Street and there is an underground garage on the left at the Tent City building. Additional parking can be found at the Copley Place Mall.


2


PROPOSAL ONE:

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Proposal One concerns the election of three Class IIIII directors.

Our board of directors currently consists of eightnine directors and is divided into three classes. We refer to these classes as Class I, Class II and Class III. The term of one class of directors expires each year at the annual meeting of our shareholders (or any special meeting in lieu thereof).shareholders. Each director also continues to serve as a director until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. This year, the term of the Class IIIII directors is expiring.

Accordingly, our board of directors has nominated Paul Maleh, William SchleyerAlva Taylor, Heather Tookes and Thomas AveryKaren Keenan to serve as Class IIIII directors for a three-year term. Our shareholders elected Messrs. Malehboard, upon the recommendation of the nominating and Schleyercorporate governance committee, appointed Dr. Taylor, Professor Tookes and Ms. Keenan as Class IIIII directors, at our annual meetingeffective as of shareholders in May 2013.August 1, 2022, December 8, 2022 and January 8, 2024, respectively. The current terms of Messrs. MalehProf. Tookes, Dr. Taylor and SchleyerMs. Keenan will expire at the specialannual meeting. Our other currentRobert Holthausen, a Class IIIII director, Thomas Robertson, is not standing for re-election and, accordingly, will not serve as one of our directors after his current term expires atretire from the special meeting. Our board of directors has set the size of our board of directors effective as of the completionadjournment of the director elections at2024 annual meeting and the special meeting, at seven.

        Oursize of the board of directors appointed Thomas Avery as a Class II director on February 19, 2016. Mr. Avery would typically serve as a Class II director at least until the current term of our Class II directors expires at the 2018 annual meeting of our shareholders. However, with the cooperation of Mr. Avery, our board of directors wisheswill be reduced to afford our shareholders the opportunity to ratify Mr. Avery's appointment to our board of directors by voting upon his re-election to our board of directors at the special meeting, to serve as a Class III director. If Mr. Avery is not re-elected as a director at the special meeting, his term as a director will expire at the special meeting.

eight directors.

Proxies will not be voted at the specialannual meeting for more than three candidates.

        Messrs. Maleh, Schleyer

Each of Prof. Tookes, Dr. Taylor and Avery have eachMs. Keenan has agreed to serve if elected, and we have no reason to believe that any of them will be unable to serve. If any of them is unable or declines to serve as a director at the time of the specialannual meeting, proxies will be voted for another nominee designated by our board of directors at that time.

Our board of directors recommends that you voteFOR the election of Messrs. Maleh, SchleyerProf. Tookes, Dr. Taylor and Avery.

Ms. Keenan.


3


CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Overview

In designing our corporate governance structure, we seek to identify and implement the practices that we believe will best serve the interests of our business and shareholders, including the practices mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the related rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. You can find our current corporate governance principles, including our code of business conduct and ethics, our statement of corporate governance guidelines, and the charters for the standing committees of our board of directors through the Investor Relations page of our website atwww.crai.com. Our code of business conduct and ethics applies not only to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer, but also to all of our other officers and employees, directors and outside consultants. Our code of business conduct and ethics includes, among other things, provisions covering compliance with lawslaw, rules and regulations, conflicts of interest, insider trading, fair dealing, proper use of our assets, confidentiality, health and safety, discrimination and harassment, accounting and record keeping, and the reporting of illegal or unethical behavior. We intend to continue to modify our policies and practices to address ongoing developments in the area of corporate governance, including those resulting from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.governance. We discuss many features of our corporate governance principles in other sections of this proxy statement. Some of the highlights of our corporate governance principles are the following:


Director and committee independence.   With the exception of Mr.Paul Maleh our president, chief executive officer and director,chairman of the board, all of our directors (including thoseProf. Holthausen, who is not standing for re-electionreelection at the specialannual meeting and Prof. Tookes, Dr. Taylor and Ms. Keenan, each of whom is standing for election at the annual meeting) are independent directors under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Our board of directors has determined that our independent directors under these rules are Drs.Profs. Holthausen Moriarty and Robertson,Tookes, Dr. Taylor, Messrs. Avery, Booth and Concannon, and Schleyer,Mses. Detrick and Ms. Hawthorne.Keenan. Each member of our audit committee, nominating and corporate governance committee, and compensation committee meets the independence requirements of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market for membership on the committees on which he or she serves.

Separate chairman and chief executive officer.  We have a separate chairman of our board of directors, a non-executive position, and chief executive officer. Our chairman is an independent director.


Audit committee.   Our audit committee is directly responsible for appointing, determining the compensation of, evaluating and, when necessary, terminating our independent registered public accountants. Our independent registered public accountants report directly to our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that it currently has at least twothree audit committee financial experts as defined under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our audit committee'scommittee’s prior approval is required for all audit services and non-audit services (other thande minimis non-audit services as defined by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) to be provided by our independent registered public accountants. The audit committee has delegated the authority to provide such pre-approval to its chairman if the chairman determines in good faith that the applicable services would not impair the independence of our independent registered public accountants. Our audit committee is responsible for reviewing and assessing the adequacy of its charter on an annual basis.


Compensation committee.   Our compensation committee is responsible for recommending to our board of directors our general compensation philosophy and policies, and for reviewing and approving (or recommending to our board of directors for approval) the compensation of our executive officers, directors and other members of our senior management. The compensation committee is also directly responsible for appointing, determining the compensation of, overseeing and

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      evaluating the independence of our compensation consultants. Our compensation committee is responsible for reviewing and assessing the adequacy of its charter on an annual basis.


Committee authority.   Each of our audit committee, nominating and corporate governance committee, and compensation committee has the authority to retain independent advisors and consultants, with all fees and expenses paid by us.


Whistleblower procedures.   Our audit committee has adopted procedures for the treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controlscontrol over financial reporting or auditing matters, including procedures for the confidential and anonymous submission by our directors, officers,

4


employees and outside consultants of concerns regarding questionable accounting, internal accounting controlscontrol over financial reporting or auditing matters.

Executive officers and directors

Set forth below are the names and certain information with respect to each of our directors, nominees for director and executive officers as of April 25, 2016:

22, 2024:
NameAgePosition
Name
AgePosition

Rowland Moriarty(1)(2)(3)

Paul Maleh(1)
6960ChairmanPresident, chief executive officer and chairman of the board

Paul Maleh(3)

Daniel Mahoney
5245Chief executiveExecutive vice president, chief financial officer president and directortreasurer

Chad Holmes

4351Chief financial officer, executiveExecutive vice president and treasurerchief corporate development officer

Arnold Lowenstein

Jonathan Yellin
62Chief strategy officer and executive vice president

Thomas Avery(2)

62Director

William Concannon(1)(3)(4)

60DirectorExecutive vice president and general counsel

Nancy Hawthorne(1)(4)

Thomas Avery(2)
70Director
Richard Booth(1)(3)54Director
William Concannon(1)(2)(4)(5)68Director
Christine Detrick(1)(2)(4)65Director

Robert Holthausen(4)

Karen Keenan(3)
6861Director

Thomas Robertson(2)

Alva Taylor(3)(4)
7363Director

William Schleyer(2)

Heather Tookes(2)(4)
6450Director

(1)

Member of our executive committee.
(2)
Member of our compensation committee.
(3)
Member of our audit committee.
(4)
Member of our nominating and corporate governance committee.

(2)
Member of our compensation committee.

(3)
Member of our executive committee.

(4)
Member of our audit committee.

(5)
Lead independent director.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes. The term of one class of directors expires each year at the annual meeting of our shareholders (or any special meeting held in lieu thereof).shareholders. Each director also continues to serve as a director until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Our executive officers are elected by, and serve at the discretion of, our board of directors. There are no family relationships among our directors and executive officers.

Backgrounds and qualifications of directors

Below we have identified each of our directors by class. In addition, for each director we have included information regarding the director'sdirector’s business experience, as well as the director'sdirector’s particular experiences, qualifications, attributes and skills that led our board of directors to conclude that the director should serve as a member of our board of directors.

Directors serving a term expiring at the 2024 annual meeting (Class II directors)
Alva Taylor, Ph.D., has served as a director since August 2022. Dr. Taylor has been a professor since 2000, and the faculty director of the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College since 2013. The center helps business leaders understand how changes in digital technology impact business strategy and corporate decision making. Dr. Taylor has been recognized for his research in the areas of innovation processes, entrepreneurship, technological change, and strategic decision making in fast-changing environments. His recent work explores the challenges of managing creative groups for sustained innovation and entrepreneurship, and how organizational learning takes place in information-rich environments. He teaches courses on strategy, innovation, and change management in Tuck’s flagship MBA, Executive Education, and Master’s in Health Care Delivery Science programs. Dr. Taylor has also served as a board member of the Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire, since September 2022. Dr. Taylor earned his B.S. and M.S in Operations Research and Industrial

5


Engineering and his M.B.A from Cornell University, and earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Our board values and has benefited greatly from Dr. Taylor’s expertise in the areas of digital strategy and change management.
Heather Tookes, Ph.D., has served as a director since December 2022. Prof. Tookes currently serves as a finance professor and the Deputy Dean for Faculty at the Yale School of Management, a leader in business education, and has been on the faculty of the Yale School of Management since 2004. Prof. Tookes also currently serves on the boards of Dimensional Funds (DFA Investment Dimensions Group Inc., Dimensional Investment Group Inc., DFA Investment Trust Company, Dimensional Emerging Markets Value Fund, and Dimensional ETF Trust, each of which is a registered investment company), a 5% or more shareholder of the Company, and Ariel Investments LLC, a registered investment advisor. Since January 2022, Prof. Tookes has served as a director of the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven. From June 2021 to March 2023, Prof. Tookes served as a director of Payoneer Global Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYO), a financial services company. Prof Tookes has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Finance from Cornell University. In addition to being an expert in corporate finance, Prof. Tookes brings a wealth of board experience from having served on a number of nonprofit, private and public company boards.
Karen Keenan has served as a director since January 2024. Ms. Keenan’s 35-year career in financial services has included leadership roles in finance and controls, risk management, regulatory compliance, and business management. Ms. Keenan previously worked at State Street Corporation for 13 years, rising through the bank’s Global Markets Division, which provides investment research and trading services to institutional investors. From 2016 specialuntil her retirement in 2020, she served as State Street’s Chief Administrative Officer. Before joining State Street, she served as Chief Financial Officer for Investor Financial Services Corporation for six years. Ms. Keenan is a CPA and since 2020 has served as an independent director on the board of CLS Group Holdings AG, which provides foreign exchange settlement services to member banks. Ms. Keenan has a B.S. in accountancy from Bentley University and an M.B.A. in finance from Babson College. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Keenan is an audit committee financial expert under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Directors serving a term expiring at the 2025 annual meeting (Class III directors)

Paul Maleh,, who joined us in 1989, has served as our president and chief executive officer and as a director since November 29, 2009.2009, and became chairman of our board of directors in July 2020. Mr. Maleh served as our chief operating officer from October


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2008 through November 28, 2009, and as our executive vice president from October 2006 to November 28, 2009. Mr. Maleh has also served as a board member of KIPP Massachusetts, a non-profit charter school since September 2022. From December 2006 to January 2009, he served as head of our finance platform. Mr. Maleh also directed our finance practice from 2000 to December 2006 and served as a vice president from 1999 to October 2006. Mr. Maleh received his M.B.A. from Northeastern University. As our chief executive officer, Mr. Maleh brings to our board of directors valuable leadership experience and a deep and thorough understanding of our business and operations, the day-to-day management of our business, and our industry as a whole.

Thomas Robertson has served as a director since July 2009. From 2007 to 2014, Dr. Robertson was dean of the Wharton School and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise at the University of Pennsylvania. He now serves as a member of the Wharton faculty. From 2006 to 2007, Dr. Robertson was special assistant to Emory University's president on issues of international strategy and a founding director of the Institute for Developing Nations established jointly by Emory University and The Carter Center in fall 2006. From 1998 until 2007, Dr. Robertson was dean of Emory University's Goizueta Business School, and from 1994 until 1998 he was the Sainsbury Professor and chair of marketing and deputy dean of the London Business School. From 1971 to 1994, Dr. Robertson was a member of the faculty at the Wharton School. Dr. Robertson received his M.A. and Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University in 1966 and his B.A. from Wayne State University in 1963. He is a director and member of the audit committee of The Carlyle Group, L.P., a publicly-traded global asset management firm. He is also a Trustee of Singapore Management University. Dr. Robertson's position as a professor of management and private enterprise at the Wharton School puts him in touch with the leading edge of business methods and thinking, which he applies to the issues we face, and allows him to provide our board of directors with invaluable insights and advice regarding strategic and management issues. Our board of directors also benefits from Dr. Robertson's extensive background in and knowledge of consumer services and academia. Dr. Robertson's term as a director will expire at the special meeting, and he is not standing for re-election as a director at the special meeting.

William Schleyer has served as a director since January 2008. Mr. Schleyer served as chairman and chief executive officer of Adelphia Communications Corporation from March 2003 until it emerged from bankruptcy in February 2007. Adelphia was already involved in bankruptcy proceedings at the time Mr. Schleyer became its chairman and chief executive officer. Prior to joining Adelphia, Mr. Schleyer was president and chief executive officer of AT&T Broadband from October 2001 until February 2003 and a principal in Pilot House Ventures, a telecommunications venture capital company, from 1997 to 2001. From 1978 to 1997, Mr. Schleyer served in various positions at Continental Cablevision Corporation, including as its president and chief operating officer from 1993 to 1997. Mr. Schleyer received his M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1977 and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Drexel University in 1973. Mr. Schleyer served as a director of Rogers Communications, a diversified Canadian communications and media company, from August 1998 until January 2013. Our board of directors benefits from the viewpoint Mr. Schleyer brings as a veteran business executive with experience at the most senior levels across a diverse spectrum of companies, as well as an extensive background in and knowledge of consumer services. Mr. Schleyer also brings extensive insight into corporate governance matters, derived from serving as a director for a number of other companies.

Directors serving a term expiring at the 2017 annual meeting (Class I directors)

Rowland T. Moriarty has served as a director since 1986 and as chairman of our board of directors, a non-executive position, since May 2002. From December 1992 until May 2002, Dr. Moriarty served as vice chairman of our board of directors. Dr. Moriarty has been the chief executive officer of Cubex Corporation, an international marketing consulting firm, since 1992. Dr. Moriarty was a professor at Harvard Business School from 1981 to 1992. He received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School in 1970 and his D.B.A. from Harvard University in 1980. He is a director of Staples, Inc.,


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WEX, Inc. and Virtusa Corporation, and was a director at Trammell Crow Company from 1997 to 2006. The extensive experience, knowledge and perspective Dr. Moriarty has gained across a broad spectrum of industries as a director of these publicly-traded companies, and as an international marketing consultant and a professor of marketing, are significant assets to our board of directors. Dr. Moriarty's long-standing relationship with us has given him an intimate institutional knowledge of our business, and he has been providing invaluable leadership and guidance to our board of directors for many years.

William Concannon has served as a director since June 2000. Mr. Concannon has served as chief executive officer of Global Workplace Solutions of CBRE, Inc., a global commercial real estate firm, since September 2015. He served as chief executive officer of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from July 2012 until September 2015, as president of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from August 2009 until July 2012, and as vice chairman of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from 2006 until August 2009. Mr. Concannon was the first real estate professional inducted into the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals' Outsourcing Hall of Fame. Mr. Concannon served as vice chairman, from June 2003, and as director, from 1991, of Trammell Crow Company, a diversified commercial real estate firm, until its acquisition by CB Richard Ellis in December 2006. Mr. Concannon received his B.S. in accounting from Providence College in 1977, where he also served on the board of trustees from 2002 until 2010. Our board of directors benefits from Mr. Concannon's wealth of experience as a senior business executive, his diverse knowledge of business management, his keen perspectives on a wide range of business issues, his deep knowledge of professional services, and his insights derived from having led business services at a large corporation and otherwise being a recognized leader in the business community.

Directors serving a term expiring at the 2018 annual meeting (Class II directors)

Thomas Avery has served as a director since February 2016. Mr. Avery served as a managing director at Raymond James & Associates from August 2000 to December 2014. Prior to joining Raymond James, Mr. Avery was head of the investment banking group and co-head of the equity capital markets division at Interstate/Johnson-Lane from 1995 to 2000, a general partner at Noro-Moseley Partners from 1989 to 1995, and a general partner at Summit Partners from 1984 to 1989. From 1977 to 1984, Mr. Avery served as senior vice president of The Robinson-Humphrey Company. Mr. Avery has served on the board of directors of Cicero,ArborGen Inc., a biotechnology tree seedling company, since July 2015.2018. He also serves as a director of KIPP Metro Atlanta, a charter school organization serving low-income, minority children in Atlanta, Georgia, and PowerUp, a 501(c)(3) organization also serving low-income, minority children in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Avery served on the board of directors of Cicero, Inc. from July 2015 to 2020. Mr. Avery has a B.S. in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Our board of directors values Mr. Avery'sAvery’s significant investment banking and venture capital experience, as well as his deep understanding of the professional services industry. If re-elected as


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Directors serving a directorterm expiring at the special meeting, Mr. Avery will become a Class III director, and his term as a director will continue at least until the 20192026 annual meeting of our shareholders. If Mr. Avery is not re-elected as a director at the special meeting, his term as a director will expire at the special meeting.

Nancy Hawthorne(Class I directors)

Richard Booth has served as a director since December 2014.March 2020. Since June 2014, Ms. HawthorneMarch 2021 he has served as founder and partner of Hawthorne Financial Advisors, a registered investment adviser in Massachusetts. From 1982 to 1997, Ms. Hawthorne was the chief financial officer of Definitive Healthcare Corp., (Nasdaq: DH), a data analytics company. From April 2015 to March 2021, Mr. Booth served as chief financial officer of Bottomline Technologies, Inc., a financial technology company. From January 2014 to March 2015, Mr. Booth served as vice president of finance and treasurercorporate controller at Sapient Corporation. Previously, he held a number of Continental Cablevision. Ms. Hawthorne has servedsenior finance positions of increasing responsibility at Nuance Communications, a publicly traded software and services firm. Prior to his tenure at Nuance, Mr. Booth held a variety of executive roles at EMC Corporation, Mercer Management Consulting, and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Booth also serves on the board of directors of Avid Technology since 1997, including as the lead independent director since October 201433 Foundation, a private community enrichment organization. Mr. Booth is a licensed CPA, and from January 2008 to December 2011 and as chairperson from May 2004 to May 2007, and as interim chief executive officer of Avid from August to December 2007. Ms. Hawthorne has also served on the board of directors of THL Credit, Inc., a business development company, since 2009, and of the MetLife Funds, a family of mutual funds established by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, since 1995, including as a member of its audit committee since 2009. Ms. Hawthorne has a B.A. from Wellesley College andholds an


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M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.Stanford University, an M.S. in Taxation from Bentley University, an M.S. in Organizational Development from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University. Our board benefits greatly from Ms. Hawthorne's deep experienceMr. Booth’s extensive accounting and finance expertise, his knowledge of the consulting and technology industries, and his perspective gained from having served as a business executive and a corporate board member, including as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, lead independent director and memberofficer. Our board of audit, nominating and governance, and strategy committees, and her perspective gained from serving both as an executive and a director for financial services firms. Ms. Hawthornedirectors has determined that Mr. Booth is an audit committee financial expert under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Robert Holthausen

William Concannon has served as a director since June 2000 and as our lead director since July 2014. Dr. Holthausen2020. Mr. Concannon served as Senior Advisor of CBRE Group, Inc (NYSE: CBRE), a publicly traded global commercial real estate firm (“CBRE”), from January 2023 to January 2024. Mr. Concannon served as chief executive officer of CBRE Acquisition Holdings, a blank check special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, from December 2020 to December 2022. Mr. Concannon also served as Global Group President, Strategic Business Sponsorships, of CBRE from January 2018 to December 2022. He also serves on the board of directors of Altus Power, a publicly traded solar energy company. He served as chief executive officer of Global Workplace Solutions of CBRE from September 2015 to January 2020, as chief executive officer of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from July 2012 to September 2015, as president of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from August 2009 to July 2012, and as vice chairman of Global Corporate Services of CBRE from 2006 to August 2009. Mr. Concannon was the first real estate professional inducted into the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ Outsourcing Hall of Fame. Prior to his roles at CBRE, Mr. Concannon served as the vice chairman of Trammell Crow Company, a diversified commercial real estate firm, from 2003 to 2006 and as a director from 1991 to 2006. Mr. Concannon received his B.S. in accounting from Providence College in 1977, where he currently serves on the board of trustees, a position he previously held from 2002 until 2010. Our board of directors benefits from Mr. Concannon’s wealth of experience as a senior business executive, diverse knowledge of business management, keen perspectives on a wide range of business issues, deep knowledge of professional services, insights derived from having led business services at a large corporation, and otherwise being a recognized leader in the business community.
Christine Detrick has been Professorserved as a director since May 2020. From 2002 to 2012, Ms. Detrick served as a director/partner of AccountingBain & Company (“Bain”), as leader of the financial services practice for the Americas, and Financea senior advisor. Before joining Bain, she served for 10 years at A.T. Kearney, Inc., including as global leader of the Financial Institutions Group, leader of the Eastern U.S., and as a member of the board of management and board of directors. Prior to those roles, she was one of the founding partners of First Financial Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in savings and loan institutions, from 1988 to 1992, and served as the chief executive officer of the St. Louis Bank for Savings. Ms. Detrick also served on the board of directors of Reinsurance Group of America, a publicly traded reinsurance company, serving as chair of the nominating and governance committee and a member of their compensation and technology and cyber committees from 2014 to 2022. Ms. Detrick also serves on the board of directors of Hartford Mutual Funds, a mutual fund company, including as chair of the board of directors and a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Ms. Detrick also serves on the board of directors of Capital One, a publicly traded financial institution, serving on the audit and risk committees. She also serves on the board of directors of Altus Power, a publicly traded solar energy company, serving as chair of the board of directors and the nominating and governance committee. From 2015 to 2018, Ms. Detrick served on the board of directors of Forest City Realty Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, as chairman of the compensation committee and a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Ms. Detrick received her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania since 1989, serving as the Nomura Securities Company Professor of Accounting and Finance since 1992 and the Ernst & Young Professor of the Department of Accounting since 2004. Dr. Holthausen has a B.A. from St. Lawrence University, an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Rochester. Dr. Holthausen has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1973 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Accounting Association and the American Finance Association.

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1980. Our board benefits greatly from Ms. Detrick’s deep experience as both a director and an executive of directors values Dr. Holthausen's significant expertise in the areas of accounting, corporate governance structuresfinancial services and management compensation. Dr. Holthausen is an auditconsulting firms, including as a chief executive officer, corporate board member and committee financial expert under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

member.

Backgrounds of executive officers

Below we have identifiedidentify our executive officers (other than Mr. Maleh, our president and chief executive officer, who is our chairman of the board and serves as a Class III director as identified above) and providedprovide a description of their business experience.

Arnold Lowenstein, who joined us in June 1993, has served as our chief strategy officer and executive vice president since October 2006. Mr. Lowenstein also served as a group vice president and co-head of our business consulting practice from 2001 through fiscal year 2006. Mr. Lowenstein received his M.A. in industrial economics from the University of British Columbia.

Chad Holmes,, who joined us in 2004 as part of our acquisition of InteCap, Inc., has served as our chief financial officer, executive vice president and chief corporate development officer since March 2020, and had previously served as our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer sincefrom November 2014.2014 through March 2020. Mr. Holmes has been a member of our senior management since 2009. Mr. Holmes received his M.B.A. in finance and management and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. in economics from the University of Notre Dame.

Daniel Mahoney has served as a member of our senior management as our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer since March 2020. Prior to joining us, he served in several senior management positions at BrightSphere Investment Group Inc., a publicly traded diversified, global asset management company, most recently as senior vice president and head of finance from March 2018 to March 2020. He previously served as BrightSphere’s senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer from March 2017 to March 2018, and vice president, controller and chief accounting officer from July 2014 to March 2017. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Mahoney worked at State Street Global Advisors (“SSgA”), the asset management division of State Street Corporation, serving as chief accounting officer from January 2013 to July 2014, where he was responsible for accounting and control processes. Prior to SSgA, Mr. Mahoney established a strong public accounting background during his 11-year tenure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Mr. Mahoney holds a B.A. from Tufts University, as well as a CPA professional certification.
Jonathan Yellin has served as our executive vice president and general counsel since March 2017. Mr. Yellin has been a member of our senior management since 2004, when he joined us as vice president and general counsel. Prior to joining us, Mr. Yellin was a senior partner in the Insolvency and Restructuring practice at Riemer & Braunstein LLP, from 1999 to 2004. Mr. Yellin received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1988 and his B.A. from The George Washington University, School of Public and International Affairs, in 1985.
Board and committee meetings

During our fiscal year ended January 2, 2016,December 30, 2023, or "fiscal 2015,"“fiscal 2023,” our board of directors met sevenfive times and acted by unanimous written consent once.eight times. During fiscal 2015,2023, each incumbent director attended at least 75% of the total number of meetings held by our board of directors and the committees of our board of directors on which he or she served. To the extent reasonably practicable, directors are expected to attend or participate by teleconference in board meetings, meetings of committees on which they serve and the annual meeting of our shareholders. Last year, all eight individuals then serving as directors attended the special meeting held in lieu of the annual meeting of our shareholders in person other than Ronald Maheu, who was not standing for re-election as a director at the meeting.

shareholders.

Our board of directors has four standing committees: our audit committee, our nominating and corporate governance committee, our compensation committee and our executive committee. All of the members of our audit committee, our nominating and corporate governance committee, and our compensation committee are independent under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Our board of directors has adopted charters for each of these committees, which are available through the Investor Relations page of our website atwww.crai.com.www.crai.com. Each of our audit committee, our nominating


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and corporate governance committee, and our compensation committee has the authority to retain independent advisors and consultants, with all fees and expenses paid by us.


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The membership of each standing committee of our board of directors is as follows:



Audit committee:Compensation committee:
Robert HolthausenRichard Booth (Chair)William SchleyerThomas Avery (Chair)
Robert Holthausen*William ConcannonThomas Avery
Nancy HawthorneKaren KeenanRowland MoriartyChristine Detrick
Alva TaylorThomas RobertsonHeather Tookes**

Nominating and corporate governance committee:

Executive committee:
governance committee:Christine Detrick (Chair)Rowland MoriartyPaul Maleh (Chair)
William Concannon (Chair)William ConcannonRichard Booth
Nancy HawthorneAlva TaylorPaul MalehWilliam Concannon
Rowland MoriartyHeather TookesChristine Detrick

*
Prof. Holthausen will retire from the board of directors effective as of the adjournment of the 2024 annual meeting.
**
Effective as of the adjournment of the 2024 annual meeting, Prof. Tookes will succeed Mr. Avery as chair of the compensation committee.
Audit committee

        In

During fiscal 2015,2023, our audit committee was initially composed of Dr.Prof. Holthausen, Mr. Concannon,Booth and Dr. Taylor. Ms. Hawthorne and Ronald Maheu. Mr. Maheu's termKeenan was appointed as a director expired on July 22, 2015. Ourmember of our board of directors, including as a member of our audit committee, is currently composedeffective as of Dr. Holthausen, Mr. Concannon and Ms. Hawthorne.January 8, 2024. Our audit committee provides the opportunity for direct contact between the members of our board of directors and our independent registered public accountants, which report directly to the committee. The committee assists our board of directors in overseeing the integrity of our financial statements; our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; and our independent registered public accountants'accountants’ qualifications, independence and performance. The committee is directly responsible for appointing, determining the compensation of, evaluating and, when necessary, terminating our independent registered public accountants. The committee is also responsible for reviewing and assessing the adequacy of the charter by which it is governed on an annual basis. Our audit committee has adopted procedures for the treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters, including procedures for the confidential and anonymous submission by our directors, officers, employees and outside consultants of concerns regarding questionable accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters. Our audit committee is also responsible for reviewing and, if appropriate, approving related-party transactions. Our board of directors has determined that Dr.each of Prof. Holthausen, Mr. Booth and Ms. Hawthorne areKeenan is an audit committee financial expertsexpert under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and that all of the members of our audit committee are independent under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Our audit committee met teneight times, and acted by written consent one time, during fiscal 2015.

2023.

Nominating and corporate governance committee

        In

During fiscal 2015,2023, our nominating and corporate governance committee was initially composed of Mr. Concannon, Ms. Detrick, Dr. MoriartyTaylor and Messrs. Concannon and Maheu. On April 17, 2015, Mr. Maheu's term on the committee ended and Ms. Hawthorne was appointed to the committee.Prof. Tookes. Our nominating and corporate governance committee is currently composed of Dr. Moriarty, Mr. Concannon and Ms. Hawthorne. Our nominating and corporate governance committee'scommittee’s responsibilities include providing recommendations to our board of directors regarding nominees for director and membership on the committees of our board of directors. The committee also assists our board of directors in our enterprise risk management by providing recommendations to our board of directors regarding succession plans for our chief executive officer. An additional function of the committee is to develop corporate governance practices for recommendation to our board of directors, including Environmental, Social and Governance, or “ESG,” matters, and, once implemented, to assist our board of directors in complying with them. In the third quarter of 2023, we published our 2022 Sustainability Report which discusses our current approach and tangible progress in four key ESG related areas: Employee Empowerment, Community Advancement, ESG Advisory, and Environmental Stewardship. The 2022

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Sustainability Report can be found in the Governance section of the Investor Relations section of our website. Our board of directors has determined that all


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of the members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are independent under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Our nominating and corporate governance committee met fivefour times, and acted by written consent one time, during fiscal 2015.

2023.

Compensation committee

During fiscal 2015,2023, our compensation committee was composed of Drs. Moriarty and Robertson and Mr. Schleyer. Our compensation committee is currently composed of Drs. Moriarty and Robertson and Messrs. Avery and Schleyer.Concannon and Ms. Detrick, and Prof. Tookes. Our compensation committee'scommittee’s responsibilities include providing recommendations to our board of directors regarding the compensation levels of our directors; reviewing and approving, or recommending for approval by our board of directors, the compensation levels of our executive officers; providing recommendations to our board of directors regarding our compensation programs; administering our employee benefit plans, including all incentive compensation plans and equity-based plans; authorizing grants under our stock option plans and other equity-based plans; and authorizing other equity compensation arrangements. The committee is directly responsible for appointing, determining the compensation of, evaluating and, when necessary, terminating our compensation consultant, as well as evaluating the independence of any compensation consultant, legal counsel or other advisor engaged by the committee. The committee is also responsible for reviewing and assessing the adequacy of the charter by which it is governed on an annual basis. Our board of directors has determined that all of the members of our compensation committee are independent under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Our compensation committee met eight times, and acted by unanimous written consent sixthree times, during fiscal 2015.

2023.

Executive committee

        In

During fiscal 2015,2023, our executive committee was initially composed of Dr. Moriarty and Messrs. Maheu and Maleh. On April 17, 2015, Mr. Maheu's term on the committee ended and Mr. Concannon was appointed to the committee. Our executive committee is currently composed of Dr. MoriartyProf. Holthausen and Messrs. Concannon and Maleh. Our executive committee has delineated authority to act on behalf of our board of directors in situations arising between regular meetings of our board of directors. It is intended that our executive committee will take action only when reasonably necessary to expedite our interests between regularly scheduled board meetings. Our executive committee met twiceonce during fiscal 2015.

2023.

Board leadership structure and role in risk oversight

        We have a separate

Mr. Maleh, our president and chief executive officer, serves as the chairman of our board of directors, a non-executive position, and chief executive officer. We believe that this separation improvesMr. Concannon serves as our corporate governance. Our chairman, Dr. Moriarty, is an independent director who provides leadership to our board of directors in establishing our overall strategic direction consistent with the input of management and our other directors. Dr. Moriarty's long-standing relationship with us has given him an intimate institutional knowledge of our business, and he has been providing invaluable leadership and guidance to our board of directors for many years. Our chief executive officer,Lead Director. Mr. Maleh brings to our board of directors valuable leadership experience and a deep and thorough understanding of our business and operations and the day-to-day management of our business, which he executes within the parameters set by our board of directors. Separating these positions strengthensAs Lead Director, Mr. Concannon coordinates all activities of the independence ofindependent directors, helps facilitate our board of directors, thereby facilitating its ability to execute its managementboard’s oversight function and its general risk oversight function, which is discussed below. In addition, this separation allows both our chairmanshareholder responsibilities, and our chief executive officer to have sufficient time to perform their respective responsibilities.

acts as a liaison between Mr. Maleh and the other independent directors.

Our management is responsible for the day-to-day management of the risks that we face, while our board of directors, as a whole and through its committees, has responsibility for the oversight of our enterprise risk management. In its risk oversight role, our board of directors is responsible for satisfying


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itself that our enterprise risk management processes are adequate and functioning as designed. The involvement of our board of directors in risk oversight includes receiving periodic reports from members of senior management and evaluating areas of material risk to us, including operational, financial, legal, regulatory, strategic, cybersecurity and reputational risks. Some risks, such as strategic risks and cybersecurity risks, are typically overseen by the full board. In addition, our board of directors has delegated risk oversight to each of its standing committees within their areas of responsibility. Our compensation committee assists our board of directors in its risk oversight function by overseeing strategies related to our incentive compensation programs and key employee retention. Our audit committee assists our board of directors in its risk oversight function by reviewing our system of disclosure controls and our internal controlscontrol over financial reporting, as well as reviewing and, if appropriate, approving related-party transactions. Our nominating and corporate governance committee assists our board of directors in its risk oversight function by managing risks associated with director candidate selection, governance and succession. Each member of our senior management is initially responsible for assessing and prioritizing the risks that fall under the manager'smanager’s area of responsibility and, as a general rule, these risks are discussed with, and then reported to our


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board of directors or the applicable committee of our board of directors by our general counsel.

counsel or other appropriate member of our senior leadership team. As part of the process by which our board oversees our enterprise risk management, from time to time our general counsel or other appropriate member of our senior leadership team provides updates regarding enterprise risk to our board of directors in the form of presentations or discussions.

Director candidates and selection process

        The process followed by our nominating and corporate governance committee to identify and evaluate director candidates includes requests to our current directors and others for recommendations for candidates, meetings from time to time to evaluate biographical information and background materials relating to candidates, and interviews of selected candidates by members of the committee and other members of our board of directors. The committee often solicits the opinions of third parties with whom a potential candidate has had a business relationship. Once the committee is satisfied that it has collected sufficient information on which to base a judgment, the committee votes on the candidates under consideration.

In evaluating the qualifications of any candidate for director, the committee considers, among other factors, the candidate'scandidate’s depth of business experience, intelligence, quality of judgment, integrity, familiarity with the legal, regulatory, and business consulting industry, ability to assist in recruiting outside experts and employee consultants, understanding of financial matters, familiarity with the periodic financial reporting process, reputation, level of educational attainment, degree of independence from management, contribution to the diversity of our board of directors, and willingness and ability to serve. The committee also considers the degree to which the candidate'scandidate’s skills, experience and background complement or duplicate those of our existing directors. Among the experiences, attributes, qualities and skills that the committee believes to be necessary for one or more members of our board of directors to possess are familiarity with the segments of the consulting industry in which we compete, substantial experience with the financial reporting process for public companies, and knowledge of the academia of economics. In the case of incumbent directors whose terms are set to expire, the committee also gives consideration to the director'sdirector’s prior contributions to our board of directors. In evaluating candidates, the committee prefers to retain the flexibility to consider each candidate'scandidate’s overall mix of qualifications, rather than to specify minimum qualifications that each candidate must possess.

        While we do not have a formal diversity policy for our board of directors, our

Our nominating and corporate governance committee seeks directors who represent a mix of backgrounds and experiences that will enhance the quality of the discussions and decisions of our board of directors. In the committee'scommittee’s evaluation of candidates for director, it considers diversity with respect to viewpoints, accomplishments, skills and experience, as well as other factors in light of the current composition of our board of directors and our requirements. In selecting candidates to recommend for nomination as a director, the committee abides by our firm-wide non-discrimination policy.


Table The table below provides certain highlights of Contentsthe composition of our board of directors as of April 22, 2024. Each of the categories listed in the below table has the meaning as it is used in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(f).

Board Diversity Matrix (as of April 22, 2024)
Total Number of Directors9
FemaleMaleNon-BinaryDid Not Disclose
Directors36
Number of Directors Who Identify in Any of the Categories Below:
White25
Black or African American11
Did not Disclose
The process followed by our nominating and corporate governance committee to identify and evaluate director candidates includes requests to our current directors and others for candidate recommendations, meetings from time to time to evaluate biographical information and background materials relating to candidates, and interviews of selected candidates by members of the committee and other members of our board of directors. The committee often solicits the opinions of third parties with whom a potential candidate has had a business relationship. Once the committee is satisfied that it has collected sufficient information on which to base a judgment, including vetting procedures such as background checks, the committee votes on the candidates under consideration and recommends to the full board a slate of director candidates for inclusion in our proxy materials.
Our board also actively monitors the tenure and expected service of each director, considering our statement of corporate governance guidelines and our director retirement policy, under which no director may be nominated as a candidate for reelection as part of the slate of directors that we propose, nor may any person be nominated as a candidate for election, after he or she has reached age 72, unless waived by the board of directors.



The committee considers director candidates recommended by shareholders and uses the same process to evaluate candidates, whether the candidates are recommended by shareholders, directors, management or others. The committee has not adopted any particular method that shareholders must follow to make a recommendation. We suggest that shareholders make recommendations by writing to the chairman of our nominating and corporate governance committee, in care of our offices, with sufficient information about the recommended candidate and his or her work experience, skills, qualifications for director and references to enable the committee to evaluate the candidacy properly. We also suggest that shareholders make their recommendations well in advance of the anticipated mailing date of our next proxy statement to provide our nominating and corporate governance committee an adequate opportunity to complete a thorough evaluation of the candidacy, including personal interviews. We remind shareholders of the separate requirements set forth in our by-laws for nominating individuals to serve as directors, which are discussed in this proxy statement under the heading "Shareholder Proposals"“Shareholder Proposals” below.

Communications with our board of directors

Our board of directors has established the following process for shareholders to communicate with it, and this process has been approved by a majority of our independent directors. Shareholders wishing to communicate with our board of directors should send correspondence to the attention of Chairman of the Board, CRA International, Inc., 200 Clarendon Street, T-9, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. The correspondence should include satisfactory evidence that the sender of the communication is one of our shareholders. Satisfactory evidence would include, for example, contemporaneous correspondence from a brokerage firm indicating the identity of the shareholder and the number of our shares held by the shareholder.
Our chairman reviews all correspondence confirmed to be from shareholders and decides whether or not to forward the correspondence, or a summary of it, to our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. Accordingly, our chairman reviews all shareholder correspondence, but theThe decision to relay any correspondence to our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors rests entirely within our chairman'schairman’s discretion.

Our board of directors believes this process suffices to handle the relatively low volume of communications we have historically received from our shareholders. If the volume of communications increases sufficiently to become burdensome to our chairman, our board of directors may elect to adopt more elaborate screening procedures.


12


TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

Review, approval or ratification of transactions with related parties

Under our audit committee'scommittee’s charter, the committee is responsible for reviewing any proposed related-party transaction, as defined under the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market, and, if appropriate, approving the transaction. A copy of our audit committee charter is available through the Investor Relations page of our website atwww.crai.com.


We did not engage in any transactions with related persons in fiscal 2023.


13


SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

At the close of business on April 25, 2016,22, 2024, there were issued and outstanding 8,966,7806,915,601 shares of our common stock entitled to cast 8,966,7806,915,601 votes. On April 25, 2016,22, 2024, the closing price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQNasdaq Global Select Market was $19.67$147.25 per share.

The following table provides information regarding the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock as of April 25, 201622, 2024 by:


each person known to us to be a beneficial owner of more than five percent of our shares of common stock;


each of our current directors;


each of our director nominees;

each of our named executive officers; and


all of our current directors and current executive officers as a group.

The persons named in the table below have sole voting and sole dispositive power with respect to the shares listed, except as otherwise indicated. The inclusion of shares in the table below does not constitute an admission of beneficial ownership of such shares. The "Right“Right to acquire"acquire” column represents shares of our common stock that may be purchased through the exercise of stock options within 60 days after April 25, 2016.22, 2024. The information in the table is based on information received (including via filings made under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended)amended (the “Exchange Act”)) from or on behalf of the persons named in the table.

Shares beneficially owned
Name of beneficial ownerOutstandingRight to
acquire
TotalPercent
FMR LLC(1)583,841583,8418.3%
Neuberger Berman Group LLC(2)583,280583,2808.3%
BlackRock, Inc.(3)532,906532,9067.6%
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP(4)387,330387,3305.5%
The Vanguard Group(5)384,345384,3455.5%
Copeland Capital Management, LLC(6)361,270361,2705.1%
Paul Maleh(7)174,21231,477205,6893.0%
Chad Holmes(8)41,3008,50149,801*
Jonathan Yellin(9)22,8615,22228,083*
William Concannon(10)14,95014,950*
Robert Holthausen(10)10,75510,755*
Thomas Avery(10)15,50415,504*
Daniel Mahoney(11)13,62413,624*
Richard Booth(10)7,5397,539*
Christine Detrick(10)7,2437,243*
Heather Tookes(10)1,8671,867*
Alva Taylor(10)1,9871,987*
Karen Keenan(10)1,0081,008*
All current directors and executive officers as a group (12 persons)312,85045,200358,0505.2%

 
 Shares beneficially owned 
Name of beneficial owner
 Outstanding Right to
acquire
 Total Percent 

Paradice Investment Management LLC(1)

  837,460    837,460  9.3%

BlackRock, Inc.(2)

  633,662    633,662  7.1%

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP(3)

  523,481    523,481  5.8%

Paul Maleh(4)

  102,802  55,832  158,634  1.8%

Rowland Moriarty(5)

  92,528    92,528  1.0%

Arnold Lowenstein(6)

  32,680  25,427  58,107  * 

William Concannon(7)

  31,014    31,014  * 

William Schleyer(7)

  28,167    28,167  * 

Thomas Robertson(7)

  23,681    23,681  * 

Chad Holmes(8)

  7,487  10,004  17,491  * 

Robert Holthausen(7)

  6,320    6,320  * 

Nancy Hawthorne(7)

  5,679    5,679  * 

Thomas Avery(7)

  3,951    3,951  * 

All current directors and executive officers as a group (ten persons)

  334,309  91,263  425,572  4.7%

*
Less than one percent.

(1)

The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Paradice Investment ManagementFMR LLC is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 9, 20162024 by Paradice Investment ManagementFMR LLC and Paradice Investment Management Pty Ltd.,Abigail P. Johnson, in which Abigail P. Johnson reported sole voting power over 0 shares, FMR LLC reported sole voting

14


power over 583,541 shares and each of themAbigail P. Johnson and FMR LLC reported sole dispositive power over 583,841 shares. The address for each of FMR LLC and Abigail P. Johnson is 245 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210.
(2)
The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Neuberger Berman Group LLC, Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC, Neuberger Berman Equity Funds and Neuberger Berman Genesis Fund (collectively the “Neuberger Berman Group”) is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G filed on February 12, 2024 by the Neuberger Berman Group, in which Neuberger Berman Group LLC reported shared voting power over 576,252 shares and shared dispositive power over 837,460583,280 shares; Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC reported shared voting power over 576,132 shares and shared dispositive power over 583,160 shares; and each of Neuberger Berman Equity Funds and Neuberger Berman Genesis Fund reported shared voting power over 389,892 shares and shared dispositive power over 389,892 shares. The address for Paradice Investment Management LLCthe Neuberger Berman Group is 257 Fillmore Street, Suite 200, Denver, Colorado 80206. The address for Paradice Investment Management Pty Ltd. is Level 12, 139 Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia 2000.1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104.

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(2)
(3)
The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by BlackRock, Inc. is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G/A filed on January 26, 20162024 by BlackRock, Inc., in which it reported sole voting power over 612,454525,525 shares and sole dispositive power over 633,662532,906 shares. The address for BlackRock, Inc. is 55 East 52nd Street,50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10055.

(3)
New York 10001.
(4)
The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 9, 20162024 by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, in which it reported sole voting power over 511,344379,523 shares and sole dispositive power over 523,481387,330 shares. The address for Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is Building One, 6300 Bee Cave Road, Building One, Austin, Texas 78746.

(4)
(5)
The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by The Vanguard Group is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 13, 2024 by The Vanguard Group, in which it reported that The Vanguard Group has shared voting power over 13,105 shares, sole dispositive power over 364,799 shares and shared dispositive power over 19,546 shares. The address for The Vanguard Group is 100 Vanguard Blvd., Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355.
(6)
The number of shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Copeland Capital Management, LLC is based solely on information in a Schedule 13G filed on January 22, 2024 by Copeland Capital Management, LLC, in which it reported sole voting power over 289,168 shares and shared dispositive power over 361,270 shares. The address for Copeland Capital Management, LLC is 161 Washington St, Suite 1325, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428.
(7)
Mr. Maleh is our president, chief executive officer and president, and one of our directors.

(5)
Dr. Moriarty is our chairman of the board. Amount reported includes 49,000 shares held by Movex, LLC, a limited liability company which is wholly owned by two family trusts.

(6)
(8)
Mr. LowensteinHolmes is our chief strategy officer and executive vice president.

(7)
president and chief corporate development officer.
(9)
Mr. Yellin is our executive vice president and general counsel.
(10)
Member of our board of directors.

(8)
(11)
Mr. HolmesMahoney is our executive vice president, chief financial officer executive vice president and treasurer.


15

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 16(a) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE

        Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, requires our officers and directors and persons who beneficially own more than ten percent of our common stock to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC regulations require officers, directors and greater-than-ten-percent shareholders to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.

        Based solely upon a review of Forms 3 and 4 and amendments thereto furnished to us during fiscal 2015 and Forms 5 and amendments thereto furnished to us with respect to fiscal 2015, or written representations that a Form 5 was not required for fiscal 2015, we believe that all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors and greater-than-ten-percent shareholders were fulfilled in a timely manner.


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COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Director compensation

        We pay

In fiscal 2023, we paid our non-employee directors, who consist of all our directors other than our chief executive officer, an annual fee of $75,000 for their services as directors. We paypaid an annual fee of $25,000 to the chair of our audit committee, $20,000 to the chair of our compensation committee, $10,000 to the chairs of our executive committee and our nominating and corporate governance committee, and $5,000 to each non-employee director who serves as a member, but not the chair, of any committee for service on each committee above one. Our chairmanWe also receivespaid an annual fee of $150,000, as well as office space, support services$30,000 to our lead director. In addition, each independent director serving on a committee receives an additional amount equal to $1,500 for each committee meeting attended by such director after the eighth meeting of such committee in a calendar year. In fiscal 2023, none of the committees met more than eight times and, healthcare benefits, for his services as chairman of ouraccordingly, no non-employee director received such additional amount. Our board of directors.directors on a regular basis reviews the competitiveness and appropriateness of its director compensation program to ensure that it is aligned with current leading practices and within competitive pay levels. Directors who are employees do not receive separate fees for their service as directors. All of the payments described in this paragraph are made in cash.

In February 2024, the board of directors determined to increase the annual fee payable to non-employee directors for their service as directors from $75,000 to $85,000, effective January 1, 2024.

Under the terms of our 2006 equity incentive plan, each director who is not employed by, and does not provide independent contractor services as a consultant or advisor to, us or our subsidiaries receives the automatic restricted stock awards described below. We refer to these directors as our "non-employee“non-employee directors." Currently, other than Mr. Maleh, all of our non-employee directors are Drs. Holthausen, Moriarty and Robertson, Messrs. Avery, Concannon and Schleyer and Ms. Hawthorne. Eachnon-employee directors. In fiscal 2023, each non-employee director who is re-electedwas reelected or elected as a director at, or whose term as a director continuescontinued after the annual meeting of our shareholders, (or any special meeting in lieu thereof) receives,received on the date of the annual meeting of shareholders in 2023, a restricted stock award, vesting in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant, valued at $75,000$100,000 based on the closing price of our common stock as of the date of the meeting. In addition, each person who iswas first elected or appointed as a non-employee director receives,received, on the date of his or her election or appointment, a restricted stock award, vesting in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant, valued at $75,000$100,000 based on the closing price of our common stock as of the date of the grant. Under our 2006 equity incentive plan, the value of these automatic grants of restricted stock awards may be changed by our board of directors.

In February 2024, the board of directors determined to increase the value of the annual restricted stock award granted to non-employee directors and the restricted stock award granted in connection with a first election or appointment as a non-employee director from $100,000 to $125,000, effective as of the date of the 2024 annual meeting.

In fiscal 2015,2023, we gaveawarded the following grants to our non-employee directors in accordance with the terms of our 2006 equity incentive plan. In connection with the special meeting in lieu of annual meeting of our shareholders held on July 22, 2015,13, 2023, each of Drs.Profs. Holthausen Moriarty and Robertson,Tookes, Messrs. Avery, Booth and Concannon, Ms. Detrick and Schleyer, and Ms. HawthorneDr. Taylor received a restricted stock award of 3,172990 shares of our common stock. In connection with his appointment to our boardOur 2006 equity incentive plan has an annual limit of directors on February 22, 2016, Mr. Avery received a restricted stock award of 3,951 shares of our common stock. Each of these restricted stock awards vests in four equal annual installments, beginning150,000 on the first anniversarynumber of the date of grant.

shares that may be granted to a single recipient thereunder in a calendar year.

The following table provides information regarding the compensation earned by our non-employee directors in fiscal 2015, including Mr. Maheu, who served on our board of directors until July 22, 2015.

2023.


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Non-Employee Director Compensation Table for Fiscal 2015

2023
NameFees Earned
or Paid in
Cash ($)
Stock Awards
($)(1)(2)(3)(4)
Total
($)
Thomas Avery95,00099,921194,921
Richard Booth75,00099,921174,921
William Concannon120,00099,921219,921
Christine Detrick80,00099,921179,921
Robert Holthausen100,00099,921199,921
Alva Taylor80,00099,921179,921
Heather Tookes80,00099,921179,921

Name
 Fees Earned
or Paid
in Cash
($)
 Stock
Awards
($)(1)(2)(3)
 Total
($)
 

Rowland Moriarty

  245,000  74,987  319,987 

William Concannon

  95,000  74,987  169,987 

Nancy Hawthorne

  80,000  74,987  154,987 

Robert Holthausen

  100,000  74,987  174,987 

Ronald Maheu

  61,250    61,250 

Thomas Robertson

  75,000  74,987  149,987 

William Schleyer

  95,000  74,987  169,987 

(1)

These grant date fair values were computed in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, "Compensation—“Compensation—Stock Compensation" ("Compensation” ​(“ASC Topic 718"718”), excluding the effect of estimated forfeitures, based on the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant. Additional details on accounting for share-based compensation can be found in note 1, "Summary“Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Share-Based Compensation," and note 11, "Share-Based10, “Share-Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2016.

February 29, 2024.
(2)

Amount reflects the grant date fair value of a restricted stock award made toon July 13, 2023, in the case of each non-employee director, on July 22, 2015and in each case under ourthe 2006 equity incentive plan.

(3)

As of January 2, 2016,December 30, 2023, each non-employee director and Mr. Maheu held the number of outstanding unvested shares of restricted stock set forth in the table below. On July 20, 2015, our compensation committee determined that, in recognition of Mr. Maheu's exemplary service as a director, his
NameShares (#)
Thomas Avery2,892
Richard Booth3,459
William Concannon2,892
Christine Detrick3,385
Robert Holthausen2,892
Alva Taylor1,738
Heather Tookes1,648
(4)
Dividends declared with respect to shares of restricted stock wouldgranted to our non-employee directors under our 2006 equity incentive plan after July 11, 2018 are not be forfeited uponpaid until the terminationunderlying shares of his service as a directorrestricted stock become vested. These dividends are, and have been, factored into the grant date fair values reported for the shares of restricted stock on July 22, 2015, and instead would continue vesting over their specified time-based vesting schedule.which they are paid.

Name
Shares (#)

Rowland Moriarty

8,597

William Concannon

8,597

Nancy Hawthorne

5,053

Robert Holthausen

5,533

Ronald Maheu

5,425

Thomas Robertson

8,597

William Schleyer

8,597

Director stock ownership guidelines

The current policy of our board of directors is that our non-employee directors should acquire and obtain shares of our common stock (whether or not vested) with an aggregate value equal to at least 300% of the director'sdirector’s annual fee (currently $75,000)($75,000 in fiscal 2023 and $85,000 effective January 1, 2024) for serving on our board of directors. If a non-employee director has not achieved, or is not maintaining this threshold, the director is required to hold 50% of the total shares of our common stock received by him or her upon the vesting of shares of restricted stock, or the exercise of stock options, net of any shares sold to fund the exercise pricescover tax withholding. All of option exercises or any tax withholding.

our directors, other than Ms. Keenan due solely to her more recent appointment as a director, currently meet our stock ownership guidelines.

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Compensation committee interlocks and insider participation

        The

During fiscal 2023, the members who served on our compensation committee during fiscal 2015 were Drs. MoriartyMessrs. Avery and RobertsonConcannon, Prof. Tookes and Mr. Schleyer.Ms. Detrick. None of these members was one of our officers or employees

17


during fiscal 2015,2023, and none of these members is one of our former officers. None of these members had any relationship requiring disclosure under Item 404 of Regulation S-K. None of our executive officers serves (or served during fiscal 2015)2023) on the board of directors or compensation committee of an entity that has one or more executive officers serving (or who served during fiscal 2015)2023) on our board of directors or compensation committee.

Compensation discussion and analysis

This compensation discussion and analysis provides a detailed description of our executive compensation objectives, practices and programs, as well as the means by which our compensation committee determines executive compensation under those programs. This compensation discussion and analysis focuses on the compensation of our executive officers for fiscal year 2015,2023, who were:


our president, chief executive officer president and director,chairman of the board, Paul Maleh;


our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Daniel Mahoney;

our executive vice president and treasurer,chief corporate development officer, Chad Holmes; and


our chief strategy officer and executive vice president Arnold Lowenstein.

and general counsel, Jonathan Yellin.

These executive officers are sometimes referred to as our "named“named executive officers." In addition, this compensation discussion and analysis also describes other compensation arrangements and actions taken since the end of fiscal 2015 to the extent that these descriptions enhance the understanding of our executive officer compensation programs and practices.

As used below, the terms "senior“senior corporate leaders," "practice leaders"” “practice leaders” and "key“key revenue generators,"generators” refer to the following groups of our employees:


senior corporate leaders:leaders: our executive officers and other senior-level corporate leaders;


practice leaders:leaders: our senior employee consultants who lead our practice groups; and


key revenue generators:generators: our senior and other employee consultants who generate a high level of revenue for us.

Executive Summary

summary

Executive officers

We seek to align the compensation we pay our executive officers with the interests of our shareholders.
Our executive officers'officers’ total compensation each fiscal year is generally comprised of a mix of base salary and a much larger portion of variable at-risk compensation consisting of annual incentive cash bonuses, and long-term incentive equity awards and, in some cases, long-term incentive cash awards. This mix of fixed and variable at-risk compensation is designed to create competitive compensation packages that reward our executive officers for achieving our long-term and short-term business objectives, including increasing our growth, profitability and shareholder value, without encouraging unnecessary or excessive risk-taking.


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Our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan

We believe that the equity compensationand cash awards granted under our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP," and 2006 equity incentive plan is“LTIP,” are the cornerstonefoundation of our overall pay-for-performance compensation program for our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators. These equity awards serve to motivate high levels of performance, recognize these employees'employees’ contributions to our success, and encourage them to considersupport our long-term growth and profitability, thereby aligning their interests with the interests of our shareholders. We conduct our business in a very competitive environment. In order to remain competitive, we must be able to recruit and employ top-flight corporate officers and employee consultants who have abundant talent, demonstrated skills and experience, and, as to employee consultants, the ability to become key revenue generators for us. In addition, we must be able to retain our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators. We believe that equity compensation is athe awards granted under the LTIP are vital partparts of the compensation that we must provide in order to achieve those goals.

        Our


18


Although the LTIP serves as a frameworkhas historically been focused on equity awards, and it would be our preference for equity awards to remain the equity compensation we grant toprimary focus of our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsLTIP going forward, constraints on the number of shares available under our 2006 equity incentive plan. The composition and mix of the equityplan resulted in cash awards granted under our LTIP are the same for our senior corporate leaders, as they are for our practice leaders and other key revenue generators. The vitalplaying a more prominent role that our LTIP and 2006 equity plan play in the LTIP for the senior leaders consisting of our group and practice leaders. In this regard, while seeking to continue to align our group and practice leaders’ compensation of the employee consultants who arewith our practice leadersperformance, growth and otherprofitability, our compensation committee split their LTIP compensation between restricted stock units and LTIP-based cash awards, 30% and 70%, respectively. Our key revenue generators is evidencedreceived only LTIP cash awards for the past several fiscal years, as well as in fiscal 2023, and will likely continue to receive only LTIP cash awards for the foreseeable future.
At the annual meeting of our shareholders held on July 13, 2023, our shareholders approved amendments to our 2006 equity incentive plan (as so amended, the “amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan,” which, among other things, (i) increased the maximum number of shares issuable under the 2006 equity incentive plan by 500,000 shares, (ii) limited the factterm of any stock appreciation rights, or SARs, to ten years, (iii) made other minor revisions that clarify the LTIP awards granted to them represented on average 83%terms of the LTIP2006 equity incentive plan and (iv) made certain amendments to the French Sub-plan included in the amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan.
As of April 22, 2024, we had 667,279 shares available for grant under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan as counted under the plan. As the amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan counts each full-share award granted under the plan (all awards granted during fiscal 2013 through 2015.

we grant other than stock options and SARs) as 1.83 shares, this number represents only 364,633 full-share awards available for grant under the plan.

Statement of Shares issued under the French Sub-plan pursuant to Section L. 225-197-4 of the French Commercial Code
Our French Sub-plan included in the amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan requires us to report a statement of shares issued under the French Sub-plan at each annual shareholder meeting. As of April 22, 2024, we did not issue any shares of our common stock under the French Sub-plan.
Compensation program highlights

The table below discusses the material features of our compensation programs.


Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

Practice

Highlights
Pay for Performance


Annual Incentive Cash Bonuses.Bonuses.   The annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers are eligible to receive are tied to the achievement of objective financial goals and individual strategic goals tailored to the executive officer.

In fiscal 2015, these2023, the target payments of annual incentive cash bonuses constituted over 57%49% of the target cash compensation of our chief executive officer and 44% of the target cash compensation of our chief financial officer.

officers.
(1)

Variable At-Risk Compensation.

Performance-Based LTIP Awards.   The compensation packagesequity and cash awards granted tounder our executive officersLTIP include a significant percentage of variable at-risk compensation with value tied to our performance or the performance of our common stock.

In fiscal 2015, variable at-risk compensation in the form of annual incentive cash bonuses and LTIP equity awards comprised over 72% of the target total compensation of our chief executive officer and over 60% of the target total compensation of our chief financial officer.





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Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

LTIP PRSUs. Performanceperformance-vesting restricted stock units or "PRSUs,"(“PRSUs”) and performance-based cash awards, with vesting tied to the achievement of objective financial goals over a period of at least one or more fiscal year, constitute 40% of the awards granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP.

years.

CEO Salary.

NEO Salary.   Our performance is one of the primary factors considered by our compensation committee in determining the salaries of our executive officers, including our chief executive officer's salary.

officer.
(1)
Target cash compensation includes salary and target annual incentive cash bonuses for 2023 fiscal year performance.

19


Compensation Program Highlights

Practice

In fiscal 2015, our CEO received his first salary increase since fiscal 2012 in recognition of our improved performance over fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Highlights


Risk Mitigation.Mitigation.   To further ensure that payment under our executive compensation packages is commensurate with our performance, these packages have the features discussed in the "Risk Mitigation"“Risk Mitigation” section below.


Use of Variable, At-Risk Compensation



Variable, At-Risk Compensation.   The compensation packages granted to our executive officers include a significant percentage of variable at-risk compensation, including equity awards, the value of which after granting fluctuates with the performance of our common stock, and cash and equity awards with performance objectives that are tied to our performance.

Retention

In fiscal 2023, variable, at-risk compensation(2)comprised over 68% of the target total compensation of our executive officers.(3)
Retention

4-Year

Vesting Period.Schedule.   The stock options, time-vesting restricted stock units or "RSUs,"(“RSUs”), and PRSUs granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP all have vesting periods ofvest over at least 4 years, with the first tranche vesting no earlier than the first anniversary of the date of grant.

Other than service-based and performance-based cash awards granted to our Canadian employees, which vest over 3 years, all other service-based and performance-based cash awards granted under our LTIP in fiscal 2023 also vest over at least 4 years.

In fiscal 2015, over 33% of the aggregate target compensation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer was comprised of the grant date fair values of equity


Minimum First-Year Vesting Tranche.   All awards under our LTIP.

amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan are granted with a minimum one-year vesting period, subject to a carve out for up to 5% of the shares issuable under the plan.

Performance Period. Since 2011,

Dividends.   The dividend equivalent rights that accrue with respect to the RSUs and PRSUs granted under our LTIP have had a performance periodamended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan are subject to vesting on the same terms as the underlying award, and thus cannot be paid or otherwise settled until the underlying award has vested. The plan prohibits the payment of 2 years.

dividends or the accruing of dividend equivalent rights on stock options and stock appreciation rights granted under the plan, and prohibits the payment of dividends, and the settlement of dividend equivalent rights accruing, on unvested full-share awards granted under the plan after July 11, 2018, all as further described below under the heading “Dividends and dividend equivalent rights.”

The employment of only 3 of the 33 2013 LTIP participants terminated prior to the end of the 2013 PRSUs' 2-year performance period.

The employment of only 1 of the 38 2014 LTIP participants has terminated during the 2014 PRSUs' 2-year performance period (which will end on December 31, 2016).




Shareholder Alignment


Annual Incentive Cash Bonuses. Since 2012, 70% of the target amount of theBonuses.   The fiscal 2023 annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers have been eligible to receive (other than components directly linked to revenue sourcing or oversight) has beenwere tied to the achievement of equally weighted net revenue and profitability goals, weighted equally between them, motivating both top-line and bottom-line growth.


For the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief corporate development officer and general counsel, the proportions of the target annual incentive bonus tied to these goals were 70%, 50%, 50% and 50%, respectively.



(2)
Variable, at-risk compensation includes annual incentive cash bonuses for 2023 fiscal year performance, and all LTIP equity awards, measured at target.
(3)
Target total compensation includes target cash compensation as described in footnote 1 above, as well as all LTIP equity awards, measured at target.

20



Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

Practice

Highlights


LTIP Stock Options. Stock options, whichEquity Awards.   The awards that may be granted under our LTIP include equity awards that gain value only as our stock price increases after the date of grant, constitute 30% of the awards granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP.

LTIPgrant. The grants include PRSUs. The performance-vesting for the PRSUs granted under our LTIP is that are based on revenue growth and profitability measuresmeasured over a performance period of at least one fiscal year or longer, motivating bothyear. These awards further reinforce our focus on top-line and bottom-line growth.




Risk Mitigation


Mix of Compensation. OurCompensation.   In fiscal 2023, our executive officer compensation contained a mix of salary, annual incentive cash bonuses and long-term incentive equity compensation is designed to keep our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsexecutive officers motivated without encouraging unnecessary or excessive risk-taking.


Performance Award Caps/Committee Discretion.Discretion.   The annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers arewere eligible to receive (other than components tied directly to the executive officer's revenue generation or oversight), and the PRSUs granted under our LTIP, arefor fiscal 2023 were subject to maximum payment amounts and have targets tied to the achievement of revenue and profitability measures.amounts. The annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers are eligible to receivepayouts are subject to the discretion of our compensation committee, towhich can reduce or eliminate the amount paid regardless of the performance achieved, mitigatingachieved. These factors mitigate the risk that they could lead toof payments that are not commensurate with our actual performance.

In fiscal 2015, our chief executive officer offered to reduce the aggregate amount payable


Ownership Guidelines.   We have ownership requirements for equity awards granted to our executive officers under their annual incentive cash bonuses by more than 10% of the earned payment amount, and this offer was accepted by our compensation committee.

Since fiscal 2011, the maximum number of shares of our common stock issuable under each PRSU granted under our LTIP has been 125% of the PRSU's target amount.

Stock Ownership Guidelines. We have the rigorous stock ownership requirements for awards granted under our LTIP described in the "Stock Ownership Guidelines"“Ownership Guidelines” section below, which motivatealign our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators to considerexecutive officers’ long-term financial interests with those of our long-term performance.

shareholders.





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Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

Independent Compensation Consultant.Consultant.   Our compensation committee can seek, and has sought and received, advice regarding the structuring of our compensation programs from an independent compensation consultant.

In fiscal 2015,2023, our compensation committee received advice from Semler Brossy Consulting Group, LLC, which theor “Semler Brossy.” The committee determined that Semler Brossy was independent from us.

us and that no conflicts existed.


Clawback Policies.Policy.   We have adopted the compensation recovery policiespolicy discussed in the section "Clawback Policies"“Clawback Policy” below.




No Derivatives, Hedging, Short Sales; Limited Pledging


Derivatives, Hedging, Short Sales.Sales.   Our trading policies prohibit transactions in derivatives, hedging or short sales.

sales of our common stock.

Pledging.

Pledging.   Our trading policies prohibit pledging our common stock without the approval of our chief executive officer or our general counsel.




Acceleration Following Change in Control


Cash Plan Awards.Awards.   The annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers are eligible to receive under our cash incentive plan are automatically accelerated in connection with a change in control only if the awards are neither assumed nor substituted for.

for by the acquirer.


Equity Plan Awards.Awards.   There is no automatic acceleration of equity awards under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, or under our form agreements for these awards, in

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Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights
connection with a change in control.

None of our executive officers has an employment agreement. None of our executive officers has an agreement providing for acceleration of equity awards Acceleration in connection with a change in control.

control of assumed or substituted for equity awards granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan is limited to double-trigger acceleration. Acceleration in connection with a change in control of performance awards that are neither assumed nor substituted for is limited to acceleration based on actual performance that is prorated for the portion of the performance period that has been completed. In March 2020, we entered into severance agreements with each of our named executive officers, which provide for the acceleration of certain equity awards held by the applicable named executive officer upon termination of his employment within 12 months following a change in control, as described in this proxy statement under the heading “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Potential payments upon termination or change in control” below.

Clawback Policy



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Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

Clawback Policies

NEOs.NEOs.   In April 2015,response to recently adopted Nasdaq Stock Market and SEC rules, our board of directors has adopted an omnibus equity and incentivea policy for the recovery of erroneously awarded compensation, recovery policy, which enables it to seek recoupment of annual or long-term incentive cash or equity compensation granted after April 30, 2015 (including equity awards granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan) from our current or former named executive officers in the event of an accounting restatement due to our material noncompliance with any financial reporting requirement under applicable securities laws (excluding restatements resulting from changes to applicable accounting principles) together with a determination by our board of directors that the applicable person, individually or with others, was directly responsible for this noncompliance. The amount recoverable pursuant to this policy cannot exceed the additional compensation received by the applicable person as a result of the financial statements initially used to determine his or her compensation differing from the restated form, and no compensation can be recovered under this policy more than three years after it was paid or vested, as applicable.

.

Cash Incentive Plan. The annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers are eligible to receive under our cash incentive plan with respect to any given fiscal year are subject to recoupment, reimbursement or forfeiture under the plan if our financial statements for that fiscal year are negatively affected by a restatement as a result of errors, omissions, or fraud.




Stock Ownership Guidelines


LTIP Awards.Awards.   The equity awards granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsexecutive officers under our LTIP are subject to rigorous stock ownership thresholds, which are set at 400% of annual base salary for our chief executive officer and 300% of annual base salary for each of our other executive officers, and 140% of annual base salary for our practice leaders and other key revenue generators. In general, until these thresholds are met and would continue to be met, LTIP participants may not sell shares received upon the vesting of LTIP awards or exercise stock options granted under our LTIP prior to the termination of their employment with us.

officers.



NEOs and Key Revenue Generators Participate on Same Basis in LTIP

LTIP Awards Mix. The composition and mix of the equity awards granted under our LTIP are the same for our senior corporate leaders, as they are for the employee consultants who are our practice leaders and other key revenue generators: 30% stock options (with options valued at one-half of a share for this purpose), 30% time-vesting RSUs and 40% performance-vesting RSUs.





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Compensation Program Highlights
PracticeHighlights

The LTIP awards granted to the employee consultants who are our practice leaders and other key revenue generators represented on average 83%of the LTIP awards granted during fiscal 2013 through 2015.




No NEO Tax Gross Ups


No NEO Tax Gross Ups.Ups.   None of our named executive officers has an agreement that provides for any form of tax gross up.




Limited NEO Perquisites


Limited NEO Perquisites.Perquisites.   Except for modest perquisites, for parking and reimbursement for certain health and dental premiums and expenses, our executive officers receive benefits that are comparable to the benefits provided to our other employees and pay costs and taxes on such perquisites on the same basis as other employees.


NEO Severance Agreements


No


NEO Employment Agreements

No NEO Employment Agreements. NoneSeverance Agreements.   Each of our named executive officers has an employment agreement.




Section 162(m)

Qualified Performance-Based Compensation. The annual incentive cash bonuses granted under our stockholder-approved cash incentive plan,a severance agreement with us that provides severance and other benefits in connection with a termination by us without cause or by the stock options and PRSUs granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan, to our named executive officers are intended to be "qualified performance-based compensation"officer for good reason with added benefits if such termination is within the meaning12 months of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, preserving the deductibility of amounts paid under them.

a change in control.

In fiscal 2015, Section 162(m) only minimally limited the deductibility of the compensation we paid to our chief executive officer, and it did not limit the deductibility of the compensation we paid to our other named executive officers.




Consideration of the 2015 say on pay2023 say-on-pay vote

At the special meeting in lieu of annual meeting of our shareholders held on July 22, 2015,13, 2023, we held a non-binding, advisory shareholder vote on the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in the proxy statement filed in connection with that meeting, pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (including in the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables and accompanying narrative disclosures), commonly referred to as a "say-on-pay"“say-on-pay” vote. Our shareholders

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overwhelmingly approved the compensation of our named executive officers, as over 97%95% of the shares voted at the specialannual meeting on the say-on-pay resolution (excluding abstentions and broker non-votes) were voted in favor of it.
As we evaluated our compensation practices and policies for and throughout fiscal 2015,2023, our compensation committee was mindful of the strong support our shareholders expressed for our philosophy of aligning the compensation of our executive officers with our interests and the interests of our shareholders. In addition, senior management seeks to engage in conversations with our shareholders throughout the year to ensure that management and the board understand and consider the issues that are important to them. As a result, our compensation committee decided to follow the same general approach to executive officer compensation for fiscal 20152023 that it has followed since fiscal 2010, including granting salary, annual incentive-based cash bonuses, and equity awards under our LTIP and our 2006 equity incentive plan to our senior corporate

LTIP.

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leaders (including our executive officers), practice leaders and other key revenue generators. Our compensation committee will continue to consider the outcome of our say-on-pay votes when making future compensation decisions.

Compensation objectives

Our growth and long-term success depend upon our ability to attract and retain talented and highly qualified corporate executives and employee consultants. The main objectives of our compensation programs are:


to provide competitive compensation packages that enable us to attract, retain and reward talented and highly-qualifiedhighly qualified corporate executives and employee consultants who will contribute or are contributing to our growth and long-term success;


to align compensation with the interestinterests of our shareholders, and motivate and reward high levels of performance achieved without taking unnecessary or excessive risks, by linking a substantial portion of compensation to performance;

and

to recognize and reward the achievement of pre-established objective financial and individual performance goals; and

to make a reasonable effort to cause compensation paid to our named executive officers to be deductible by us while simultaneously providing them with appropriate rewards for their performance.

goals.

We believe these objectives are furthered by the use of compensation packages that include salary, annual incentive cash compensation, and long-term incentive equity and/or cash compensation.

Compensation processes and procedures

Role of our compensation committee and chief executive officer

The compensation committee established by our board of directors is currently composed of Mr. Schleyer,Avery, who is the chairman, Drs. MoriartyMr. Concannon, Prof. Tookes and Robertson, and Mr. Avery,Ms. Detrick, all of whom are independent directors (within the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market) and outside directors (within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code). Our compensation committee is governed by a written charter adopted by our board of directors. A copy of our compensation committee charter is available through the Investor Relations page of our website atwww.crai.com.www.crai.com. Under the charter, our compensation committee is responsible for recommending to our board of directors the compensation philosophy and policies that we should follow, particularly with respect to the compensation of members of our senior management. In addition to and among the other duties set forth in this proxy statement under the heading "Corporate“Corporate Governance—Executive officers and directors—Compensation committee"committee” above, the committee is responsible for:


reviewing and approving, or recommending for approval by our board of directors, the compensation of our executive officers, including our chief executive officer;


setting, in consultation with management, as applicable, and, if desired by the committee, our compensation consultant, the corporate and individual performance criteria, performance targets and payment formulas of our executive officers'officers’ cash and equity incentive compensation, and overseeing the evaluation of our executive officers in light of those criteria and targets;


administering, reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to our employee benefit plans, including our incentive cash compensation plans and our equity-based plans;


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appointing, determining the compensation of, evaluating and, when necessary, terminating our compensation consultant, as well as evaluating the independence of any compensation consultant, legal counsel or other advisor engaged by the committee;


reviewing and assessing the adequacy of its charter on an annual basis;


evaluating whether or not our compensation practices and policies create unnecessary or excessive risks; and


reviewing and discussing with management our disclosures to be included in our annual proxy statement and annual report on Form 10-K regarding executive compensation, including the sections of this proxy statement entitled "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis"analysis” and "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation policies and practices as they relate to risk management"management” below.

When developing recommendations for the compensation of our executive officers other than our chief executive officer, the committee also takes into account recommendations made by our chief executive officer. Our chief executive officer is not permitted to be present when our compensation committee is deliberating on our chief executive officer'sofficer’s compensation.

Compensation consultant

Our compensation committee has the authority to engage and receive advice from external compensation consultants, with all fees and expenses paid by us. In fiscal 2015,2023, the committee engaged and received advice from Semler Brossy Consulting Group, LLC, or "Semler Brossy." Semler Brossy reports directly to the committee and provides services only as directed by the committee. Our compensation committee has reviewed Semler Brossy'sBrossy’s policies regarding independence and conflicts of interest and assessed Semler Brossy'sBrossy’s independence based on, among other things, this review and consideration of the other factors required by the rules of the Securities Exchange Act, of 1934, as amended, and the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market. Based on this review and consideration, the committee has determined that Semler Brossy is independent from us and that the services provided to us by Semler Brossy in fiscal 20152023 raised no conflicts of interest.

In recent fiscal 2015,years, Semler Brossy providedhas advised our compensation committee with information relating to theregarding executive officer and director compensation levels and trends, including the practices of our peers and other companies, roughly the same size as us, and generally advised the committee regarding the design of our executive officer and director compensation packages, including with respect to the prevalence and structure of financial-related perquisites. Our compensation committee considered this information when setting our 2006 equity incentive plan (in which ournamed executive officers and directors participate), and our LTIP (in which our executive officers participate), including its stock ownership guidelines.

officer compensation packages for fiscal 2023.

Although Semler Brossy does not generally participate in meetings of our compensation committee, Semler Brossy may participate, by invitation, in portions of some of the meetings of our compensation committee, including some of the executive sessions without any members of management present. In addition, the chair of our compensation committee and, with respect to the compensation of our other executive officers, our chief executive officer at the direction of our compensation committee may consult, and in 2023 did consult, with Semler Brossy outside of these meetings.

Setting executive officer compensation and peer groups

In general, our compensation committee is responsible for reviewing and approving, or recommending for approval by our board of directors, the compensation of our executive officers, including our chief executive officer. In fiscal 2015,2023, the compensation of our executive officers was reviewed and approved by our compensation committee. When developing recommendations for the compensation of our executive officers other than our chief executive officer, our compensation committee also took into account recommendations made by our chief executive officer.


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To achieve our executive compensation objectives stated above, our compensation committee does not target any particular benchmarks, and instead strives to make decisions concerning executive compensation that:


establish incentives that link executive officer compensation to our financial performance and that motivate our executives to attain annual financial targets and long-term strategic goals;


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provide total compensation packages that are competitive among our peers that offer consulting services similar to ours;


establish personal objectives that link executive officer compensation to the achievement of goals that correlate to our growth and long-term financial success; and


otherwise align the interests of our executive officers and our shareholders.

Although we compete with other consulting firms to retainacquire top talent and strive to attract and retain our key employees, including our executive officers, our compensation committee does not target any explicit compensation positioning relative to our peers. Instead, peer group information is just one of the factors considered by our compensation committee when establishing the appropriate level of compensation for our executive officers, and the appropriate allocation of their compensation among salary, annual incentive, and long-term incentive compensation and between cash and equity compensation. Other factors considered by our compensation committee include the scope of the executive officer'sofficer’s role, the executive officer'sofficer’s individual performance and experience, and our performance.

In setting our executive officer compensation in fiscal 2015,2023 and other recent fiscal years, our compensation committee has also considered the analysis provided by Semler Brossy regarding the compensation being paid to its executive officers by our "2015a peer group" which was comprised of the following public professional service firms that are in businesses comparable to ours:


FTI Consulting, Inc.


Huron Consulting Group Inc.

Navigant Consulting, Inc.


ICF International


Exponent Inc.
In addition, in setting the fiscal 2015 compensation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer,compensation in recent fiscal years, our compensation committee also reviewed data provided by Semler Brossy derived from the 2014 Towers Watson and Mercer industry surveys of the compensation of these executive officers by companies of roughly the same size as us.

us and data regressed to our level of revenue.

Executive officer compensation in fiscal 2015

2023

The principal components of our executive officer compensation granted in or for our fiscal year ending January 2, 2016December 30, 2023, were (i) cash compensation consistingand long-term incentive equity compensation. The cash compensation consisted of base salary and annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive based on our fiscal 20152023 performance, as well as individual goals established at the beginning of our fiscal year, under our cash incentive plan and (ii) long-term incentiveplan. The equity compensation consistingconsisted of stock options and restricted stock unit awards vesting over four years and performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards based on our fiscal 20162023 and fiscal 20172024 performance, all of which were granted under our LTIP.

We believe that mixing base salary, annual incentive cash bonuses and long-term incentive equity compensation (with vesting based on time and/or performanceperformance) is consistent with our overall compensation philosophy because it rewards performance without encouraging unnecessary or excessive risk-taking, provides competitive compensation packages relative to our peers, aligns the interests of our executive officers and our shareholders, and helps us attract and retain top talent.


Salary

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Salary

We include base salary in our executive officer compensation packages because we believe it is appropriate for a portion of compensation to be fixed and predictable, and because the use of base salary is consistent with the compensation provided to the similarly situated executives of our peers. Additionally, we believe that sufficient base compensation reduces our executive officers' motivation to take unnecessary or excessive risks. Our compensation committee generally fixes the annual base salary of our executive officers at its regularly scheduled meeting in the first fiscal quarter of each year. Each executive officer'sofficer’s base salary reflects his or her position, experience, past contributions and potential. Annual changes to an executive officer'sofficer’s base salary, if any, are based on the committee'scommittee’s assessment of the individual performance of the executive officer, our overall performance and the performances of our business practices, any changes in the executive officer'sofficer’s role, general economic conditions (such as inflation), and economic forecasts. In determining the base salaries

25


of our executive officers, the committee is also generally mindful of our overall goal of remaining competitive with our peers and retaining our executive officers.

On April 3, 2015,11, 2023, our compensation committee set thedetermined that annual rates of base salary for our executive officers would remain unchanged from 2022 as follows: $660,000$900,000 for Mr. Maleh, our president and chief executive officer; $350,000$450,000 for Mr. Mahoney, our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; $450,000 for Mr. Holmes, our chief financial officer, executive vice president and treasurer;chief corporate development officer; and $400,000$450,000 for Mr. Lowenstein,Yellin, our chief strategy officer and executive vice president.president and general counsel. In increasing Mr. Maleh'sdetermining each of our other executive officer’s annual rate of base salary to $660,000,from its fiscal 2022 level, the committee considered the improvements in our performance over fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014, during which period Mr. Maleh's annual rate of base salary was fixed at $600,000, as well as advice fromseveral factors, including input provided by Semler Brossy, that such an increase would lead to Mr. Maleh's annual rate of base salary being appropriately positioned relative to the base salariesperformance of the chiefCompany and individual executive officers in our 2015 peer group. As the committee had just set the annual rate of base salary of Mr. Holmes upon his promotion to our chief financial officer executive vice president and treasurer in November 2014, it did not increase his annual rate of base salary for fiscal 2015. Semler Brossy advised the committee that Mr. Holmes's annual rate of base salary for 2015 remained appropriately positioned relative to the base salaries of the chief financial officers in our 2015 peer group. Mr. Lowenstein's annual rate of base salary, which has remained at $400,000 since fiscal 2010, is split evenly between his dual roles as our corporate chief strategy officer and a senior employee consultant.

performance.

Annual incentive cash bonuses

In addition to base salary, the cash compensation of our executive officers for fiscal 2015 also2023 included annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive under our cash incentive plan, based on the achievement of performance goals linked to our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP net revenue, our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA, subjective individualcertain performance goals for fiscal 2015 (with this last component, in the case of our chief executive officer, being limited by an objective performance formula based on our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA) and, in the case of Mr. Lowenstein, the revenue sourced by him in fiscal 2015.metrics. The use of these annual incentive cash bonuses permitpermits us to provide our executive officers with motivation to pursue particular objectives in any given year that are consistent with our growth and profitability, as well as the overall goals and strategic direction set by our board of directors. These annual incentive cash bonuses also tie compensation to performance, and thus play an important role in our pay-for-performance philosophy.
The importance of this philosophy to us and our compensation committee is demonstrated by the fact that in fiscal 20152023 the target payment amounts under these annual incentive cash bonuses constituted over 57%49% of the target cash compensation of our chief executive officer and 44% of the target cash compensation of our chief financial officer.

        An analysis of the cash incentive bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance, as well as the determination by our compensation committee on March 7,

officers.
(4)

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2016 of the actual amounts to be paid with respect to them, is set forth below. A more complete description of our cash incentive plan is contained in this proxy statement under the headings "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards—Cash incentive plan."

    Performance criteria and targets of fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses.

On April 3, 2015,11, 2023, our compensation committee determined the performance criteria, performance targets and payment formulas of the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan.

The performance criteria underlying these annual incentive cash bonuses were based on non-GAAP financial metrics based on our fiscal 20152023 consolidated non-GAAP net revenue, (excluding the impact of our NeuCo subsidiary,1 acquisitions, discontinued operations and extraordinary and special items, as determined by our compensation committee) and our fiscal 2015 consolidated Adjusted2023 “Performance Compensation EBITDA, (excluding the impact of our NeuCo subsidiary, acquisitions, discontinued operations and extraordinary and special items, as determined by our compensation committee and, in calculating Adjusted EBITDA from our income from operations, excluding the following non-cash expenses: depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense and amortization of forgivable loans), and onsubjective individual subjective performance goals for fiscal 2015 tailored for each executive officer. These2023.(5)
The net revenue and earnings performance criteria were weighted equally, with each tied to 35% of the target payment amount of thesethe annual incentive cash bonuses.bonus, in the case of our president and chief executive officer, Mr. Maleh, and to 25% of the target payment amount of the annual incentive cash bonus, in the case of each of our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Mr. Mahoney, our executive vice president and chief corporate development officer, Mr. Holmes, and our executive vice president and general counsel, Mr. Yellin. This equal weighting of objective financial performance criteria is designed to motivate our executive officers to consider and improve both our growth and our profitability, thereby aligning their interests with the interests of our shareholders, andshareholders. Semler Brossy advised our compensation committee in recent fiscal years that this weighting iswas in line with the practices of our 2015 peer group.

The performance targets established by our compensation committee in April 2023 for these objective financial performance

(4)
See footnote 1 for the determination of “target cash compensation.”
(5)
As used here, “Performance Compensation EBITDA” means our consolidated GAAP net income reported in our audited financial statements for fiscal 2023, with the following charges added back: interest expense, net, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, amortization of forgivable loans, and other expense, net, all as additionally adjusted for the further non-GAAP adjustments set forth in the following sentence. The non-GAAP net revenue and Performance Compensation EBITDA metrics used for these annual incentive cash bonuses were also subject to the following additional non-GAAP adjustments: acquisitions, discontinued operations, and extraordinary and special items, each to the extent that they arose during fiscal 2023, and any other adjustments to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for fiscal 2023, consistent with past practice.

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criteria were $323.2$659.7 million for our fiscal 20152023 consolidated non-GAAP net revenue (with the exclusions described above) and $55.3$124.0 million for our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA (with2023 Performance Compensation EBITDA.
The subjective individual goals were tied to 30%, in the exclusions described above).

        30%case of our president and chief executive officer, Mr. Maleh, and 50%, in the case of each of our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Mr. Mahoney, our executive vice president and chief corporate development officer, Mr. Holmes, and our executive vice president and general counsel, Mr. Yellin, of the target payment amountsamount of the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance was based on subjectivebonus. The individual performance goals. This component of these bonuses is designed to motivate our executive officers to pursue individual, qualitative and strategic goals consistent with their particular roles. These subjective individual goals were set for our executive officers (other than Mr. Maleh, our president and chief executive officer) by our compensation committee in consultation with our chief executive officer and, for Mr. Maleh, by our compensation committee. In setting the relative importance of this individual component as compared to the components based on objective financial performance criteria, our compensation committee received advice from Semler Brossy that the 30% weighting remains in line with other members of our 2015 peer group with executive officer annual incentive cash bonuses structured to include a component based on individual performance or strategic goals.

        The annual incentive cash bonus that Mr. Lowenstein was eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance included an additional component based on the revenue sourced by Mr. Lowenstein in fiscal 2015 in order to recognize the importance of, and to reward, Mr. Lowenstein's direct client revenue sourcing activities, in addition to his management performance as our chief strategy officer.


1
Our subsidiary NeuCo, Inc., or "NeuCo," develops and markets a family of neural network software tools and complementary application consulting services that are currently focused on electric utilities. As of January 2, 2016, our ownership interest in NeuCo was 55.89%.

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    Payment formulas of annual incentive cash bonuses for fiscal 20152023 performance.

The overall target payments for the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance excluding Mr. Lowenstein's revenue sourcing bonus, which did not have a pre-determined target payment, were as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $900,000$1,100,000 (or approximately 136%122% of annual base salary); for Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Holmes, $275,000$375,000 (or approximately 79%83% of annual base salary); and for Mr. Lowenstein, $200,000Yellin, $325,000 (or 50%72% of annual base salary). The target payment for the annual incentive cash bonus granted to Mr. Maleh in fiscal 2015 remained at the level initially set by the compensation committee in fiscal 2012, although it dropped as a percentage of his annual base salary, from 150% to 136%, due to the increase of his annual base salary in fiscal 2015 to $660,000 from its $600,000 level in fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014. The committee set the target for Mr. Holmes's annual incentive cash bonus for 2015 below 100% in order to give room for the percentage to grow with Mr. Holmes's tenure as our chief financial officer, but increased the percentage to reflect Mr. Holmes's continued additional role as a corporate development officer. The committee set the $200,000 target for the portion of Mr. Lowenstein's annual incentive cash bonus based on his management role at 100% of the $200,000 portion of his $400,000 annual base salary that is attributable to his role as our chief strategy officer.

The amounts to be paid under these annual incentive cash bonuses, which were determined by our compensation committee on March 7, 2016April 11, 2023 as described under the heading "Amounts“Amounts paid with respect to fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses"bonuses” below, could not exceed a maximum payment amount, (without taking into account Mr. Lowenstein's revenue sourcing bonus, which had no pre-determined maximum payment amount because there was no pre-determined limit on revenue he could source in fiscal 2015), mitigating the risk that the incentive cash compensation payable to our executive officers for fiscal 20152023 would not be commensurate with our actual performance. These maximum payment amounts, which emphasize the relative importance of the objective financial performance criteria underlying them, were determined as follows: (1) the maximum payment of anyeach component linked to our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP net revenue or our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAearnings performance criteria was equal to twice that component'scomponent’s target payment, and (2) the maximum payment of any component linked to individual subjective performance goals was 140% of that component'scomponent’s target payment. The amount payable to Mr. Maleh under the component of his fiscal 2015 annual incentive cash bonus linked to individual subjective performance goals was further limited by an objective formula amount based on our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA (with the exclusions described above) in order to preserve the deductibility of the amounts payable to him under it. The target and maximum amounts payable under these annual incentive cash bonuses are reported under the heading "Estimated“Estimated Possible Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards"Awards” in the "Grants“Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal 2015"2023” table in the "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards" section of this proxy statement below.

The payment formulas under the components of thethese annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance tied to objective financialnet revenue and earnings performance criteria (other than Mr. Lowenstein's revenue sourcing bonus) increased the payment by 1% of the target payment for each 1% that the performanceachievement of the applicable performance criteria exceeded the applicable performance target (subject to the component'scomponent’s maximum payment amount), and decreased the payment by 1% of the target payment for each 1% that the performanceachievement of the applicable performance criteria missed the applicable performance target (subject to a floor of zero). Our compensation committee initially adopted this one-to-one so-called "leverage curve"“leverage curve” in fiscal 2009 based, in part, on advice from Semler Brossy that less steep leverage curves are more appropriate when performance targets are unpredictable and volatile. Our compensation committee decided to retain this one-to-one leverage curve for the components of the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance tied to objective financial performance


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criteria based on the same rationale.

The performancepayment formula determining the amount payable under the components of these annual incentive cash bonuses tied to individual subjective performance goals provided for a payment based on a tally sheet weighted-average score of the applicable executive officer'sofficer’s achievement of his individual subjective business goals ranging from one (below expectations) to five. Specifically, forfive (exceeds expectations). For each of Messrs. Maleh, Mahoney, Holmes and Lowenstein,Yellin, the formula provided for a payment linearly ranging from (1) 60% to 90% of the target payment, as the applicable executive officer'sofficer’s individual component weighted-average score ranged from one to two, (2) 90% to 110% of the target payment, as the applicable executive officer'sofficer’s individual component weighted-average score ranged from two to four, and (3) 110% to the maximum 140% of the target payment, as the applicable executive officer'sofficer’s individual component weighted-average score ranged from four to five, and for Mr. Holmes, the formula provided for a payment linearly ranging from (1) 20% to 100% of the target payment, as his individual component weighted-average score ranged from one to three, (2) 100% to 110% of the target payment, as his individual component weighted-average score ranged from three to four, and (3) 110% to 140% of the target payment, as his individual component weighted-average score ranged from four to five.

        Our compensation committee developed the structure of the payment formulas for our executive officers' annual incentive cash bonuses in consultation with Semler Brossy, and received advice from Semler Brossy in fiscal 2015 that the structure of these payment formulas, including their overall maximum payment amount (excluding Mr. Lowenstein's revenue sourcing bonus, which had no pre-determined maximum amount) of 182% of the bonuses' respective target amounts, were largely in line with the practices of our 2015 peer group.

        The payment formula for Mr. Lowenstein's revenue sourcing bonus provided for a payment equal to 25% of the revenue sourced by him in fiscal 2015 in excess of $800,000. This payment formula was designed to capture the difference between what a typical sourcing consultant would receive compared to the compensation that Mr. Lowenstein would otherwise receive for his service as our chief strategic officer for fiscal 2015.

Regardless of the amount determined by the payment formula of thethese annual cash incentive bonuses, that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance, our compensation committee retained the ability to reduce or eliminate the amount actually paid under the component in its discretion. This discretion mitigated the risk that the annual incentive cash compensation payable to our

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executive officers for fiscal 20152023 could have been disproportionate to our actual performance.

    Our compensation committee did not exercise such discretion in fiscal 2023.

Amounts paid with respect to fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses.

On March 7, 2016,3, 2024, our compensation committee determined the amounts to be paid to our executive officers with respect to the annual incentive cash bonuses they were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance. These amounts, which are reported in the "Summary“Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal 2015"Table” under the heading "Non-Equity“Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation"Compensation” in the "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Summary compensation"compensation” section of this proxy statement below, were determined as follows:


Component linked to our net revenue.revenue. Our fiscal 20152023 consolidated non-GAAP net revenue (with the exclusions described above)(6) was approximately $299.8$624.0 million, or approximately 7.2%6.0% below the adjusted performance target for fiscal 20152023 of $323.2$663.6 million. The compensation committee adjusted the consolidated non-GAAP net revenue target to take into account the $3.9 million impact of foreign currency adjustments during the period. Accordingly, the amount payable under the payment formula for the net revenue component of our executive officers'officers’ fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses was the target payment decreased by approximately 7.2%6% of the target payment.


Component linked to earnings before interest and taxes.Performance Compensation EBITDA. Our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted2023 Performance Compensation EBITDA (with the exclusions described above)(7) was approximately $46.8$110.1 million, or approximately 15.3%11.3% below the adjusted performance target for fiscal 20152023 of

Table $124.1 million. The compensation committee adjusted the Performance Compensation EBIDA target to take into account the $0.1 million impact of Contents

      $55.3 million.foreign currency adjustments during the period. Accordingly, the amount payable under the payment formula for the Adjusted EBITDAearnings component of our executive officers'officers’ fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses was the target payment decreased by approximately 15.3%11.3% of the target payment.


Component linked to individual subjective performance goals.goals. Based on the subjective individual performance goal weighted-average scores for each of our executive officers, the amounts payable under the payment formula for the subjective individual performance goal component of our executive officers'officers’ fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses were equal to the following percentages of their respective target amounts: for Mr. Maleh, 97.5%106%; for Mr. Mahoney, 110%; for Mr. Holmes, 92%106%; and for Mr. Lowenstein, 93.33%Yellin, 113%. Because our fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA (with the exclusions described above) was greater than 50% of the performance target for fiscal 2015 of $55.3 million, the objective payment formula capping the subjective individual performance goal component of Mr. Maleh's cash incentive bonus did not operate to reduce the amount otherwise payable to Mr. Maleh under this component of his fiscal 2015 annual incentive cash bonus.

Component linked to revenue sourcing.    The revenue sourced by Mr. Lowenstein's in fiscal 2015 was $880,761. Accordingly, the amount payable under the payment formula for the revenue sourcing component of Mr. Lowenstein's fiscal 2015 annual incentive cash bonus was 25% of the amount that this sourced revenue exceeded $800,000, which is equal to $20,190.


Determination of amount paid.paid. After calculating the total amount payable to each of our executive officers under the payment formulas for their fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses, our chief executive officer offered to reduce the amount payable to each of our executive officers underrecommended that these bonuses by more than 10% of the earned payment amount, and this offer was accepted by our compensation committee.

amounts be paid.

Long-term incentive equity compensation

        Weprogram

As noted above, we believe that the equity compensationand cash awards granted under our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP," and 2006 equity incentive plan is“LTIP,” are the cornerstonefoundation of our overall pay-for-performance compensation program for our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators. TheseThe LTIP generally serves as a framework for equity awards serve to motivate high levels of performance, recognize these employees' contributionsgranted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and cash awards, other than the annual incentive cash bonuses granted to our success,executive officers, granted under our cash incentive plan.
The equity and encourage themcash awards comprising the grants made under our LTIP are designed to consider our long-term growth and profitability, thereby aligning their interestswork together to achieve the program’s primary objectives; namely to:

directly align a significant portion of the total compensation of these employees with the interestsdelivery of future value to our shareholders. We conduct our business in a very competitive environment. In order to remain competitive, we must be able to recruit and employ top-flight corporate officers and employee consultants who have abundant talent, demonstrated skills and experience, and, as to employee consultants, the ability to become key revenue generators for us. In addition, we must be able to retainshareholders;

focus our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators. We believegenerators on performance by directly linking their compensation to the achievement of pre-determined performance goals and shareholder returns;
(6)
See footnote 5 for the determination of non-GAAP net revenue.
(7)
See footnote 5 for the determination of Performance Compensation EBITDA.

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provide a competitive compensation program that has significant retention value; and

promote top-line and bottom-line growth.
The equity awards granted under our LTIP further align the interests of our executive officers with the interests of our shareholders because they are held subject to the ownership requirements described in this compensation is a vital part ofdiscussion and analysis under the compensation that we must provide in order to achieve those goals.

        Ourheading “Ownership guidelines” below.

Long-term incentive program: equity awards
As noted above, our LTIP serves as a framework for the equity compensation we grant to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan. The composition and mix of the equity awards granted under our LTIP arehave historically been the same for our senior corporate leaders, as they are for our practice leaders and other key revenue generators. Beginning in fiscal 2016, only our executive officers have received the full LTIP equity awards consisting of stock options, time-vesting restricted stock unit awards (“RSUs”) and performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards (“PRSUs”) described below. The vital role thatonly other employees who received equity awards under our LTIP in fiscal 2023 were our group and 2006 equity plan playpractice leaders, each of whom received 30% of their respective LTIP award value in fiscal 2023 in the compensationform of the employee consultants who are our practice leaders and other key revenue generators is evidenced by the fact that the LTIPRSUs.
The equity awards granted to them represented on average 83% of the LTIP awards granted during fiscal 2013 through 2015.

        An analysis of the LTIP equity compensation granted to our executive officers in fiscal 2015 is set forth below. More complete technical descriptions of our LTIP and 2006 equity incentive plan are contained in this proxy statement under the headings "Compensation of Directors and Executive


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Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards—Long-term incentive program" and "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards—2006 equity incentive plan" below.

        Where appropriate, our compensation committee also may grant special restricted stock bonuses under our 2006 equity incentive plan to recognize special achievements relating to unique circumstances, but it did not grant any such special bonus for fiscal 2015.

    Long-term incentive program.

        Equity awards granted under our LTIP to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators are comprised2023 consisted of the following typesmix of equity awards granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan in the following proportions: 30% stock options, 30% time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "RSUs,"awards: 40% RSUs and 40% performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "PRSUs."60% PRSUs. For purposes of these weightings, each share subject to a stock option is treated as one-half of a share, each share by which an RSU or a PRSU is measured is treated as one share, and it is assumed that the PRSUs'PRSUs’ target performance will be achieved. In fiscal 2015, Semler Brossy advisedSince 2019, our compensation committee that the use ofdetermined to grant only RSUs and PRSUs to our executive officers and not to include stock options in these three types of equity awards, with the most weight applying to PRSUs, was in line with the practice of our 2015 peer group.

awards.

The equity awards comprising the grants madeavailable under our LTIP are designed to work together to achieve the program's primary objectives, namely to:

    include:

RSUs because they directly align a significant portionthe interests of the total compensation of these employeesrecipient with the deliveryinterests of future valueour shareholders due to our shareholders;

focus our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators on performance by directly linking their compensation to the achievement of predetermined performance goals and shareholder returns;

provide a competitive compensation program that has significant retention value; and

promote top line and bottom line growth.

        As noted above, the LTIP equity awards are comprised of stock options, RSUs and PRSUs. Equity grants under our LTIP include stock options because they motivate our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators to increase shareholder value. The four-year vesting schedule applicable to the stock options granted under our LTIP provides long-term retention value. Stock options granted under our shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan are also efficient from a tax perspective because the compensation they provide is not subject to the deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code.

        RSUs are included in the equity grants made under our LTIP because their value isbeing directly based ontied to the value of our common stock, so RSUs directly alignstock. In addition, the interestsvesting schedule of our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators with the interests of our shareholders. The four-year vesting scheduleat least four years applicable to RSUs granted under our LTIP provides long-term retention value that is less dependent on our stock price than the retention value of stock options, which may be reduced if our stock price drops below the stock options' exercise price. Because RSUs vest based on time, not performance, the compensation they provide is subject to the deductibility limitations of Section 162(m).

value.


PRSUs are included in the equity grants made under our LTIP because the value of the award is based on our performance, over a period of not less than one fiscal year, or more, enabling us to provide longer-termlonger term compensation that motivates our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsthe recipient to increase our profitability, our growth and shareholder value. TheIn addition, the PRSUs granted under our LTIP also provide long-term retention value because the RSUs earned based upon the outcome of


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a PRSU'sPRSU’s performance conditions are subject to further time-based vesting, so the entire award is paid over at least a four-year vesting period, regardless of the length of the PRSU'sPRSU’s performance period. PRSUs granted under our shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan are also efficient from a tax perspective


Stock options because they motivate the compensation they provide is not subjectrecipient to increase shareholder value, and the deductibility limitations of Section 162(m).

        Thesefour-year vesting schedule applicable to LTIP stock options and shares of common stock issued pursuant to the vesting of these RSUs and PRSUs further align the interests of our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators with the interests of our shareholders because they are held subject to the share ownership requirements described in this compensation discussion and analysis under the heading "Stock ownership guidelines" below.

    LTIPprovides long-term retention value.

Long-term incentive program: awards for fiscal 2015.

2023

On November 12, 2015,April 11, 2023, our compensation committee granted equity awards, composed of stock options, RSUs and PRSUs, as described above, to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsexecutive officers under our LTIP. The aggregate grant date fair values of these equity awards granted to our executive officers (assuming the PRSUs'PRSU’s target performance will be achieved) are as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $847,213;$1,599,955; for Mr. Mahoney, $374,990; for Mr. Holmes, $254,161;$374,990; and for Mr. Lowenstein, $254,161. Accordingly, theYellin, $324,991. The aggregate grant date fair values of this equity compensation represented over 33%about 38% of our chief executive officer's and chief financial officer'sofficers’ fiscal 2015 aggregate2023 target total compensation. This(8) In addition, all of this equity compensation, the value of which is tied to the value of our common stock, together with the target payments of the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive based on fiscal 20152023 performance, under our cash incentive plan, constituted over 72%68% of our chief executive officer's, and over 60% of our chief financial officer's,officers’ fiscal 20152023 target total compensation, demonstrating our commitment to providing executive compensation that aligns the interests of our executive officers with the interests of our shareholders, rewards performance, and provides retention value.

(8)
See footnote 3 for the definition of target total compensation.

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The PRSUs granted to our executive officers under our LTIP in fiscal 20152023 are based on the performance over fiscal 20162023 and fiscal 20172024 of our consolidated non-GAAP average AdjustedPerformance Compensation EBITDA(9) margin (including acquisitions and divestitures) and our consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (excluding(including acquisitions and divestitures), which aligns the interests of the LTIP participants and our shareholders by motivating the LTIP participants to consider both our growth and profitability. The consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA margin and net revenue we will use for these purposes will be the same as the consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA margin and net revenue we report with our financial results for the applicable measurement periods..(10) The number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable under each of these PRSUs is based on the outcome of itstheir performance conditions and ranges from a threshold of 50%52% of the PRSU'sPRSU’s target payment to a maximum of 125%150% of the PRSU'sPRSU’s target payment. If these PRSUs'PRSUs’ threshold performance level is not achieved over their performance period, no payment will be made under them, mitigating the risk that the incentive compensation payable under them will not be commensurate with our actual performance.them. When determining these PRSUs'PRSUs’ performance targets, our compensation committee sets goals that it believes will be challenging to achieve, based on a review of our future financial plan and general economic conditions, in order to motivate a high degree of business performance with an emphasis on longer-termlonger term financial objectives.

The number of shares of our common stock subject to stock options, the number of shares of our common stock by which RSUs are measured, and the threshold, target and maximum number of shares of our common stock by which PRSUs are measured with respect to the LTIP equity awards granted to our executive officers in fiscal 20152023 are set forth under the headings "All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options," "All“All Other Stock Awards: Number of Shares of Stock or Units," and "Estimated“Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards," respectively, in the


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"Grants “Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal 2015"2023” table below.

More complete technical descriptions of our LTIP, amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, and cash incentive plan are contained in this proxy statement under the "Compensationheadings “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards" sectionawards” below.
Dividends and dividend equivalent rights
Our board of this proxy statement below.

    Performance conditions determined for PRSUs granted in fiscal 2013.

        On March 7, 2016, our compensation committee determineddirectors declared the number of shares offirst regular quarterly dividend on our common stock issuable basedin the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016. Although we anticipate continuing to pay regular quarterly dividends on the outcome of performance conditions of PRSUs granted on November 19, 2013 to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP. These PRSUs' performance criteria were based on our fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP average Adjusted EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures) and consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (excluding acquisitions and divestitures). The number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable under each of these PRSUs based on the outcome of the PRSU's performance conditions, or its "performance share number," ranged from a threshold of 50% of PRSU's target payment to a maximum of 125% of the PRSU's target payment. The threshold, target and maximum performance share numbers under these PRSUs were based on threshold, target and maximum performance of 13%, 15% and 17%, respectively, for our fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015 consolidated non-GAAP average Adjusted EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures), and 4%, 8% and 12%, respectively, for our fiscal 2014 and 2015 consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (excluding acquisitions and divestitures). Based on our consolidated non-GAAP average Adjusted EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures) for the performance period of 16.1% and our consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (excluding acquisitions and divestitures) overforeseeable future, the performance period of 4.14%, our compensation committee determined that the performance share number payable under each of these PRSUs based on their payment matrix was 74% of the PRSU's target payment. 50% of each of these performance share numbers vested on March 7, 2016 and were paid in shares of our common stock on that date. The remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of November 19, 2013. The vestingdeclaration of any portion of a PRSU's performance share numberfuture dividends is subject to the continued employmentdiscretion of our board of directors. Since we began paying dividends, the PRSU's recipientonly dividends paid with respect to unvested equity awards have been dividends on the vesting date. Vested portions of a PRSU's payment share number are payable, at our election, in cash,unvested shares of restricted stock issued to our commonnon-employee directors and, as to one grant in 2014, our chief executive officer. Dividends declared with respect to shares of restricted stock granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan and our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan after July 11, 2018 are not paid until the underlying shares of restricted stock become vested.

Dividend equivalent rights accrue with respect to the RSUs and PRSUs granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan in the form of additional units, which we refer to as “dividend units.” Dividend units are credited to the RSU or PRSU when the corresponding dividend is paid on our common stock. Generally, the number of dividend units credited to an RSU or PRSU with respect to a combinationdividend is determined by multiplying the per-share amount of the two.

Stock ownershipdividend by the number of outstanding units under the RSU or PRSU (using the target number of units if the PRSU’s performance conditions are not determined) as of the dividend’s record date, and then dividing the result by our closing stock price on the date the dividend is paid. Dividend units vest on the same dates and in the same relative proportions as the RSUs or PRSUs on which they accrue, and are forfeited if, when and to the extent the RSUs or PRSUs on which they accrue are forfeited. No dividends or dividend equivalent rights will be paid or accrued on stock options or stock appreciation rights granted under the amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan. No dividends will be paid with respect to unvested full-share awards granted under the plan after July 11, 2018, including shares of restricted stock. Any dividend equivalent rights that accrue on unvested full-share awards granted under the plan after July 11, 2018, will not be paid or otherwise settled until the full-share

(9)
As used here, “Performance Compensation EBITDA” means our consolidated net income reported in our audited financial statements for fiscal 2023 and 2024, with the following charges added back: interest expense, net, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, amortization of forgivable loans, and other expense, net, all as additionally adjusted to reflect any other non-GAAP adjustments that we make to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.
(10)
For this purpose, GAAP net revenue will be adjusted to reflect any other non-GAAP adjustments that we make to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.

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award has vested, and will be forfeited if the unvested full-share award is forfeited. To date, our board of directors has determined that all dividend units accruing on RSUs or PRSUs will upon vesting be paid only in cash, and not in shares of our common stock.
Ownership guidelines

The equity awards granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP to our executive officers are subject to share ownership requirements to further promote the long-term nature of the program. The share ownership thresholds are 400% of annual base salary for our chief executive officer and 300% of annual base salary for each of our other executive officers, and 140% of annual base salary for the other LTIP participants.officers. The equity awards that count towards these share ownership thresholds are (1) vested stock options granted under the LTIP, (2) shares of our common stock issued pursuant to vested RSUs granted under the LTIP, (3) shares of our common stock issued pursuant to vested PRSUs granted under the LTIP, and (4) any shares of our common stock or vested stock options delivered to us to be held for purposes of meeting these stock ownership guidelines. If an employee is subject toUntil one of our stock ownership guidelines, until his or herexecutive officer’s employment with us ends or he or she is no longer otherwise providing services for us, he or shesuch executive officer may not exercise any stock option issued under the LTIP or delivered to us to be held for purposes of meeting the stock ownership guidelines, or sell or transfer any shares of common stock issued with respect to RSUs or PRSUs granted under the LTIP or delivered to us to be held for purposes of meeting the stock ownership guidelines (except for sales to cover withholding taxes with respect to such issuance), unless his or her share ownership threshold is met and would continue to be met after such exercise, sale or transfer.. In any event, an employee subject to our stock ownership guidelinesexecutive officer may exercise any vested stock option granted under the LTIP or delivered to us to be held for purposes of meeting the stock


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ownership guidelines within one year of such stock option'soption’s expiration date. For purposes of these stock ownership guidelines, shares of our common stock are valued based on the closing price of our common stock reported on the NASDAQNasdaq Global Select Market on the day prior to the applicable exercise, sale, transfer or transfer,delivery, and vested stock options are valued based on the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

All of our executive officers (other than Mr. Mahoney whose noncompliance is due solely to his more recent appointment as a member of our senior management) are, and were during fiscal 2023, in compliance with these guidelines.

Policy on derivatives, hedging, short sales and pledging

Our trading policies prohibit our employees, consultants and non-employee directors from (i)(1) purchasing, selling or otherwise trading in options (including publicly traded options), puts, calls, warrants and other derivatives involving or relating to our common stock, (ii)(2) engaging in any hedging activities with respect to our common stock, (iii)(3) engaging in short sales or taking equivalent positions in our common stock, or (iv)(4) holding shares of our common stock in a margin account or, without the express authorization of our chief executive officer or general counsel, pledging shares of our common stock as security.

Practices regarding the grant of equity awards

Our compensation committee has generallyhistorically followed a practice of generally making all equity awards to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators on a single dateone or two dates each year. TheIn fiscal 2023, the compensation committee authorized all of themade equity awards made in fiscal 2015 under our LTIP program on November 12, 2015.three dates. We do not otherwise have any program, plan or practice related to the timing of the granting of equity awards to our executive officers as it relates to the release of material non-public information.

All equity awards made to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators, or to any of our other employees or directors, are currently made pursuant to our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan. All stock options under this plan are granted with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Fair market value is defined under the plan to be the closing price per share on the applicable date as reported by a nationally recognized stock exchange. In connection with inducement grants made to new hires outside of the amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, we have at times granted options at strike prices significantly above the then currentthen-current fair market value of our common stock, as an incentive for these new hires to participate only in very significant increases in our overall stock value. We do not otherwise have any program, plan or practice of awarding stock options, or setting the exercise price of stock options based on our stock price, on a date other than the grant date. We do not have a practice of determining the exercise price of stock option grants by using average prices (or lowest prices) of our common stock over a period preceding, surrounding or following the grant date. While our compensation committee'scommittee’s charter permits the committee to delegate

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its authority to grant equity awards in certain circumstances, all grants to employees are currently made by the committee itself and not pursuant to any delegated authority.

Perquisites and other compensation

Our executive officers have typically received modest perquisites—mainly for parking and reimbursement for certain health and dental premiums and expenses. Except for these perquisites, our executive officers receive benefits that are comparable to the benefits provided to our other employees and pay costs and taxes on such perquisites on the same basis as our other employees. Our executive officers and other employees receive other compensation in the form of contributions to our 401(k) savings and retirement plan (described in this compensation discussion and analysis under the heading "401(k)“401(k) savings plan"plan” below) and premiums we pay for term life insurance, long-term disability insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for the benefit of these employees. Our compensation committee believes that these modest perquisites and other compensation are consistent


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with our overall policy of providing competitive compensation designed to attract and retain our executive officers.

Clawback policies

policy

In April 2015,response to recently adopted Nasdaq Stock Market and SEC rules, our board of directors adopted an omnibus equity and incentive compensationupdated the Company’s policy for the recovery policy.of erroneously awarded compensation. This policy enables our board of directors to seek recoupment of annual or long-term incentive cash or equity compensation (including equity awards granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and cash awards granted under our cash incentive plan) from our current or former named executive officers in the event of an accounting restatement due to our material noncompliance with any financial reporting requirement under applicable securities laws (excluding restatements resulting from changes to applicable accounting principles) together with a determination by our board of directors that the applicable person was, individually or with others, directly responsible for this noncompliance.. The amount recoverable pursuant to this policy cannot exceedis the additional compensation received by the applicable person as a result of the financial statements initially used to determine his or her compensation differing from the restated form, and noapplies to compensation can be recovered under thisreceived in the three fiscal years preceding the accounting restatement. This policy more than three years after it was paid or vested,is effective as applicable. This policyof October 2, 2023 and applies to persons who served or serve as our named executive officers during or after fiscal 2015, and to annual or long-term incentive cash or equity compensation granted after April 30, 2015. Subject to these limitations, our boardan “officer” as defined in Rule 16a-1(f) under the Exchange Act of directors has the full authority to determine whether to seek recovery or the amount that will be recovered under this policy in any particular instance, taking into account the facts or circumstances that it deems appropriate.1934. Our board of directors intends to amend this policy, as necessary, to make it comply with any applicable requirements or listing standards.

        The annual incentive cash bonuses our executive officers are eligible to receive under our cash incentive plan with respect to a given fiscal year are subject to recoupment, reimbursement or forfeiture under the plan if our financial statements for that fiscal year are negatively affected by a restatement as a result of errors, omissions, or fraud.

Our chief executive officer and chief financial officer are also subject to Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires them to reimburse us for certain bonus or other incentive-based or equity-based compensation, and certain profits received on the sale of our securities, when there has been an accounting restatement due to our material noncompliance, resulting from misconduct, with any financial reporting requirement under the securities laws.

Employment

Severance agreements

        Our executive officers do not have employment agreements other than our standard employee agreements related to confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation.

As described in this proxy statement under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Potential payments upon termination or change in control"control” below, in March 2020, our executive officers entered into severance agreements with us providing for certain payments upon termination of an executive officer’s employment by the Company without “cause,” by the executive officer without “good reason,” or in connection with a change in control may also trigger payments to ourcontrol. An executive officers under our cash incentive plan, and an executive officer'sofficer’s death or disability may trigger acceleration of certain equity awards granted to the executive officer under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan pursuant to the executive officer’s severance agreement or, prior to those agreements, the applicable award agreement.

A change in control may also trigger payments to our executive officers under our cash incentive plan. Our executive officers are also subject to certain confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements.

401(k) savings plan

Under our 401(k) savings plan, a tax-qualified retirement savings plan, participating employees, including our executive officers, may contribute up to 80% of regular and bonus earnings on a before-tax basis, up to the applicable calendar year limit, which was $18,000$22,500 in calendar year 2015,2023, into their 401(k) plan accounts. Participants ageaged 50 and over may also make catch-up contributions of up to $6,000$7,500 for calendar year 2015.2023. In addition, under the 401(k) plan, we match an amount equal to fifty cents for each dollar

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contributed by participating employees on the first 6% of their regular and bonus


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earnings up to a maximum amount. This maximum matching amount was $7,950$9,900 in calendar year 2015.2023. Amounts held in 401(k) plan accounts on behalf of an employee may not be withdrawn prior to the employee'semployee’s termination of employment with us, total and permanent disability, or such earlier time as the employee reaches the age of 591/ 1/2,, subject to certain exceptions set forth in the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service. We maintain our 401(k) plan because we wish to encourage our employees to save some percentage of their cash compensation for their retirement. Our 401(k) plan permits employees to make such savings in a manner that is relatively tax efficient.

Policy on deductibility of compensation

In general, Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code limits our tax deduction forprevents us from deducting compensation paid in excess of $1.0$1 million paid to eachcertain of our chief executive officer and our three other most highly compensated executive officers, other thancalled our chief financial officer,“covered officers,” in any fiscal year. Compensation that is "qualified performance-based compensation" within the meaning of Section 162(m) does not count towards this $1.0 million limit. The annual incentive cash bonuses thatIn fiscal 2023, our named executivecovered officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance under our shareholder-approved cash incentive plan (excluding the components tied to the subjective individual performance goalspresident and chief executive officer, Mr. Maleh, our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Mr. Mahoney, our executive vice president and chief corporate development officer, Mr. Holmes, and our executive vice president and general counsel, Mr. Yellin. Once a person becomes a covered person, he or she stays a covered person for all subsequent fiscal years, even if not employed by us. Prior to fiscal 2018, in determining the extent to which any covered officer’s compensation exceeded $1 million in a fiscal year, performance-based compensation meeting criteria established by the Internal Revenue Service, called “qualified performance-based compensation,” was excluded, thereby preserving its deductibility. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of our named executive officers other than our chief executive officer), as well as2017 eliminated the stock options and PRSUs granted to our named executive officers in fiscal 2015 under our LTIP and shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan, were all intended to beexclusion for qualified performance-based compensation, preserving the deductibility of the amounts paid under them. In fiscal 2015, Section 162(m) only minimally limited the deductibility of theexcept for certain grandfathered awards—generally qualified performance-based compensation we paidgranted on or prior to, our chief executive officer, and it did not limit the deductibility of the compensation we paid to our other named executive officers.

        Our policy with respect to Section 162(m) is to make a reasonable effort to cause compensation paid to our named executive officers to be deductible by us while simultaneously providing our named executive officers with appropriate rewards for their performance. Our compensation committee may, in its discretion, defer compensation that would not be deductible under Section 162(m) and may decide to make payments to our named executive officers that are not fully deductible because of the Section 162(m) limitation.

modified after, November 2, 2017.

Compensation committee report

The compensation committee has reviewed and discussed with management the contents of the compensation discussion and analysis set forth above. Based on this review and discussion, the committee recommended to our board of directors that the above compensation discussion and analysis be included in this proxy statement and incorporated by reference into our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2016.

December 30, 2023.
The compensation committee
William Schleyer (Chair)
Thomas Avery
Rowland Moriarty
Thomas Robertson
The compensation committee
Thomas Avery (Chair)
William Concannon
Christine Detrick
Heather Tookes

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Compensation policies and practices as they relate to risk management

Our compensation committee has reviewed our compensation programs, discussed the concept of risk as it relates to our compensation programs, and considered various mitigating factors. Based on these reviews and discussions, the committee does not believe that our compensation programs encourage excessive or inappropriate risk-taking. Some of the reasons leading to the committee'scommittee’s conclusion are as follows:


The compensation we pay to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators consists of both fixed and variable components. The fixed portion is designed to provide steady income regardless of our common stock'sstock’s performance, so that these employees do not focus solely on our stock performance to the detriment of other important business metrics. The equity and cash compensation paid to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators through our LTIP is designed to reward long-term performance. For example, the stock optionsRSUs and RSUsservice-based cash awards granted under our LTIP to our senior corporate leaders (other than our executive officers), practice leaders and other key revenue generators vest in equal annual installments over a period of five years, the RSUs granted to our executive officers vest in equal annual installments over a period of four years, and the PRSUsperformance-based cash awards granted under our LTIP are linked to our performance over periods of at least one to four years.year. The proportions of salary, annual incentive cash bonuses, and equity compensation are designed to ensure that our

33


senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators are properly motivated without being encouraged to take unnecessary or excessive risks.


The performance criteria underlying the PRSUs granted under our LTIP to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators are based on performance criteria related to our consolidated non-GAAP net revenue growth and consolidated non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDAearnings margin, which encourages these employees to focus on growth and efficiency and discourages risk-taking focused on improving only one of these measures of our performance because such a focus would ultimately harm our stock price and thus the value of their equity awards.measures. There is no payment under any of these awards if the award'saward’s threshold performance levels are not achieved, and each award contains a pre-determined maximum payment, which mitigates risk by making it less likely that the payout on any given award will not correspond to performance. Finally, the mix of equity awards, and the performance criteria applicable to PRSUs granted, under our LTIP apply to all of our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators, creating a consistent compensation risk profile across our business.


The financial performance criteria underlying the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan (other than components of annual incentive cash bonuses linked directly to the executive officer's sourced revenue) are based on non-GAAP consolidated net revenue and Adjusted EBITDAearnings measures, encouraging our executive officers to focus on growth and efficiency. These awards had pre-determined maximum payouts and used a relatively flat one-to-one leverage curve for adjusting the payments for performance that missed or exceeded the awards'awards’ performance targets, which reduced the risk that payouts under the awards would not correspond to performance. Most important,Importantly, our compensation committee couldreserves the right to exercise its discretion to reduce or eliminate the payment made under any of these awards, regardless of the amount resulting from the award'saward’s payment formula.


We have adopted stockminimum ownership guidelines with respect to equity awards madegranted to our executive officers under our LTIP, which further motivatesmotivate our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsexecutive officers to consider our long-term performance.

We have also adopted minimum ownership guidelines with respect to equity awards granted to our non-employee directors.

We have adopted a compensation recovery policies,clawback policy, which further mitigates the risk that payment under performance awards will not be aligned with our actual performance.

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Our compensation committee has generally followed a practice of making all equity awards under our LTIP on a single dateone or two dates each year, so the equity component of our compensation program cannot be timed or coordinated with the release of material information.

Except with respect to In fiscal 2023, the 30% componentcompensation committee made equity awards under our LTIP program on three dates.

The outcome and payments of the annual incentive cash bonuses thatgranted to our named executive officers (other thanunder our chief executive officer) were eligible to receive for fiscal 2015 performance tied to subjective individual performance goals, the amounts earned under these annualcash incentive plan, all other performance-based cash bonusesawards granted under our shareholder-approved cash incentive plan, and the PRSUs granted to our named executive officers under our LTIP and shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan, are intended to be "qualified performance-based compensation" within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code in order to preserve the deductibility of the amounts payable under them. The outcome and payments of these awards are certified to, and approved by, our compensation committee.


Our compensation committee has from time to time sought and received the advice of a compensation consultant engaged by it regarding certain of our compensation practices and policies and the structure and design of our compensation programs. Our committee determined that this consultant, whichwho provided services only as directed by the committee and had no other relationship with us during fiscal 2015,2023, is independent from us and that the services provided to us by itthis consultant in fiscal 20152023 raised no conflicts of interest.

Executive compensation

Summary compensation

The following table provides a summary of all compensation earned with respect to fiscal 20152023 by Paul Maleh, the following:

our president, and chief executive officer Chad Holmes, and chairman of the board, Paul Maleh;

our executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, Daniel Mahoney;

our executive vice president and treasurer,chief corporate development officer, Chad Holmes; and Arnold Lowenstein,

our chief strategy officer and executive vice president the only person other than our chiefand general counsel, Jonathan Yellin.
As noted above, these executive officer and chief financial officer who served as one of our executive officers during fiscal 2015. The persons listed in this table are sometimes referred to as our "named“named executive officers."

The compensation received by our named executive officers for or in fiscal 20152023 consisted of the following:


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base salary;

non-equity incentive plan awards in the form of annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for 2015 performance under our cash incentive plan; 2023 performance;

long-term incentive equity awards in the form of stock options, time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "RSUs,"RSUs and performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "PRSUs,"PRSUs based on our fiscal 20162023 and fiscal 20172024 performance all granted to our executive officers under our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP,"LTIP in 2023; and our 2006 equity incentive plan; and

modest perquisites and other compensation. The structure of these annual incentive cash bonuses,
Further details regarding this compensation can be found in the “Compensation discussion and analysis” above, and in the determination by our compensation committee on March 7, 2016 of the amounts payable under them, are described in this proxy statementfurther disclosure under the heading "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Annual incentive cash bonuses" above. The structure of these stock options, RSUs and PRSUs are described in this proxy statement under the headings "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Long-term incentive equity compensation" above and "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive compensation—Plan-based awards—Long-term incentive program"“Executive compensation” below. Further analysis and information about our executive officers' fiscal 2015 compensation is set forth in this proxy statement under the heading "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis" above.


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Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal 2015

Name and Principal PositionYearSalary ($)Bonus ($)Stock
Awards
($)(1)(2)(3)
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($)(4)
All Other
Compensation
($)(5)(6)
Total ($)
Paul Maleh2023900,0001,599,9551,055,00029,2383,584,193
President, chief executive officer2022900,000165,000(7)1,599,9691,094,39935,3393,794,707
and chairman of the board2021850,000375,000(8)1,500,0321,085,00028,3603,838,392
Daniel Mahoney2023450,000374,990380,00029,7241,234,714
Executive vice president, chief financial2022450,00070,000(7)374,991385,95835,0641,316,013
officer and treasurer2021400,00075,000249,994315,00026,1811,066,175
Chad Holmes2023450,000374,990370,00021,1491,216,139
Executive vice president and chief2022450,00070,000(7)374,991397,20820,5811,312,780
corporate development officer2021425,00075,000349,978390,00019,8521,259,830
Jonathan Yellin2023450,000324,991335,00022,1391,132,130
Executive vice president and2022450,00070,000(7)324,947344,24726,5211,215,715
general counsel2021425,000114,600(9)274,973345,00022,4921,182,065

Name and Principal Position
 Year Salary
($)
 Bonus
($)
 Stock
Awards
($)(1)(2)
 Option
Awards
($)(3)
 Non-Equity
Incentive
Plan
Compensation
($)(4)
 All Other
Compensation
($)(5)(6)
 Total
($)
 

Paul Maleh

  2015  660,000    654,941  192,272  750,000  23,685  2,280,898 

President, chief executive

  2014  600,000    1,041,962  183,615  950,000  21,218  2,796,795 

officer and director

  2013  600,000    559,390  201,606  740,000  33,186  2,134,182 

Chad Holmes

  
2015
  
350,000
  
  
196,478
  
57,683
  
225,000
  
9,616
  
838,777
 

Chief financial officer, executive

  2014  296,923  220,000(7) 203,256  68,856    9,466  798,501 

vice president and treasurer

                         

Arnold Lowenstein

  
2015
  
400,000
  
  
196,478
  
57,683
  
165,000

(8)
 
23,685
  
842,846
 

Chief strategy officer and

  2014  400,000    270,988  91,808  250,000  21,563  1,034,359 

executive vice president

  2013  400,000    279,695  100,803  370,000(9) 22,688  1,173,186 

(1)

Amounts reflect the aggregate grant date fair values of restricted stock, RSU awards,RSUs and PRSU awards,PRSUs, as applicable, made in the specified fiscal periods to the applicable named executive officers under our 2006 equity incentive plan.officer. Specifically, in fiscal 2013, the applicable2021, each named executive officers wereofficer was granted, on November 19, 2013,March 22, 2021, RSUs and PRSUs based on fiscal 20142021 and fiscal 2015 performance under our LTIP;2022 performance; in fiscal 2014,2022, each named executive officer was granted, on November 20, 2014,March 10, 2022, RSUs and PRSUs based on fiscal 20152022 and fiscal 2016 performance under our LTIP, and our compensation committee granted a bonus of shares of restricted stock to Mr. Maleh on February 25, 2014;2023 performance; and in fiscal 2015,2023, each named executive officer was granted, on November 12, 2015,April 11, 2023, RSUs and PRSUs based on fiscal 20162023 and fiscal 2017 performance under our LTIP.2024 performance. These grant date fair values were computed in accordance with ASC Topic 718, excluding the estimated effect of any forfeitures, based on the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant. In addition, the grant date fair value of each PRSU was computed based on the probable outcome of its performance conditions. Additional details on our accounting for share-based compensation can be found in note 1, "Summary“Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Share-BasedPolicies-Share-Based Compensation," and note 11, "Share-Based10, “Share-Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2016.

February 29, 2024.
(2)

The grant date fair values of the PRSUs based on fiscal 20162023 and 20172024 performance granted in fiscal 2015 to the applicable executive officers under our LTIP, assuming the maximum payment under each award is made, are as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $467,802; for Mr. Holmes, $140,332; and for Mr. Lowenstein, $140,332. The grant date fair values of the PRSUs based on fiscal 2015 and 2016 performance granted in fiscal 20142023 to our executive officers under our LTIP, assuming the maximum payment under each award is made, are as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $387,125;$1,439,960; for Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Holmes, $145,157;$337,437; and for Mr. Lowenstein, $193,563.Yellin, $292,439. The grant date fair values of the PRSUs based on fiscal 20142022 and 20152023 performance granted in fiscal 20132022 to the applicableour executive officers under our LTIP, assuming the maximum payment under each award is made, are as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $399,557;$1,439,930; for Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Holmes, $337,501; and for Mr. Lowenstein, $199,788.Yellin, $292,410. The grant date fair values of the PRSUs based on fiscal 2021 and 2022 performance granted in fiscal 2021 to our executive officers under our LTIP, assuming the maximum payment under each award is made, are as follows: for Mr. Maleh, $1,124,989; for Mr. Mahoney, $187,441; for Mr. Holmes, $262,473; and for Mr. Yellin, $206,199. These grant

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date fair values were computed in accordance with ASC Topic 718, excluding the estimated effect of any forfeitures, based on the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant.

(3)
The amounts reflect
Dividend equivalent rights accrue with respect to RSUs and PRSUs granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan in the aggregateform of additional units, which we refer to as “dividend units.” Dividend units are credited to the RSU or PRSU when the corresponding dividend is paid on our common stock. Generally, the number of dividend units credited to an RSU or PRSU with respect to a dividend is determined by multiplying the per-share amount of the dividend by the number of outstanding units under the RSU or PRSU (using the target number of units if the PRSU’s performance conditions are not determined) as of the dividend’s record date, and then dividing the result by our closing stock price on the date the dividend is paid. Dividend units vest on the same dates and in the same relative proportions as the RSUs or PRSUs on which they accrue. All dividend units that were credited to RSUs or PRSUs in fiscal 2021, fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 will upon vesting be paid in cash. Dividends are, and have been, factored into the grant date fair values of stock options granted inreported for the specified fiscal periods to the applicable executive officers under our LTIPRSUs or PRSUs, and 2006 equity incentive plan. These grant date fair values were computed in accordance with ASC Topic 718, using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. In fiscal 2015, this model was based on the following weighted-average assumptions: expected life–4.5 years; forfeiture rate–1.1%; expected volatility–39.03%; risk-free interest rate–1.39%; and no expected dividends. In fiscal 2014, this model was based on the following weighted-average assumptions: expected life–5.0 years; forfeiture rate–4.0%; expected volatility–43.03%; risk-free interest rate–1.62%; and no expected dividends. In fiscal 2013, this model was based on the following weighted-average assumptions: expected life–5.0 years; forfeiture rate–4.5%; expected volatility–46.88%; risk-free interest rate–1.37%; and no expected dividends. Additional details on accounting for share-basedthus dividend units are not reported as all other compensation can be found in note 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Share-Based Compensation," and note 11, "Share-Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2016.

either when credited or settled.
(4)

The amounts shown represent amounts earned in respect of the annual incentive cash bonuses based on performance measured over the specified fiscal periodsyears granted to the applicableour named executive officers under our cash incentive plan. The amounts earned on the annual incentive cash bonuses for fiscal 20152023 performance were determined by our compensation committee on March 7, 2016.

3, 2024.
(5)

For fiscal 2015,2023, the amounts shown represent other compensation in the form of contributions to our 401(k) savings and retirement plan on behalf of each of our named executive officers and premiums we paid for term life insurance, long-term

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    disability insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for the benefit of our named executive officers, as well as the perquisites and other personal benefits described in footnote (6) below.

(6)

For fiscal 2015,2023, the amounts shown for our executive officers (other than Mr. Holmes) include our aggregate incremental cost of the following perquisites and other personal benefits paid to our executive officers: parking, and reimbursement for certain health and dental premiums and expenses, supplemental health insurance and certain entertainment related expenses. For fiscal 2015, compensation in the form
(7)
Consists of perquisites and other personal benefits has been omitted for Mr. Holmes because the total value of perquisites and other personal benefits paida Special Bonus Award awarded to him in fiscal 2015 was less than $10,000.

(7)
Represents the discretionary bonus received by Mr. Holmes for fiscal 2014. Mr. Holmes was promoted to our chief financialeach named executive officer executive vice president and treasurer in November 2014.

(8)
Includes the $20,190 formula payment amount, determined by our compensation committee on March 7, 2016,committee. For more information related to the Special Bonus Awards, see the section of the revenue sourcing componentproxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of Mr. Lowenstein'sour shareholders filed with the SEC on April 28, 2023, under the heading “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Executive Summary—Executive officer compensation in fiscal 2022—Amounts paid with respect to fiscal 2022 annual incentive cash bonus for fiscal 2015 performance based uponbonuses.”
(8)
Includes $200,000 in 2021, which reflects the revenue sourced byvesting of a service-based cash award granted to Mr. Lowenstein in fiscal 2015.

(9)
Includes the $50,000 formula payment amount, determined by our compensation committeeMaleh on March 18, 2014,July 12, 2017 outside of the revenue oversight componentLTIP.
(9)
Includes $17,100 in 2021, which reflects the vesting of a service-based cash award granted to Mr. Lowenstein's annual incentive cash bonus for fiscal 2013 performance based uponYellin on February 2, 2017 under the revenue we generated from his key clients in fiscal 2013.LTIP before he was appointed as one of our executive officers.

Plan-based awards

The plan-based awards granted to our executive officers in fiscal 20152023 consisted of (1) annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive based on fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan and (2) stock options, time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "RSUs,"RSUs and performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "PRSUs,"PRSUs based on fiscal 20162023 and fiscal 20172024 performance, granted to our senior corporate leaders (including our executive officers), practice leaders and other key revenue generatorsofficers on November 12, 2015April 11, 2023 under our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP,"LTIP and our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan. For further analysis of the structure of these annual incentive cash bonuses and the LTIP awards granted in fiscal 2015,2023, see the disclosure under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis"analysis” above. Our cash incentive plan, ourthe LTIP and our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan are described below.

Cash incentive plan

Our cash incentive plan authorizes the grant of long-term and annual performance-based incentiveand service-based cash awards to our executive officerssenior corporate leaders, practice leaders, key revenue generators and other salaried employees.

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The plan iswas initially designed to facilitate the granting of performanceperformance-based awards to our named executive officers intended to be "qualified“qualified performance-based compensation"compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, which may preserveCode. As noted above, the deductibilityTax Cuts and Jobs Act of amounts paid2017 eliminated the exclusion for qualified performance-based compensation, except for certain grandfathered awards—generally qualified performance-based compensation granted on or prior to, and not modified after, November 2, 2017.
We currently use our cash incentive plan to grant (1) annual incentive cash bonuses to our executive officers, (2) service-based cash awards and/or performance-based cash awards under the awards. our LTIP, and (3) either service-based cash awards and/or performance-based cash awards outside of our LTIP.
A performanceperformance-based award granted under the plan is payable only to the extent certain performance targets, based on performance criteria specified by our compensation committee, are achieved in the relevant measurement period. These performance targets can be based on objective financial performance criteria, including, but not limited to, revenue; net revenue; net revenue (excluding the impact of one or more of our subsidiaries, acquisitions, discontinued operations and/or extraordinary or special items as determined by our compensation committee); revenue growth; net revenue growth; net revenue growth (excluding acquisitions and divestitures); earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization;amortization or “EBITDA”; adjusted measures of EBITDA adding back, among other expenses, non-cash expenses selected by our compensation committee, or “Adjusted EBITDA”; Adjusted EBITDA margin; funds from operations; funds from operations per share; operating income;income (loss); operating income growth; operating cash flow; net income; net income growth; pre- orpre-or after-tax income;income (loss); cash available for distribution; cash available for distribution per share; cash and/or cash equivalents available fromfor operations; net earnings; earnings (loss); earnings (loss) per share; earnings per share growth; return on equity; return on assets; share price performance; total shareholder return; total shareholder return growth; economic value added; improvement in cash flow;cash-flow; and confidential business unit objectives. Any of the foregoing measures may be determined on a GAAP or a non-GAAP basis or on a constant currency basis, or based on an average over periods of one year or longer, and/or with respect to any organizational level specified by our compensation committee, including, but not limited to, our entire company, any parent of us or any of our subsidiaries, in each case as a whole, or any unit, practice, department, group, line of business, or other business unit, whether or not legally constituted, of our entire company, any parent of us or any of our subsidiaries. These performance targets may also be based on performance criteria in the form of individual or other goals specified by our compensation committee. Only awards based on or limited by objective financial performance criteria may be qualified performance-based compensation.

        The performance criteria, performance targets and payment formulas of performance awards granted to our executive officers under our cash incentive plan must generally be determined within the


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first 90 days of the applicable performance period in order to be qualified performance-based compensation. The period on which the performance underlying these performance awardsany performance-based award granted under the plan is based must be at least aone fiscal year or longer. The maximum amount payable to any executive officerrecipient in a given fiscal year under performanceperformance-based awards granted under the plan is $8,000,000. This maximum is prorated for executive officersrecipients who do not participate in our cash incentivethe plan for the entire fiscal year.

After the completion of the performance period over which a performanceperformance-based award granted to an executive officer under our cash incentive plan is based, our compensation committee reviews our performance and the performance of the executive officeraward recipient over the performance period, and then determines and certifies to in writing the extent to which the executive officerrecipient has achieved the objective performance criteria applicable to the performance award and the appropriate amount, if any, to be paid to the executive officerrecipient with respect to the performance award.
Regardless of the amount determined by the payment formula applicable to any performance award, the committee may exercise its discretion, based on whatever criteria it determines appropriate, to reduce or eliminate the payment made under the performanceperformance-based award compared to the award'saward’s payment formula amount. The criteria used by our compensation committee as the basis for any such exercise of its discretion may, but need not be, set forth in the applicable performance award'saward’s terms and conditions. The payment of any performanceperformance-based award under our cash incentivethe plan is generally made shortly following the certification with respect to such award mentioned above. PerformancePerformance-based awards issued under our cash incentive plan are payable in cash, shares of our common stock or any combination of the two at the discretion of our compensation committee. The recipient of a performanceperformance-based award may receive payment under the award only if he or she is an employee on the last day of the performance period over which the performanceperformance-based award is based unless our compensation committee exercises its discretion to make prorated payments to former or retired employees or to a deceased employee'semployee’s estate.


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In addition to performance-based awards in the form of annual incentive cash bonuses granted to our executive officers, we may also grant under our cash incentive plan service-based cash awards and other performance-based cash awards, including to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators under our LTIP, which awards are further described under the heading “Plan-based awards—Long-term incentive program” below.
All awards issued under our cash incentive plan with respect to a given fiscal year are subject to recoupment, reimbursement or forfeiture under the plan if our financial statements for that fiscal year are negatively affected by a restatement as a result of errors, omissions or fraud, and as otherwise described under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Clawback policies"policy” above.

Our cash incentive plan was initially approved by our shareholders in 2007 and was re-approvedreapproved by our shareholders in 2012. Our cash incentive plan must be approved by our shareholders every five years so that performance awards granted to our named executive officers under the plan may be qualified performance-based compensation. Our cash incentive plan is currently effective until the 2017 annual meeting of our shareholders (or any special meeting in lieu thereof).

2012 and 2017.

Annual incentive cash bonuses for fiscal 2015

2023

On April 3, 2015,11, 2023, our compensation committee determined the performance criteria, performance targets and payment formulas of the annual incentive cash bonuses that our executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan, which are described above under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Annual incentive cash bonuses." The target and maximum amounts payable under these annual incentive cash bonuses are also reported under the heading "Estimated“Estimated Possible Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards"Awards” in the "Grants“Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal 2015"2023” table below. On March 7, 2016,3, 2024, our compensation committee determined the amounts to be paid in respect of these annual incentive cash bonuses, as further described above under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Annual incentive cash bonuses—Amounts paid with respect to fiscal 20152023 annual incentive cash bonuses." These amounts are also reported in the "Summary“Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal 2015"Table” above under the heading "Non-Equity“Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation."


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Long-term incentive program

        In 2009, our compensation committee approved our

Our long-term incentive program, or "LTIP,"“LTIP,” which setswas initially adopted by our compensation committee in fiscal 2009, generally serves as a framework for grants of equity awards granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and cash awards, other than the annual incentive cash bonuses granted to our executive officers, granted under our cash incentive plan. As noted above, we believe that the equity and cash awards granted under our LTIP are the foundation of our overall pay-for-performance compensation program for our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators. Technical details regardingThe LTIP is further described under the structure of theheading “Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive officer compensation in fiscal 2023—Long-term incentive program” above.
The equity instrumentsawards granted under our LTIP are described below. For further analysis and information regarding our LTIP and the equity instruments granted under it, see the sectionconsist of this proxy statement above entitled "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Long-term incentive equity compensation."

        The equity awards that comprise the grants made under our LTIP are stock options, time-vesting restricted stock units or "RSUs," and(“RSUs”), performance-vesting restricted stock units or "PRSUs," which have the following features:

Below is a description of the equity awards granted under our common stock subject toLTIP:

RSUs.   RSUs granted under the stock option is treated as one-half of a share. These stock optionsLTIP vest over a period of four years, in equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant. Like all stock options granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan, stock options granted under our LTIP have a seven-year term, are granted with an exercise price equal to the fair market valuecase of our common stock onexecutive officers, and five years, in the date of grant, and may have their exercise prices reduced only with the approvalcase of our shareholders. We have been advised that stock options granted under our shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan may be qualified performance-based compensation,other senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and as a result, may not be subject to Section 162(m)'s deductibility limitations.

RSUs.  30% of each award granted under our LTIP consists of RSUs, measured in shares of our common stock, granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan. For purposes of this 30% weighting, each share of our common stock by which an RSU is measured is treated as one share. These RSUs vest over a period of four yearsother key revenue generators, in equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant. Vested RSUs are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or any combination of the two. RSUs granted under our LTIP are subject to the deductibility limitations of Section 162(m).

PRSUs.  40% of each award granted under our LTIP consists of PRSUs, measured in shares of our common stock, granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan. For purposes of this 40% weighting, each share of our common stock by which a PRSU is measured is treated as one share and it is assumed that the PRSU's target performance will be achieved.
PRSUs.   PRSUs are payable based on the extent that certain performance targets are achieved over a performance period of at least one fiscal year. Each PRSU has a threshold, target and maximum performance level and payment amount, and if a PRSU'sPRSU’s threshold performance level is not achieved over the PRSU'sPRSU’s performance period, no payment is made under the PRSU. Historically, the

38


performance criteria for these PRSUs have been based on average operating margin and revenue growth and average earnings margin metrics determined over the performance period. The performance criteria and payment formula for the PRSUs granted to our executive officers in fiscal 2015 are described above under the heading "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—LTIP awards for fiscal 2015." Generally, the amount payablevesting under a PRSU vests as follows. After the end of the PRSU's performance period,is delayed until our compensation committee determines that the PRSU’s performance conditions have been satisfied. Once the performance conditions have been determined to be satisfied, the PRSUs generally vest as to 50% on the date of such determination and in two equal annual installments thereafter. We often refer to the number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable under the PRSU based on the outcome of its performance conditions oras its "performance“performance share number." On the date of this determination, 25% of the performance share number automatically vests for each anniversary of the PRSU's grant date that has occurred on or prior to this determination date. The remainder of the performance share number vests in increments of 25% of the

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      performance share number on each subsequent anniversary of the PRSU's grant date until the performance share number is fully vested on the fourth anniversary of the PRSU's grant date. The vesting of any portion of a PRSU'sPRSU’s performance share number is subject to the continued employment of the PRSU'sPRSU’s recipient on the vesting date. Vested portions of a PRSU'sPRSU’s performance share number are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two. We


Stock options.   Stock options granted under the LTIP vest over a period of four years in equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant, and have been adviseda ten-year term, if granted after July 12, 2017, and a seven-year term, if granted before that PRSUsdate. The stock options are granted with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant and may have their exercise prices reduced only with the approval of our shareholders.
The cash awards granted under our LTIP consist of service cash awards and shareholder-approved 2006 equity incentive plan may be qualifiedperformance cash awards, which have the following features:

Service cash awards.   The service-based awards granted under our LTIP provide for the payment of a fixed amount of cash, vesting in five equal annual installments measured from the date of grant.

Performance cash awards.   The performance-based compensationawards granted under our LTIP provide for a cash payment based on a fixed target amount and asthe outcome of performance conditions measured over a result, may not beperformance period of at least one year. With the exception of our Canadian employees who are subject to Section 162(m)'s deductibility limitations.

a three-year vesting schedule, the amount payable under these performance-based awards based on the outcome of their performance conditions additionally vests in five equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant, except that all vesting is delayed until the outcome of the award’s performance conditions has been determined by our compensation committee.

All stock options and shares of common stock issued pursuant to the vesting of RSUs and PRSUs granted under our LTIP to our executive officers are held subject to our stock ownership guidelines described above in this proxy statement under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Stock ownershipOwnership guidelines."

LTIP awards granted in fiscal 2015

2023

On November 12, 2015,April 11, 2023, our compensation committee granted equity awards under our LTIP to our senior corporate leaders (including our executive officers), practice leaders and other key revenue generators,officers, as further described above under the heading "Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation“Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive officer compensation in fiscal 2023—Long-term incentive equity compensation—LTIPcompensation: awards for fiscal 2015."2023.” The number of shares of our common stock subject to these stock options, the number of shares of our common stock by which these RSUs are measured, and the threshold, target and maximum number of shares of our common stock by which these PRSUs are measured, are also set forth under the headings "All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options," "All“All Other Stock Awards: Number of Shares of Stock or Units," and "Estimated“Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards," respectively, in the "Grants“Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal 2015"2023” table below.

Amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan

All equity awards granted to our senior corporate leaders, practice leaders and other key revenue generators, under our LTIP or otherwise, are issued under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, which is administered by our compensation committee. Our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan provides for the following types of equity awards:


options to purchase shares of our common stock intended to qualify as "incentive“incentive stock options," as defined in section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code;


nonqualified options, which are stock options that do not qualify as incentive stock options;


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restricted stock awards consisting of shares of our common stock subject to restrictions;


restricted stock unit awards consisting of the contractual right to receive shares of our common stock in the future contingent on the completion of service and/or the achievement of performance or other objectives;


performance awards, including performance-vested restricted stock unit awards consisting of the right to receive payment of cash and/or shares of our common stock on the achievement of predeterminedpre-determined performance targets; and


other stock-based awards in the form of stock purchase rights, stock appreciation rights, unrestricted shares of our common stock, and awards valued in whole or in part by or otherwise based on our common stock.

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All of the shares issued under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan or by which awards granted under the plan are measured are shares of our authorized but unissued common stock. The maximum number of shares issuable under the plan is currently 4,874,000,6,149,000, consisting of the following:


500,000 shares initially reserved for issuance under our 2006 equity incentive plan,

plan;

1,000,000 shares reserved for issuance under our 2006 equity incentive plan based on shares that were or became available under the 1998 incentive and nonqualified stock option plan after we adopted our 2006 equity incentive plan on April 21, 2006,

2006;

210,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2008 annual meeting of our shareholders,

shareholders;

1,464,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2010 special meeting in lieu of annual meeting of our shareholders, and

shareholders;

1,700,000 shares, consisting of the 2,500,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2012 special meeting in lieu of annual meeting of our shareholders reduced by the 800,000 shares cancelled by our board of directors on April 22, 2016, as reported in the current report on Form 8-K that we filed on April 27, 2016.

2016;


400,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2017 annual meeting of our shareholders;

375,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2018 annual meeting of our shareholders; and

500,000 shares approved by our shareholders at the 2023 annual meeting of our shareholders.
The plan adjusts the maximum number of shares issuable under the plan if we effect a capital readjustment or pay a stock dividend without receiving compensation in return. Whenever any outstanding award under the plan expires or terminates other than by exercise or payment in shares of our common stock, the corresponding shares of common stock may again be the subject of plan awards. Each share of our common stock issued pursuant to an award granted on or after April 30, 2010 under the plan, other than a stock option or a SAR, counts as 1.83 shares against the maximum number of shares issuable under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, as does any restricted stock unit or performance award granted on or after April 30, 2010 under the plan to the extent that shares of our common stock are used for measurement purposes. The maximum aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be subject to awards granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan to a single recipient in any calendar year is 150,000.

Our 2006 equity incentive plan was first approved by our shareholders in 2006, and re-approved by our shareholders have agreed to amendments to the plan in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018, and, 2012.

in 2023, an amendment and restatement of the plan.

The grants of plan-based awards table for fiscal 2015

2023

The following table provides further information regarding the grants of plan-based awards described above to our named executive officers during fiscal 2015.

2023.


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Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal 2015

2023
NameType of
Award(1)
Grant
Date(2)
Estimated Possible
Payouts Under
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards
All Other Stock Estimated
Future Payouts Under Equity
Incentive Plan Awards(3)
Awards:
Number of
Shares of
Stock or
Units (#)(3)(4)
Grant Date
Fair Value
($)(5)
Target
($)
Maximum
($)
Threshold
(#)(3)
Target
(#)(3)
Maximum
(#)(3)
Paul MalehCIB4/11/231,100,0002,002,000
RSU4/11/236,016639,982
PRSU4/11/234,5129,02413,536959,973
Daniel MahoneyCIB4/11/23375,000637,500
RSU4/11/231,410149,996
PRSU4/11/231,0572,1153,172224,994
Chad HolmesCIB4/11/23375,000637,500
RSU4/11/231,410149,996
PRSU4/11/231,0572,1153,172224,994
Jonathan YellinCIB4/11/23325,000552,500
RSU4/11/231,222129,996
PRSU4/11/239161,8332,749194,995

 
  
  
 Estimated Possible
Payouts Under
Non-Equity Incentive
Plan Awards
  
  
  
 All Other
Stock
Awards:
Number of
Shares of
Stock or
Units
(#)(4)
 All Other
Option
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Options
(#)
  
  
 
 
  
  
 Estimated Future
Payouts Under Equity
Incentive Plan Awards
 Exercise
or Base
Price of
Option
Awards
($/sh)
  
 
 
  
  
 Grant
Date
Fair
Value
($)(5)
 
Name
 Type of
Award(1)
 Grant
Date(2)
 Target
($)
 Maximum
($)
 Threshold
(#)
 Target
($ or #)
 Maximum
($ or #)
 

Paul Maleh

 CIB  4/3/2015  900,000  1,638,000               

 OPT  11/12/2015              26,086  21.52  192,272 

 RSU  11/12/2015            13,043      280,686 

 PRSU  11/12/2015      8,695  17,391  21,738        374,255 

Chad Holmes

 
CIB
  
4/3/2015
  
275,000
  
500,500
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 

 OPT  11/12/2015              7,826  21.52  57,683 

 RSU  11/12/2015            3,913      84,208 

 PRSU  11/12/2015      2,608  5,217  6,521        112,270 

Arnold Lowenstein

 
CIB
  
4/3/2015
  
246,444

(3)
 
364,000

(3)
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 

 OPT  11/12/2015              7,826  21.52  57,683 

 RSU  11/12/2015            3,913      84,208 

 PRSU  11/12/2015      2,608  5,217  6,521        112,270 

(1)

For purposes of this column, (a) "CIB"“CIB” means an annual cash incentive cash bonus that the applicable executive officer was eligible to receive based on fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan, (b) "OPT" means a stock option granted under our LTIP and 2006 equity incentive plan, (c) "RSU"“RSU” means a time-vesting restricted stock unit award measured in shares of our common stock granted under our LTIPamended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, and (d) "PRSU"(c) “PRSU” means a performance-vesting restricted stock unit award measured in shares of our common stock granted under our LTIPamended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan.

(2)

The grant date of each equity award is the same as the date such award was approved by our compensation committee. None of our named executive officers paid any amount to us as consideration for any award disclosed in this table.

(3)
As discussed
Dividend equivalent rights accrue with respect to RSUs and PRSUs granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan in the sectionform of this proxy statement entitled "Compensationadditional units, which we refer to as “dividend units.” Dividend units are credited to the RSU or PRSU when the corresponding dividend is paid on our common stock. Generally, the number of Directorsdividend units credited to an RSU or PRSU with respect to a dividend is determined by multiplying the per share amount of the dividend by the number of outstanding units under the RSU or PRSU (using the target number of units if the PRSU’s performance conditions are not determined) as of the dividend’s record date, and Executive Officers—Compensation discussionthen dividing the result by our closing stock price on the date the dividend is paid. Dividend units vest on the same dates and analysis—Annual incentive cash bonuses" above,in the annual incentive cash bonus Mr. Lowenstein was eligiblesame relative proportions as the RSUs or PRSUs on which they accrue. All dividend units that were credited to receive forRSUs or PRSUs in fiscal 2015 performance had an additional revenue sourcing component with no target or maximum payment. The target amount2023 will upon vesting be paid in cash. Dividends are, and have been, factored into the grant date fair values reported for Mr. Lowenstein's fiscal 2015 annual incentive cash bonus in the table above equals the $200,000 overall target payment for the components of his cash incentive bonus linked to our overall corporate performanceRSUs or PRSUs, and his subjective individual performance goals, plus a representative payment amount of $46,444 for the revenue sourcing component of the award, determined based on the revenue sourced by Mr. Lowenstein in fiscal 2014. The maximum amount reported for Mr. Lowenstein's annual incentive cash bonus in the table above is the maximum overall payment for the components of his cash incentive bonus linked to our overall corporate performance and his subjective individual performance goals. The revenue sourcing component of Mr. Lowenstein's fiscal 2015 annual incentive cash bonus isthus dividend units are not included in the maximum amount reported in the table above because the component had no pre-determined maximum, as there was no pre-determined limit on the revenue that Mr. Lowenstein might source in fiscal 2015.

when granted.
(4)

Table does not reflect any shares of our common stock issued in fiscal 20152023 with respect to the vesting in fiscal 20152023 of RSUs or PRSUs granted prior to fiscal 2015 under2023 to our LTIP to ournamed executive officers. These shares are reported in the "Option“Option Exercises and Stock Vested during Fiscal 2015"2023” table below.

(5)

The grant date fair value was computed in accordance with ASC Topic 718, excluding with respect to RSUs and PRSUs the estimated effect of any forfeitures, based on the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant. In addition, the grant date fair values of the PRSUs were computed based on the probable outcome of the awards'awards’ performance conditions, and the grant date fair values of stock options were estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions: expected life—4.5 years; forfeiture rate—1.1%; expected volatility—39.03%; risk-free interest rate—1.39%; and no expected dividends.conditions.


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Outstanding equity awards

The following table provides information regarding outstanding equity awards held by our named executive officers on January 2, 2016.

December 30, 2023.

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Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2015

 
  
 Option Awards Stock Awards 
Name
 Type of
Award(1)
 Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
 Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
 Option
Exercise
Price
($)
 Option
Expiration
Date
 Number of
Shares or
Units of Stock
That Have
Not Vested
(#)
 Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock
That Have
Not Vested
($)(7)
 Equity
Incentive
Plan Awards:
Number of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other Rights
That Have
Not Vested
(#)
 Equity
Incentive
Plan Awards:
Market or
Payout Value
of Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other Rights
That Have
Not Vested
($)(11)
 

Paul Maleh

 RS          1,250(2) 23,313     

 RS          16,311(3) 304,201     

 OPT  19,909    21.43  11/8/2017         

 OPT  19,200    21.91  11/14/2018         

 OPT  12,973  12,973(4) 18.48  11/19/2020         

 OPT  3,750  11,250(5) 30.97  11/20/2021         

 OPT    26,086(6) 21.52  11/12/2022         

 RSU          6,487(4) 120,983     

 RSU          5,625(5) 104,907     

 RSU          13,043(6) 243,252     

 PRSU              21,621(8) 403,232 

 PRSU              12,500(9) 233,125 

 PRSU              21,738(10) 405,414 

Chad Holmes

 
OPT
  
2,088
  
  
24.11
  
10/28/2016
  
  
  
  
 

 OPT  2,489    21.43  11/8/2017         

 OPT  2,400    21.91  11/14/2018         

 OPT  1,621  1,622(4) 18.48  11/19/2020         

 OPT  1,406  4,219(5) 30.97  11/20/2021         

 OPT    7,826(6) 21.52  11/12/2022         

 RSU          811(4) 15,126     

 RSU          2,110(5) 39,352     

 RSU          3,913(6) 72,978     

 PRSU              2,702(8) 50,392 

 PRSU              4,687(9) 87,413 

 PRSU              6,521(10) 121,617 

Arnold Lowenstein

 
OPT
  
7,466
  
  
21.43
  
11/8/2017
  
  
  
  
 

 OPT  9,600    21.91  11/14/2018         

 OPT  6,486  6,487(4) 18.48  11/19/2020         

 OPT  1,875  5,625(5) 30.97  11/20/2021         

 OPT    7,826(6) 21.52  11/12/2022         

 RSU          3,243(4) 60,482     

 RSU          2,813(5) 52,463     

 RSU          3,913(6) 72,978     

 PRSU              10,811(8) 201,625 

 PRSU              6,250(9) 116,563 

 PRSU              6,521(10) 121,617 
2023

Option AwardsStock Awards(1)
NameType of
Awards(2)
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
Option
Exercise
Price
($)
Option
Expiration
Date
Number of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested
(#)
Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested
($)(7)
Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights
That Have
Not Vested
(#)
Equity
Incentive
Plan Awards:
Market or
Payout
Value of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other Rights
That Have
Not Vested
($)(13)
Paul MalehOPT16,30444.8712/18/2027
OPT15,17347.4512/6/2028
RSU2,951(3)291,706
RSU4,533(4)448,087
RSU5,762(5)569,574
RSU6,083(6)601,305
PRSU5,312(8)525,091
PRSU8,161(9)806,715
PRSU11,241(10)1,111,173
PRSU13,536(11)1,338,034
Daniel MahoneyRSU3,137(12)310,092
RSU491(3)48,535
RSU755(4)74,632
RSU1,350(5)133,448
RSU1,425(6)140,861
PRSU885(8)87,482
PRSU1,359(9)134,337
PRSU2,635(10)260,470
PRSU3,173(11)313,602
Chad HolmesOPT4,07644.8712/18/2027
OPT4,42547.4512/6/2028
RSU688(3)68,009
RSU1,058(4)104,583
RSU1,350(5)133,448
RSU1,425(6)140,861
PRSU1,240(8)122,574
PRSU1,904(9)188,210
PRSU2,635(10)260,470
PRSU3,173(11)313,602
Jonathan YellinOPT2,37744.8712/18/2027
OPT2,84547.4512/6/2028
RSU540(3)53,379
RSU831(4)82,144
RSU1,170(5)115,655
RSU1,235(6)122,080
PRSU974(8)96,280
PRSU1,496(9)147,880
PRSU2,283(10)225,675
PRSU2,750(11)271,788

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(1)

Includes all dividend units that accrued on the RSUs and PRSUs and were unvested as of the end of fiscal 2023. Upon vesting, these dividend units are payable only in cash. Dividend units have been rounded to the nearest whole unit.
(2)
For purposes of this column, (a) "RS" means restricted stock granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan, but not our LTIP, (b) "OPT"“OPT” means a stock option granted under our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, (c) "RSU"(b) “RSU” means a time-vesting restricted stock unit award, measured in shares of our common stock, granted under our LTIP or amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, and (d) "PRSU"(c) “PRSU” means a performance-vesting restricted stock unit award granted under our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan, measured in shares of our common stock, for which the performance conditions were not determined as of the end of fiscal 2015.2023. The vesting of any portion of an RSU or PRSU is subject to the continued employment of the award recipient on the vesting date. Vested portions of any RSU or PRSU are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two.

(2)
two, except that the corresponding vested dividend units will be paid in cash.
(3)
These shares vestedRSUs will vest on March 23, 2016.

(3)
5,437 of these shares vested on February 25, 2016, and the remainderDecember 15, 2024.
(4)
These RSUs will vest in two equal annual installments beginning on February 25, 2017.

(4)
March 22, 2024.
(5)
These stock options or RSUs as applicable, will vest in two equal annual installments beginning on November 19, 2016.

(5)
These stock options or RSUs, as applicable, will vest in three equal annual installments beginning on November 20, 2016.

March 10, 2024.
(6)

These stock options or RSUs as applicable, will vest in four equal annual installments beginning on November 12, 2016.April 11, 2024.

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(7)

The market values of these unvested shares of restricted stock and unvested RSUs are based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last trading date of fiscal 2015,2023, of $18.65.

$98.85.
(8)

Amounts represent the maximum number of shares of our common stockPRSUs that can be issued under PRSUshave been earned based on our fiscal 20142021 and 20152022 performance granted on November 19, 2013December 15, 2020 to our executive officers. As further described in this proxy statement above under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Long-term incentive equityExecutive officer compensation—Performance conditions determined for PRSUs granted in fiscal 2013,"Option exercises and vesting of stock,” on March 7, 2016,3, 2023, our compensation committee determined the number of shares of common stock, or "performance“performance share number," that vested for these PRSUs. 50% of each of these performance share numbers vested on the date of that determination, and was paid in shares of our common stock. Thethe remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal annual installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of November 19, 2013.December 15, 2020. Vested portions of these performance share numbers are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two, except that the corresponding vested dividend units will be paid in cash.
(9)
Amounts represent the number of PRSUs that have been earned based on our fiscal 2021 and 2022 performance granted on March 22, 2021 to our executive officers. As further described in this proxy statement above under the heading “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive officer compensation—Option exercises and vesting of stock,” on March 3, 2023, our compensation committee determined the number of shares of common stock, or “performance share number,” that vested for these PRSUs. 50% of each of these performance share numbers vested on the date of that determination, and the remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal annual installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of March 22, 2021. Vested portions of these performance share number are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two.

(9)
Amountstwo, except that the corresponding vested dividend units will be paid in cash.
(10)
As results as of December 30, 2023 indicate performance in between threshold and target at 96%, amounts represent the maximumtarget number of shares of our common stock that can be issued under PRSUs based on our fiscal 20152022 and 20162023 performance granted on November 20, 2014March 10, 2022 to our executive officers. Our compensation committee will determine the actual number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable in respect of these PRSUs based on the outcome of their performance conditions, or their "performance“performance share numbers," in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.2024. 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest on the date of that determination, and the remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal annual installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of November 20, 2014.March 10, 2022. Vested portions of these performance share numbernumbers are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two.

(10)
Amountstwo, except that the corresponding vested dividend units will be paid in cash.

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(11)
As results as of December 30, 2023 indicate performance in between target and maximum at 114%, amounts represent the maximum number of shares of our common stock that can be issued under PRSUs based on our fiscal 20162023 and 20172024 performance granted on November 12, 2015April 11, 2023 to our executive officers. Our compensation committee will determine the actual number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable in respect of these PRSUs based on the outcome of their performance conditions, or their "performance“performance share numbers," in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.2025. 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest on the date of that determination, and the remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal annual installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of November 12, 2015.April 11, 2023. Vested portions of these performance share numbernumbers are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of the two.

(11)
two, except that the corresponding vested dividend units will be paid in cash.
(12)
These RSUs will vest on April 3, 2024.
(13)
The market values of these PRSUs are based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last trading date of fiscal year 2015,2023, of $18.65, assuming that the maximum number of shares of our common stock issuable under the PRSUs will be issued.$98.85.

Option exercises and vesting of stock

The following table provides information regarding the exercise of stock options by our named executive officers during fiscal 20152023 and the vesting of our named executive officers' restricted stock awards, time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "RSUs,"officers’ RSUs and performance-vesting restricted stock awards, or "PRSUs,"PRSUs during fiscal 2015.2023. For each named executive officer, the number of shares reported as having vested in fiscal 20152023 under the heading "Number“Number of Shares Acquired on Vesting"Vesting” in the table below consists of (i) shares of restricted stock issued to Mr. Maleh under our 2006 equity incentive plan, but not our LTIP, that vested on February 25, 2015 and March 23, 2015, and (ii)(1) shares of our common stock issued under our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan upon the vesting on November 14, 2015, November 19, 2015March 10, 2023, March 22, 2023, December 5, 2023 and November 20, 2015December 15, 2023 of RSUs issued under our LTIP.

LTIP, (2) shares of our common stock issued under our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan upon the vesting on March 3, 2023, December 5, 2023 and December 15, 2023 of PRSUs issued under our LTIP and (3) shares of our common stock issued outside of our LTIP and amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan upon the vesting on April 3, 2023 of RSUs issued to Mr. Mahoney.

The shares of common stock issued pursuant to the vesting of the RSUs and PRSUs are held subject to our stock ownership guidelines described in this proxy statement under the heading "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Stock ownership guidelines"Ownership guidelines” above.


Option Exercises and Stock Vested during Fiscal 2015

2023
Option AwardsStock Awards
NameNumber of
Shares Acquired
on Exercise (#)
Value Realized
on Exercise ($)
Number of
Shares Acquired
on Vesting (#)
Value Realized
on Vesting ($)(1)(2)
Paul Maleh20,0001,186,13338,0214,132,335
Daniel Mahoney8,270927,311
Chad Holmes6,000354,3918,972974,490
Jonathan Yellin6,803740,859

 
 Option Awards Stock Awards 
Name
 Number of
Shares
Acquired
on Exercise
(#)
 Value
Realized
on Exercise
($)
 Number of
Shares
Acquired
on Vesting
(#)
 Value
Realized
on Vesting
($)(1)
 

Paul Maleh

      14,205  368,448 

Chad Holmes

      1,409  31,258 

Arnold Lowenstein

      3,759  82,724 

(1)

The value realized on the vesting of shares of restricted stock and the issuance of shares of our common stock with respect to the vesting of RSUs and PRSUs is based on the

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    following closing market prices of our common stock on the respective dates of vesting or, where applicable, the last trading date beforeafter the vesting date: $30.23

Vesting DateClosing Market
Price ($)
12/15/202399.20
12/05/202395.91
04/03/2023109.55
03/22/2023107.56
03/10/2023111.70
03/03/2023110.48

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(2)
The value realized on February 25, 2015; $30.91the vesting of RSUs and PRSUs also includes the amount paid in cash on the date of vesting to the applicable named executive officer in settlement of dividend units that had accrued on the vested RSUs or PRSUs. These dividend units were settled at the per share price of our common stock set forth for the applicable vesting date in note (1) above.
On March 3, 2024, our compensation committee determined the number of shares of our common stock issuable based on the outcome of performance conditions of PRSUs granted on March 23, 2015; $21.6010, 2022 to our executive officers under our LTIP. These PRSUs’ performance criteria were based on November 13, 2015; $22.00our fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 average Performance Compensation EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures)(11) and consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (including acquisitions and divestitures).(12) The number of shares of our common stock potentially issuable under each of these PRSUs based on November 19, 2015;the outcome of the PRSU’s performance conditions, or its “performance share number,” ranged from a threshold of 50% of the PRSU’s target payment to a maximum of 150% of the PRSU’s target payment. The threshold, target and $22.54maximum performance share numbers under these PRSUs were based on November 20, 2015.

threshold, target and maximum performance of 15%, 17% and 19%, respectively, for our fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 Performance Compensation EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures), and 4%, 8% and 12%, respectively, for our fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (including acquisitions and divestitures). Based on our consolidated Performance Compensation EBITDA margin (including acquisitions and divestitures) for the performance period of 18.2% and our consolidated non-GAAP cumulative annual net revenue growth (including acquisitions and divestitures) over the performance period of 5.0%, our compensation committee determined that the performance share number payable under each of these PRSUs based on their payment matrix was 96% of the PRSU’s target payment. 50% of each of these performance share numbers vested on March 3, 2024 and were paid in shares of our common stock on that date. The remaining 50% of each of these performance share numbers will vest in two equal annual installments on the third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. The vesting of any portion of a PRSU’s performance share number is subject to the continued employment of the PRSU’s recipient on the vesting date. Vested portions of a PRSU’s payment share number are payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our common stock granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan or a combination of the two.

Potential payments upon termination or change in control

The agreements described below provide for payments to the applicable named executive officer, as well as the acceleration of the vesting of certain equity awards held by the executive officer, in the event that the executive officer'sofficer’s employment with us is terminated in certain circumstances or that we undergo a change in control.

Cash incentive plan

In fiscal 2015,2023, each of our named executive officers was eligible to receive an annual incentive cash bonus based on fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan. Under this plan, upon the occurrence of a "change of“change in control," each of these bonuses is paid out as if the effective date of the change ofin control were the last day of the applicable performance period and all performance goals had been attained, unless provision is made in connection with the change ofin control for (1) the assumption of all previously granted awards or (2) the substitution of such performance awards with commensurate new awards covering stock of the successor corporation or its parent or subsidiary.

Under our cash incentive plan, "change of control"“change in control” means (1) we merge with or into or consolidate with another corporation, unless our outstanding voting securities immediately prior to the change in
(11)
As used here, “Performance Compensation EBITDA” means our consolidated net income reported in our audited financial statements for fiscal 2022 and 2023, with the following charges added back: interest expense, net, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, amortization of forgivable loans, and other expense, net, all as additionally adjusted to reflect the non-GAAP adjustments that we made to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years.
(12)
For this purpose, GAAP net revenue was adjusted to reflect the non-GAAP adjustments that we made to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years.

45


control continue to represent, either by remaining outstanding or conversion into voting securities of the entity surviving the change ofin control, at least 50% of our combined voting power or of the combined voting power of the entity surviving the change in control; (2) any person (with standard exceptions) becomes a “beneficial owner” ​(as such term is defined in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of control;securities representing 50% or (2)more of the combined voting power of our then outstanding securities; or (3) we liquidate or sell substantially all of our assets.

Stock option agreements

        As

Each of the last business day of fiscal 2015, each of our executive officers held unvested stock options issued underpursuant to our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and our LTIP. Each of these stock options is subject to a stock option agreement that provides for the full vesting of all unvested stock options subject to the agreement on the applicable named executive officer'sofficer’s death or termination of providing services for us due to disability (as determined by us in our sole discretion).

Restricted stock and restricted stock unit agreements

As of the last business day of fiscal 2015, Mr. Maleh held unvested shares2023, all of restrictedthe stock grantedoptions issued under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan but not our LTIP,have vested.

Restricted stock and restricted stock unit agreements
As of the last business day of fiscal 2023, each of our named executive officers held unvested time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "RSUs,"“RSUs,” issued under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and our LTIP.plan. Each of these grants is subject to a restricted stock agreement or a restricted stock unit agreement, as applicable.agreement. Each of these agreements provides for the full vesting of all unvested shares of restricted stock or RSUs subject to the agreement on the applicable named executive officer'sofficer’s death or termination of providing services for us due to disability (as determined by us in our sole discretion).

Restricted stock unit for performance agreements

As of the last business day of fiscal 2015,2023, each of our named executive officers held unvested performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards, or "PRSUs,"“PRSUs,” issued under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and our LTIP.plan. Each of these grants is subject to a restricted stock unit for performance agreement that provides for acceleration of vesting on the applicable named executive officer'sofficer’s death or termination of providing services for us due to disability (as determined by us in our sole discretion). For a PRSUan award for


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which the number of shares potentially issuable based on the outcome of the PRSU'saward’s performance conditions, or "performance“performance share number," has not yet been determined, the amount accelerated is (1) for awards granted prior to December 18, 2017, the prorated target performance share number under the PRSUaward based on the portion of the PRSU'saward’s performance period that has been completed as of the applicable named executive officer'sofficer’s death or disability.disability and (2) for awards granted on or after December 18, 2017, the target performance share number. For a PRSUan award for which the performance share number has been determined, the amount accelerated is the then unvested portion of the performance share number.

Severance agreements
In March 2020, we engaged our compensation consultant, Semler Brossy, to assist us in reviewing and assessing our executive officer compensation package, including a review of appropriate severance arrangements for our executive officers. After consultation with Semler Brossy, and reviewing a variety of factors, including the scope and nature of severance agreements for the executive officers at our peer companies, we entered into severance agreements with each of our executive officers. The tableseverance agreements provide clarity to our shareholders and executives on the treatment under different termination scenarios, addressing any concerns about how discretion might be applied. These severance agreements provide for certain benefits to the executive officer in a termination event, including in connection with a “change in control.” Pursuant to each executive officer’s severance agreement, if the executive officer’s employment with us is terminated for any reason, the executive officer will be entitled to receive a lump-sum payment equal to the sum of his earned but unpaid base salary through his termination date plus any accrued but unused vacation days, and any other vested benefits that the executive officer may have under our employee benefit plans (collectively referred to as the “Accrued Obligations”).
If the executive officer’s employment is terminated by us without “cause” or by the executive officer for “good reason,” then, in addition to the Accrued Obligations, the executive officer will be entitled to receive the following additional benefits:

46



a cash payment equal to the sum of:

in the case of Mr. Maleh, 2.0 times the sum of his annual base salary and target bonus and, in the case of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin, one time the sum of the applicable executive officer’s annual base salary and target bonus; plus

a pro-rata target annual cash bonus for the portion of the then-current year; and

12 months of continued cash payments for COBRA and the employer contribution for group term life insurance.
In addition, the vesting of any unvested stock options, RSUs or other time-based equity awards held by the executive officer will be fully accelerated. Any PRSUs or other performance-based equity awards held by the executive officer will remain outstanding and will vest based on the outcome of the award’s performance conditions following the end of the performance period, provided that (1) any time-based vesting will be treated as fully satisfied upon the expiration of the performance period and (2) any individual performance metrics applicable to the executive officer will be deemed achieved at the target level of performance.
If the executive officer’s employment is terminated by us without “cause” or by the executive officer for “good reason” within 12 months of a “change in control,” then, in addition to the Accrued Obligations, the executive officer will be entitled to receive the following additional benefits:

a lump-sum cash payment equal to the sum of:

in the case of Mr. Maleh, 2.5 times the sum of his annual base salary and target bonus and, in the case of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin, 1.5 times the sum of the applicable executive officer’s annual base salary and target bonus; plus

a pro-rata target annual cash bonus for the portion of the then-current year; and

a lump-sum cash payment equal to 12 months of COBRA and the employer contribution for group term life insurance.
In addition, solely in respect of equity awards not assumed in a “change in control,” any unvested time-based equity awards held by the executive officer will be fully accelerated and, with respect to any performance-based equity award, the award will vest based on the achievement during the performance period of the applicable performance goals, except that the number of shares issuable under the award will be adjusted pro rata based on the portion of the performance period that was completed as of the executive officer’s termination date.
Upon an executive officer’s death, disability or retirement, each executive officer’s severance agreement provides for full acceleration of the vesting of any unvested time-based equity awards held by the executive officer. Any performance-based equity awards held by the executive officer will remain outstanding and will vest based on the outcome of the award’s performance conditions following the end of the performance period, provided that (1) any time-based vesting will be treated as fully satisfied upon the expiration of the performance period and (2) any individual performance metrics applicable to the executive officer will be deemed achieved at the target level of performance.
Each of our executive officers holds unvested RSUs (time-based equity awards) and PRSUs with performance conditions that have not yet been determined (performance-based equity awards) and none of our executive officers holds unvested stock options, which are in each case covered by the applicable officer’s severance agreement.
Hypothetical termination or change in control as of the end of fiscal 2023
The tables below summarizessummarize the payments that our named executive officers would receive, as well as the value of the acceleration of the vesting of equity awards held by them, under the agreements described above in connection with certain hypothetical terminations or changes in control as of December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last business day of fiscal 2015. This table assumes that the hypothetical change in control would be a "change of control" for purposes of our cash incentive plan and that the applicable annual incentive cash bonuses would neither be assumed nor substituted for in the change in control. This table also assumes that the hypothetical disability would be a disability for purposes of our stock option agreements, restricted stock agreements, restricted stock unit agreements and restricted stock unit for performance agreements.

2023.


47


Potential Payments Upon Termination Without Cause(1)or Good Reason(2) Not in Connection
with a
Change in Control as of 12/31/2015

December 29, 2023
Salary
($)(3)
Target
Incentive
Bonus
($)(4)
Cash
Management
Performance
Award
($)(5)
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(6)
Performance
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(7)
Total Payment
Upon
Termination
($)
Paul Maleh1,841,0402,200,0001,100,0003,242,4782,003,19510,386,713
Daniel Mahoney491,040375,000375,000947,873469,5382,658,451
Chad Holmes491,040375,000375,000757,685469,5382,468,263
Jonathan Yellin491,040325,000325,000617,417406,8672,165,324

 
 Management
Performance
Award
($)(1)
 Stock
Options
($)(2)
 Restricted
Stock
($)(3)
 Restricted
Stock Units
($)(4)
 Performance
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(5)
 Total Payment
upon Termination
or Change in
Control ($)
 

Paul Maleh

                   

Change in Control

  900,000          900,000 

Death/Disability

    2,205  327,513  469,141  415,839  1,214,698 

Chad Holmes

  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 

Change in Control

  275,000          275,000 

Death/Disability

    276    127,454  75,290  203,020 

Arnold Lowenstein

  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 

Change in Control

  200,000          200,000 

Death/Disability

    1,103    185,922  207,929  394,954 

(1)

“Cause” is defined as: (i) any material breach by the executive of any agreement to which the executive and CRA (or any parent or subsidiary of CRA) are both parties, (ii) any act or omission by the executive that is in material violation of any material policy of CRA, (iii) the conviction of the executive by a court of competent jurisdiction for (or plea by the executive of no contest with respect to) felony criminal conduct, or (iv) any material misconduct or material neglect of duties by the executive in connection with the business or affairs of CRA (or any parent or subsidiary).
(2)
Executive has complied with the “Good Reason Process” ​(as defined in each severance agreement) following the occurrence of any of the following events without executive’s consent: (i) a material reduction in the executive’s duties, authorities or responsibilities or a requirement that the executive report to anyone other than the Board, in the case of Mr. Maleh, or the President or Chief Executive Officer, in the case of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin; (ii) a reduction in the executive’s annual base salary or annual bonus opportunity (other than an across-the-board reduction of not more than ten percent (10%) applicable to all senior executive officers which occurs prior to a change in control); (iii) a material reduction in executive’s benefits in the aggregate (other than an across-the-board reduction of benefit levels) from those provided to executive; (iv) a relocation of executive’s principal place of employment out of the city of Boston, Massachusetts; (v) a material breach of any provision of the executive’s severance agreement by CRA; (vi) the failure of CRA to have a successor entity specifically assume the severance agreement within ten (10) business days after a change in control; or (vii) the insolvency of CRA or the filing (by any party, including CRA) of a petition for bankruptcy with respect to the Company, which petition is not dismissed within 60 days.
(3)
Represents a payment equal to two times Mr. Maleh’s base salary and one time the base salary of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin paid in accordance with CRA’s payroll practices over a period of 12 months. Also includes $41,040 for each of Messrs. Maleh, Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin, which reflects 12 months of continued cash payments for COBRA and the employer contribution for group term life insurance.
(4)
Represents a payment equal to two times Mr. Maleh’s base target incentive bonus and one time the target incentive bonus of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin paid in accordance with CRA’s payroll practices over a period of 12 months.
(5)
Amounts represent target payouts under annual incentive cash bonuses that our named executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 20152023 performance under our cash incentive plan. The amounts actually to be paid with respect to these bonuses were determined by our compensation committee on March 7, 2016,3, 2024, and are reported above in the "Summary“Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal 2015"Table” under the heading "Non-Equity“Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation."

(2)
(6)
Amounts represent the spread value of the full acceleration of vesting of stock optionsRSUs, and PRSUs for which the performance conditions had been determined prior to the end of fiscal 2023, granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the last business day of fiscal 2015.2023. These unvested stock optionsRSUs and PRSUs are reported as awards of type "OPT"“RSU” and “PRSU” in the "Outstanding“Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2015"2023” table above under the heading "Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable." The value of this acceleration is based on the applicable stock option's exercise price and the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015, the last business day of fiscal 2015, of $18.65.

(3)
Amounts represent the value of the full acceleration of vesting of shares of restricted stock granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan and held by the applicable executive officer as of the last business day of fiscal 2015. These unvested shares of restricted stock are reported as awards of type "RS" in the "Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2015" table above under the heading "Number“Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested." The value of this

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    acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last business day of fiscal 2015,2023, of $18.65.

$98.85.

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(7)
Amounts represent the value of (1) the full acceleration of vesting of PRSUs granted on March 10, 2022 under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the end of fiscal 2023 with performance periods consisting of fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 (the “2022/2023 PRSUs”), assuming target performance and (2) the full acceleration of vesting of PRSUs granted on April 11, 2023 under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the end of the fiscal 2023 with performance periods consisting of fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024 (the “2023/2024 PRSUs”), assuming target performance. The PRSUs will remain outstanding and will vest and be settled based on actual performance during the applicable performance period with (x) any time-based vesting that may be applicable in addition to performance-based vesting treated as fully satisfied upon the expiration of the performance period and (y) any individual performance metric applicable to the executive officer deemed achieved at the target level of performance. As a result, the 2022/2023 PRSUs would not settle or vest until the performance determination has been made in early 2024, and the 2023/2024 PRSUs would not settle or vest until the performance determination has been made in early 2025. The table reflects achievement of the 2022/2023 PRSUs based on target performance as of the termination date; as further described in this proxy statement above under the heading “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive officer compensation—Option exercises and vesting of stock,” on March 3, 2024, our compensation committee determined the number of shares of common stock, or “performance share number,” that vested for the 2022/2023 PRSUs. Any PRSU or portion thereof that does not vest based on actual performance during the performance period shall be immediately forfeited and cancelled. The value of this acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 29, 2023, the last business day of fiscal 2023, of $98.85.
The following table assumes that the hypothetical change in control would be a “change in control” for purposes of our cash incentive plan and severance agreements and that the applicable annual incentive cash bonuses would neither be assumed nor substituted for in the change in control.
Potential Payments Upon Termination Without Cause(1) or Good Reason(2)
Within 12 Months of a Change in Control as of December 29, 2023
Salary
($)(3)
Target
Incentive
Bonus
($)(4)
Cash
Management
Performance
Award
($)(5)
Restricted
Stock
Units
($)(6)
Performance
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(7)
Total Payment
Upon
Termination
or Change
in Control
($)
Paul Maleh2,291,0402,750,0001,100,0003,242,4782,003,19511,386,713
Daniel Mahoney716,040562,500375,000947,873469,5383,070,951
Chad Holmes716,040562,500375,000757,685469,5382,880,763
Jonathan Yellin716,040487,500325,000617,417406,8672,552,824
(1)
“Cause” is defined as: (i) any material breach by the executive of any agreement to which the executive and CRA (or any parent or subsidiary of CRA) are both parties, (ii) any act or omission by the executive that is in material violation of any material policy of CRA, (iii) the conviction of the executive by a court of competent jurisdiction for (or plea by the executive of no contest with respect to) felony criminal conduct, or (iv) any material misconduct or material neglect of duties by the executive in connection with the business or affairs of CRA (or any parent or subsidiary).
(2)
Executive has complied with the “Good Reason Process” ​(as defined in each severance agreement) following the occurrence of any of the following events without executive’s consent: (i) a material reduction in the executive’s duties, authorities or responsibilities or a requirement that the executive report to anyone other than the Board, in the case of Mr. Maleh, or the President or Chief Executive Officer, in the case of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin; (ii) a reduction in the executive’s annual base salary or annual bonus opportunity (other than an across-the-board reduction of not more than ten percent (10%) applicable to all senior executive officers which occurs prior to a change in control); (iii) a material reduction in executive’s benefits in the aggregate (other than an across-the-board reduction

49


of benefit levels) from those provided to executive; (iv) a relocation of executive’s principal place of employment out of the city of Boston, Massachusetts; (v) a material breach of any provision of the executive’s severance agreement by CRA; (vi) the failure of CRA to have a successor entity specifically assume the severance agreement within ten (10) business days after a change in control; or (vii) the insolvency of CRA or the filing (by any party, including CRA) of a petition for bankruptcy with respect to the Company, which petition is not dismissed within 60 days.
(3)
Represents a lump-sum payment equal to 2.5 times Mr. Maleh’s base salary and 1.5 times the base salary of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin. Also includes $42,784, for each of Messrs. Maleh, Holmes, Yellin, and Mahoney, which reflects a lump-sum payment equal to 12 months of continued cash payments for COBRA and the employer contribution for group term life insurance.
(4)

Represents a lump-sum payment equal to 2.5 times Mr. Maleh’s base target incentive bonus and 1.5 times the target incentive bonus of each of Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin.
(5)
Amounts represent target payouts under annual incentive cash bonuses that our named executive officers were eligible to receive for fiscal 2023 performance under our cash incentive plan. The amounts actually to be paid with respect to these bonuses were determined by our compensation committee on March 3, 2024, and are reported above in the “Summary Compensation Table” under the heading “Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation.”
(6)
Amounts represent the value of the full acceleration of vesting of RSUs, and PRSUs for which the performance conditions had been determined prior to the end of fiscal 2023, granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the last business day of fiscal 2015.2023. These unvested RSUs and PRSUs are reported as awards of type "RSU"“RSU” and “PRSU” in the "Outstanding“Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2015"2023” table above under the heading "Number“Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested." The value of this acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last business day of fiscal 2015,2023, of $18.65.

(5)
$98.85.
(7)
Amounts represent the value of (1) the full acceleration of vesting of PRSUs granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the end of fiscal 2015 with performance periods consisting of fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015,2022/2023 PRSUs, assuming target performance and (2) 50%the full acceleration of PRSUs granted under our 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer asvesting of the end of fiscal 2015 with performance periods consisting of fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2016,2023/2024 PRSUs, assuming target performance. These unvested PRSUs are reported as awards of type "PRSU" in the "Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2015" table above under the heading "Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested." The value of this acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 31, 2015,29, 2023, the last business day of fiscal 2015,2023, of $18.65. $98.85. For the 2022/2023 PRSUs and the 2023/2024 PRSUs, for which the performance period determination had not yet been made as of December 30, 2023, the performance period is truncated so that it ends on December 30, 2023, and we have assumed that the board of directors has determined in good faith that target level performance has been achieved for purposes of this table. As a result, the value has been determined based on assumed target performance measured over the truncated performance period by multiplying the amount determined by the percentage of the performance period that was completed as of immediately prior to the assumed effective date of the assumed change in control.
The following table assumes that the hypothetical disability would be a disability for purposes of our stock option agreements, restricted stock agreements, restricted stock unit agreements, restricted stock unit for performance agreements, service cash award agreements, performance cash award agreements and severance agreements.
Potential Payments Upon Termination Upon Death, Disability or Retirement as of December 29, 2023
Salary
($)
Target
Incentive
Bonus
($)
Cash
Management
Performance
Award
($)
Stock
Options
($)
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(1)
Performance
Restricted
Stock Units
($)(2)
Total Payment
Upon
Termination
Upon Death,
Disability or
Retirement
($)
Paul Maleh3,242,4782,003,1955,245,673
Daniel Mahoney947,873469,5381,417,411
Chad Holmes757,685469,5381,227,223
Jonathan Yellin617,417406,8671,024,284

50


(1)
Amounts do not include any accelerationrepresent the value of the full acceleration of vesting of RSUs, and PRSUs for which the performance conditions had been determined prior to the end of fiscal 2023, granted under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and LTIP and held by the applicable executive officer as of the endlast business day of fiscal 2015 with performance periods consisting2023. These unvested RSUs and PRSUs are reported as awards of fiscal 2016type “RSU” and fiscal 2017. These PRSUs would not have accelerated“PRSU” in the “Outstanding Equity Awards at End of Fiscal 2023” table above under the heading “Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested.” The value of this acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 29, 2023 the last business day of fiscal 2015 because their2023, of $98.85.
(2)
Amounts represent the value of (1) the full acceleration of vesting of the 2022/2023 PRSUs, assuming target performance and (2) the full acceleration of vesting of the 2023/2024 PRSUs, assuming target performance. The PRSUs will remain outstanding and will vest and be settled based on actual performance during the applicable performance period fiscal 2016with (x) any time-based vesting that may be applicable in addition to performance-based vesting treated as fully satisfied upon the expiration of the performance period and 2017, did(y) any individual performance metric applicable to the executive officer deemed achieved at the target level of performance. As a result, the 2022/2023 PRSUs would not beginsettle or vest until afterthe performance determination has been made in early 2024. The table reflects achievement of the 2021/2022 PRSUs, the 2022/2023 PRSUs and the 2023/2024 PRSUs based on target performance as of the termination date; as further described in this proxy statement above under the heading “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive officer compensation—Option exercises and vesting of stock,” on March 3, 2024, our compensation committee determined the number of shares of common stock, or “performance share number,” that vested for the 2022/2023 PRSUs. Any PRSU or portion thereof that does not vest based on actual performance during the performance period shall be immediately forfeited and cancelled.
The value of this acceleration was determined based on the closing market price of our common stock on December 29, 2022, the last business day of fiscal 2015.2023, of $98.85.

CEO Pay Ratio

As required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following information about the relationship of the annual total compensation of our “median employee” and the annual total compensation of Mr. Maleh, our president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board, for fiscal 2023.
For 2023, our last completed fiscal year:

the annual total compensation of Mr. Maleh was $3,584,193; and

the annual total compensation of our median employee was $136,442.
Based on the foregoing, for fiscal 2023, the ratio of the annual total compensation of our chief executive officer to the annual total compensation of our median employee, as reasonably estimated in accordance with Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, was approximately 26 to 1.
When we identified our median employee for fiscal 2023, we used the following methodology and made the following material assumptions, adjustments, and estimates:

We identified our employee base as of December 30, 2023, the last day of our 2023 fiscal year. Our employee population as of that date consisted of 1,187 employees, including our chief executive officer. Excluding our chief executive officer, and excluding an additional total of 50 employees located in seven non-U.S. jurisdictions who represented approximately 4.2% of our total employee base of 1,187 employees as of December 30, 2023, the size of our employee base for purposes of determining our median employee was 1,137. The following number of employees in the following non-U.S. jurisdictions were excluded:

51


JurisdictionHeadcount
Australia2
Belgium26
Brazil6
Czech Republic1
France3
Norway1
Switzerland11

We identified our median employee using a consistently applied compensation measure of 2023 taxable income, as determined in the applicable jurisdiction. Compensation paid in currencies other than U.S. dollars was converted into U.S. dollars using the following 2023 full-year exchange rates:

British pound to U.S. dollar: 1.2437

the euro to U.S. dollar: 1.0815

the Canadian dollar to U.S. dollar: 0.7411

In determining the 2023 taxable income of our full-time and part-time employees who were not employed by us for all of 2023, we annualized their actual taxable income based on the number of days that they were employed by us in 2023. Our employee base for purposes of determining our median employee did not contain any seasonal or temporary employees.
We calculated the annual total compensation of Mr. Maleh and our median employee using the same methodology that we used to calculate the annual total compensation of our named executive officers reported in the “Summary Compensation Table,” or SCT, above. As this amount reported for Mr. Maleh includes all of the compensation he earned under non-discriminatory benefit plans in fiscal 2023, the compensation earned by our median employee under non-discriminatory benefit plans in fiscal 2023 was also included in the annual total compensation for our median employee reported above.
Pay Versus Performance Table
As required by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, the following table sets forth additional compensation information of Mr. Maleh, our principal executive officer, or PEO, and our other named executive officers, or Non-PEO NEOs, and Company performance for the fiscal years ended in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Fiscal
Year
(a)
Summary
Compensation
Table Total
for PEO(1)
(b)
Compensation
Actually
Paid to
PEO(1)(2)(3)
(c)
Average
Summary
Compensation
Table
Total for
Non-PEO
NEOs(1)
(d)
Average
Compensation
Actually
Paid to
Non-PEO
NEOs(1)(2)(3)
(e)
Value of Initial Fixed $100
Investment Based on(4):
Net
Income
($ in
millions)
(h)
Non-GAAP
Net
Revenue
($ in
millions)(5)
(i)
Total
Shareholder
Return
(TSR)
(f)
Peer
Group
Total
Shareholder
Return
(g)
2023$3,584,193$1,719,457$1,194,327$784,896$196.45$156.21$38.5$624.0
2022$3,794,707$6,666,030$1,281,503$1,891,193$239.76$138.71$43.6$590.9
2021$3,838,392$8,739,743$1,169,357$2,136,051$180.35$140.76$41.7$565.9
2020$3,675,532$3,389,943$1,270,450$1,320,399$97.13$110.38$24.5$508.4
(1)
Mr. Maleh has been our PEO for each year presented. Messrs. Mahoney, Holmes and Yellin have been our Non-PEO NEOs for each year presented.
(2)
The amounts shown for Compensation Actually Paid have been calculated in accordance with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K and do not reflect compensation actually earned, realized, or received by the Company’s NEOs. These amounts reflect the Summary Compensation Table Total with certain adjustments as described in footnote 3 below.

52


(3)
Compensation Actually Paid reflects the exclusions and inclusions of Contentscertain amounts for the PEO and the Non-PEO NEOs as set forth below. The fair value of stock awards was determined using methodologies and assumptions developed in a manner substantively consistent with those used to determine the grant date fair value of such awards.
PEO Adjustments
2020202120222023
Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO$3,675,532$3,838,392$3,794,707$3,584,193
Less, Value of Stock Awards reported in SCT
$(1,500,023)$(1,500,032)$(1,599,969)$(1,599,955)
Plus, Year-end value of awards granted in fiscal year that are unvested and outstanding
$1,441,981$2,343,873$2,568,973$1,611,587
Plus, Change in fair value of prior year awards that are unvested and outstanding
$27,129$2,941,351$1,496,205$(1,192,497)
Plus, Fair market value of awards granted in fiscal
year that vested in fiscal year
Plus, Change in fair value (from prior year-end) of
prior year awards that vested in fiscal year
$(252,676)$1,116,159$406,114$(683,871)
Less, Prior year-end fair value of awards that failed to vest in fiscal year
Total Adjustments$(285,589)$4,901,351$2,871,323$(1,864,736)
Compensation Actually Paid$3,389,943$8,739,743$6,666,030$1,719,457
Non-PEO NEO Adjustments
2020202120222023
Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOs$1,270,450$1,169,357$1,281,503$1,194,327
Less, Value of Stock Awards reported in SCT
$(425,005)$(291,648)$(358,310)$358,323
Plus, Year-end value of awards granted in fiscal year
that are unvested and outstanding
$493,393$455,721$575,323$360,928
Plus, Change in fair value of prior year awards that are unvested and outstanding
$4,742$625,963$337,796$(277,697)
Plus, Fair market value of awards granted in fiscal year that vested in fiscal year
Plus, Change in fair value (from prior year-end) of prior year awards that vested in fiscal year
$(23,181)$176,658$54,881$(134,340)
Less, Prior year-end fair value of awards that failed to vest in fiscal year
Total Adjustments$49,949$966,694$609,690$(409,432)
Compensation Actually Paid$1,320,399$2,136,051$1,891,193$784,896
(4)
The Peer Group Total Shareholder Return, or TSR, set forth in this table utilizes the customized peer group, which we also utilize in the stock performance graph required by Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2023. The customized peer group consisting of three companies: Exponent Inc., FTI Consulting Inc. and Huron Consulting Group Inc. The comparison assumes $100 was invested for the period starting December 31, 2019, through the end of the listed year in the Company and in the customized peer group, respectively. All dollar values assume reinvestment of the pre-tax value of dividends paid by companies, where applicable, included in the customized peer group. Historical stock performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock performance.

53


(5)
Non-GAAP net revenue was subject to the following non-GAAP adjustments: acquisitions, discontinued operations, and extraordinary and special items, each to the extent that they arose during fiscal 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and any other adjustments to our publicly reported GAAP results in our earnings releases for each applicable fiscal year, consistent with past practice.
The charts below display the relationship between the compensation actually paid to our PEO and each of our Non-PEO NEOs and TSR, GAAP Net Income, Non-GAAP Net Revenue, as well as the relationship between our TSR and the TSR of our Peer Group.
[MISSING IMAGE: bc_capvstsr-4c.jpg]
[MISSING IMAGE: bc_netincome-4c.jpg]

54


[MISSING IMAGE: bc_noncaapnet-4c.jpg]
[MISSING IMAGE: lc_tsrvspeertsr-4c.jpg]
Tabular List of Most Important Financial Performance Measures
The following performance measures reflect the Company’s most important financial performance measures in effect for 2023, for purposes of setting executive compensation as further described and defined in the sections titled “Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis” and “Executive compensation.” The measures in this table are not ranked.

Non-GAAP Net Revenue

Non-GAAP Net Revenue Growth

Performance Compensation EBITDA

Performance Compensation EBITDA Margin

55


PROPOSAL TWO:

ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act added Section 14A to the Securities Exchange Act, of 1934, which requires that we provide our shareholders with the opportunity to vote to approve, on a nonbinding, advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in this proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (including in the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables and accompanying narrative disclosures). This advisory vote is commonly referred to as a "say-on-pay"“say-on-pay” vote. At the special meeting in lieu of annual meeting of our shareholders held on May 18, 2011,July 13, 2023, a majority of our shareholders voted, on an advisory basis, in favor of our holding say-on-pay votes on an annual basis and, as reported in our current report on Form 8-K filed on May 20, 2011,July 17, 2023, our board of directors has decided to hold a say-on-pay vote every year until the next required advisory vote on the frequency of the say-on-pay vote at the 20172029 annual meeting of our shareholders. Accordingly, our next say-on-pay vote after the special meeting will occur at the 2017 annual meeting of our shareholders (or any special meeting held in lieu thereof).

As described in greater detail in the section of this proxy statement entitled "Compensation“Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers—Compensation discussion and analysis—Executive summary"summary” above, we seek to closely align the interests of our executive officers with the interests of our shareholders. Our compensation committee has carefully designed our executive officer compensation program to provide competitive compensation to our executive officers that rewards them for the achievement of short-term and long-term strategic and operational goals, and the achievement of increased total shareholder return, while at the same time avoiding encouraging unnecessary or excessive risk-taking. We encourage you to carefully review the compensation discussion and analysis above for a complete discussion of the factors underlying the structure of our executive officer compensation program.

We are asking you to indicate your support for the compensation of our named executive officers as described in this proxy statement. The vote on this proposal is not intended to address any specific element of compensation, but rather relates to the overall compensation of our named executive officers, as described in this proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (including in the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables and accompanying narrative disclosures).

This vote is advisory, which means that this vote on executive compensation will not be binding on us, our board of directors or our compensation committee. Nonetheless, our compensation committee will consider the outcome of this vote in deciding whether to take any action as a result of this vote and when making future executive officer compensation decisions. A majority of the votes properly cast at the specialannual meeting will be necessary to approve this proposal.

Accordingly, we are asking our shareholders to vote for the following resolution at the specialannual meeting:

            "VOTED,

“VOTED, that, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to our named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statement filed by CRA International, Inc. on April 29, 2016,26, 2024, pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K (including in the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables and accompanying narrative disclosures) be, and it hereby is, approved."

Our board of directors recommends that you voteFOR the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation paid to our named executive officers, as disclosed in this proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K.



56


EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

The following table provides information, as of January 2, 2016,December 30, 2023, regarding shares authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, including individual compensation arrangements.


Equity Compensation Plan Information as of End of Fiscal 2015

2023
Plan categoryNumber of shares
to be issued upon
exercise of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights (#)
(a)
Weighted-average
exercise price of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights ($)
(b)
Number of shares
remaining available
for future issuance
under equity
compensation plans
(excluding shares
reflected in column (a)) (#)
(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by shareholders160,488(1)46.15(2)873,104(3)
Equity compensation plans not approved
by stockholders
Total160,488(1)46.15(2)873,104(3)

Plan category
 Number of shares
to be issued
upon exercise
of outstanding
options, warrants
and rights (#)
(a)
 Weighted-average
exercise price
of outstanding
options, warrants
and rights ($)
(b)
 Number of shares
remaining available for
future issuance under
equity compensation
plans (excluding
shares reflected
in column (a)) (#)
(c)
 

Equity compensation plans approved by shareholders

  1,755,275(1) 23.00(2) 262,434(3)

Equity compensation plans not approved by shareholders

  150,000(4) 50.00  50,000(4)

Total

  1,905,275  26.36  312,434(3)

(1)

Amount reported consists of (x) the following equity awards granted under our shareholder approved amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and outstanding as of the end of fiscal 2015: 1,044,2782023: 45,200 shares underlying stock option awards, 251,97060,891 shares underlying time-vesting restricted stock unit awards, and 446,52720,516 shares underlying performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards (assuming targetfor which the performance will be achieved)conditions had been determined as of the end of fiscal 2023, and 33,881 shares underlying performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards for which the performance conditions had not been determined as of the end of fiscal 2015, and (y) 12,5002023 (assuming target performance will be achieved). The number of shares underlying performance-vesting restricted stock options granted under our shareholder approved 1998 incentive and nonqualified stock option plan and outstandingunit awards for which the performance conditions had not been determined as of the end of fiscal 2015. The number of shares underlying these performance-vesting restricted stock unit awards assuming2023 (assuming that their highest level of performance will be achievedachieved) is 558,159.

50,822.
(2)

Amount reported is the weighted-average exercise price of the 1,056,77845,200 stock options reported in column (a).

; the weighted-average remaining life of these stock options is 4.45 years.
(3)

Amount reported consists of (in the top row of the table) or includes (in the bottom row of the table) 50,657661,327 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our amended and restated 2006 equity incentive plan and 211,777 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 1998 employee stock purchase plan, which is a tax-qualified plan under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code.

(4)
Amount reported consists of shares underlying stock options granted (in the first column of the table) or available (in the last column of the table) under our 2009 nonqualified inducement stock option plan, which is not a shareholder approved plan. Additional details on our 2009 nonqualified inducement stock option plan can be found in note 11, "Share Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2016.


57


REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

Our firm's board of directors appointed an audit committee to, among other things, monitor the integrity of our firm'sthe Company’s consolidated financial statements, our firm's system of internal controls, and the independence and performance of our firm's internal auditors andits independent registered public accountants. The audit committee also selects our firm'sthe Company’s independent registered public accountants. The audit committee is governed by a written charter adopted by our firm's board of directors. A current copy of the audit committee charter is available through the Investor Relations page of our website atwww.crai.com.

        Thewww.crai.com.

During fiscal 2023, the audit committee currently consistsconsisted of three non-employee directors. Each member of the audit committee is "independent"or was “independent” within the meaning of the rules of the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market.

Our firm's management is responsible for the firm'sCompany’s financial reporting process, including its system of internal controls, and for the preparation of the firm'sCompany’s consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Our firm'sThe Company’s independent registered public accountants are responsible for auditing those financial statements. Our responsibility is to monitor and review these processes. However, we are not professionally engaged in the practice of accounting or auditing and are not experts in the field of accounting, auditing or auditor independence.auditing. We have relied, without independent verification, on the information provided to us and on the representations made by our firm's management and independent registered public accountants.

In fulfilling our oversight responsibilities, we discussed with representatives of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP, or "EY,"“GT,” our firm's independent registered public accountants for fiscal 2015,2023, the overall scope and plans for their audit of our firm's consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2015.2023. We met with them, with and without our firm's management present, to discuss the results of their audits and their evaluations of our firm's internal controls and the overall quality of our firm's financial reporting. We reviewed and discussed our firm's audited consolidated financial statements for fiscal 20152023 with our firm's management and independent registered public accountants.

In addition, during the course of fiscal 2015, our firm's management completed the documentation, testing and evaluation of our firm's system of internal control over financial reporting in response to the requirements set forth in Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related regulations. We were kept apprised of the progress of this evaluation and provided oversight to our firm's management during the process. In connection with this oversight, we received periodic updates provided by our firm's management and EY at each appropriate scheduled audit committee meeting. At the conclusion of the process, our firm's management provided us with, and we reviewed, a report on the effectiveness of our firm's internal control over financial reporting. We also reviewed the report of our firm's management contained in our firm's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2016,December 30, 2023, filed with the SEC, as well as EY'sGT’s Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm included in our firm'sthe Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2016December 30, 2023 related to its audit of (i) our firm's(1) the Company’s consolidated financial statements and (ii)(2) the effectiveness of our firm'sthe Company’s internal control over financial reporting. We continue to oversee our firm's efforts related to its internal control over financial reporting and our firm's management's preparations for the evaluation in fiscal 2016.

        We discussed with our firm'sthe Company’s independent registered public accountants the matters required to be discussed by Statement of Auditing StandardsStandard No. 16,Communication1301, Communications with Audit Committees,, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, including a discussion of our firm'sthe Company’s accounting principles, the application of those principles, and the other matters we were required to discuss with our firm'sthe Company’s independent registered public accountants under generally accepted auditing standards. In addition, we received from our firm'sthe Company’s independent registered public accountants a letter containing the written disclosures required by applicable requirementsstandards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and discussed the disclosures with them, as well as other matters relevant


Table of Contents

to their independence from our firm's management and our firm.the Company. In evaluating the independence of our firm'sthe Company’s independent registered public accountants, we considered the fact that all audit-related services, tax services and other services for fiscal 20152023 were pre-approved by the audit committee, which determined that such services would not impair the independence of the auditor and are consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission'sCommission’s rules on auditor independence.

Based on our review and these meetings, discussions and reports, and subject to the limitations on our role and responsibilities referred to above and in our firm'sthe Company’s audit committee charter, we recommended to our firm's board of directors that our firm'sthe Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for fiscal 20152023 be included in our firm'sthe Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 20152023 filed on March 4, 2016.

February 29, 2024.

The audit committee
Richard Booth (Chair)
Robert Holthausen
Alva Taylor
Karen Keenan
The audit committee
Robert Holthausen (Chair)
William Concannon
Nancy Hawthorne


58



PROPOSAL THREE:

RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

Overview

Proposal Three concerns the ratification of the appointment by our audit committee of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP or "EY," to be our independent registered public accountants for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.

28, 2024.

The report of GT on our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 30, 2023, did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles. For the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023, there were no “reportable events” as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.
Under rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASDAQNasdaq Stock Market, appointment of our independent registered public accountants is the direct responsibility of our audit committee.
Although ratification of this appointment by our shareholders is not required by law, our board of directors believes that seeking shareholder ratification is a good practice that provides shareholders an avenue to express their views on this important matter.

        Our audit committee has reappointed EY as our independent registered public accountants for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.

Our board of directors recommends that shareholders vote to ratify the appointment.appointment of Grant Thornton as our auditors for the fiscal year ending December 28, 2024. If our shareholders do not ratify the appointment of EY,Grant Thornton, our audit committee may, but is not required to, reconsider its decision. In any case, our audit committee may, in its discretion, appoint new independent registered public accountants at any time during the year if it believes that such change would be in our best interest and the best interest of our shareholders. We expect that representatives of EYGrant Thornton will be present at the specialannual meeting. They will have an opportunity to make a statement if they wish and will be available to respond to appropriate questions from shareholders.

Change in independent registered public accountants

        As reported in the current report on Form 8-K we filed on June 11, 2014, prior to that date our audit committee conducted a competitive process to determine our independent registered public accountants. As a result of this process, on June 6, 2014, we engaged Ernst & Young LLP, or "EY," as our independent registered public accountants. On the same date, we dismissed KPMG LLP, or "KPMG," as our independent registered public accountants, effective immediately. During the two fiscal years ended December 28, 2013 and the subsequent interim period through June 6, 2014, neither we nor anyone on our behalf consulted EY regarding any of the matters referred to in Item 304(a)(2) of Regulation S-K. This change of our independent registered public accountants was approved by our audit committee.

        During the two fiscal years ended December 28, 2013 and the subsequent interim period through June 6, 2014, there were no: (1) "disagreements" (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K) with KPMG on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements, if not resolved to their satisfaction, would have caused them to make reference in connection with their opinion to the subject matter of the disagreement, or (2) "reportable events" (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K), except for a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of our fiscal year ended December 28, 2013. As disclosed in Item 9A of our annual report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended December 28, 2013, our president and chief executive officer and our chief financial officer concluded that our internal controls were not sufficiently complete and comprehensive to ensure that our income tax accounting and reporting for income taxes were complete and accurate. Our audit committee discussed this material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting with KPMG, and authorized KPMG to respond fully to the inquiries of EY concerning this material weakness.


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        The audit report of KPMG on our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 28, 2013 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles. The audit report of KPMG on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2013 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor was it qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles, except that KPMG's report indicates that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2013 because of the effect of the aforementioned material weakness on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria and contains an explanatory paragraph that states that a material weakness related to the accounting and reporting for income taxes has been identified and included in management's assessment.

        KPMG furnished us with a letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that it agrees with the foregoing statements, except for certain statements with respect to which KPMG is not in a position to agree or disagree. A copy of this letter was filed as Exhibit 16.1 to the current report on Form 8-K we filed on June 11, 2014.

        The audit report of EY on our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended January 3, 2015 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles. As disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended January 3, 2015, our president and chief executive officer and our chief financial officer concluded that our internal controls were not sufficiently complete and comprehensive to ensure that our accounting and reporting for non-routine compensation arrangements (for example, share-based compensation) were complete and accurate and that there was inadequate and ineffective analysis and review of the documentation and calculations supporting our non-routine compensation arrangements (for example, share-based compensation). The audit report of EY on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of January 3, 2015 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor was it qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles, except that EY's report indicates that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 3, 2015 because of the effect of the aforementioned material weakness on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria and contains an explanatory paragraph that states that a material weakness related to the accounting and reporting for non-routine compensation arrangements (for example, share-based compensation) has been identified and included in management's assessment.

Our board of directors recommends that you voteFOR the proposal Proposal Three to ratify the appointment by our audit committee of Ernst & YoungGrant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accountants for fiscal 2016.

2024.


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PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

Fees and Services

The following is a summary of the fees and out-of-pocket expenses for professional services rendered by Ernst & Young LLP, or "EY,"GT, our current registered independent public accountants, for the fiscal years ended January 2, 20162023 and January 3, 2015.

fiscal 2022.
Fee categoryFiscal 2023Fiscal 2022
Audit fees$1,779,847$1,768,385
Audit-related fees$15,000
Tax fees$88,500$42,400
All other fees
Total fees$1,883,347$1,810,785

Fee category
 Fiscal 2015 Fiscal 2014 

Audit fees

  1,903,478  1,529,000 

Audit-related fees

     

Tax fees

  189,407  203,572 

All other fees

  1,550  43,328 

Total fees

  2,094,435  1,775,900 

Table of Contents

Audit fees

Audit fees comprise fees and out-of-pocket expenses for professional services necessary to perform an audit or review in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, including services rendered for the integrated audit of our annual financial statements and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and the review of our quarterly financial statements. Audit fees also include fees for services that are normally provided in connection with statutory and regulatory financial statement filings.

Audit-related fees

In fiscal 2015 and2023, GT performed services for us in connection with a registration statement filing. In fiscal 2014, EY2022, GT did not perform any other assurance or related services for us that were reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements, except as disclosed under the heading "Audit fees"“Audit fees” above.

Tax fees

In fiscal 2015, EY2023 and fiscal 2022, GT performed tax services that were pre-approved by our audit committee, which determined that such services would not impair the independence of the auditor and were consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission'sCommission’s rules on auditor independence. In fiscal 2014, certain tax compliance and tax consultation services performed by EY were performed prior to their appointment in June 2014 as our current registered independent public accountants. Subsequent to their appointment as our registered independent public accountants, EY performed tax services in fiscal 2014 that were pre-approved by our audit committee, which determined that such services would not impair the independence of the auditor and were consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules on auditor independence.

All other fees

In fiscal 2015, we incurred fees related to our subscription to the EY audit2023 and accounting standards research tool. EYfiscal 2022, GT did not perform any other services for us in fiscal 2015 other than those disclosed under the headings "Audit fees"“Audit fees” and "Tax Fees"“Tax fees” above. In fiscal 2014, all other services performed by EY were performed prior to their appointment in June 2014 as our current registered independent public accountants.

Pre-approval policies and procedures

At present, our audit committee approves each engagement for audit or non-audit services before we engage our independent registered public accountants to provide those services. However, our audit committee has delegated to the chairman of the committee the authority to pre-approve audit and non-audit services that the chairman determines in good faith would not impair the independence of our independent registered public accountants. The chairman of our audit committee must notify the other members of the committee of any audit or non-audit service that he pre-approves under this delegation of authority. Any other audit and non-audit services require pre-approval by the entire audit committee.

Our audit committee has not established any pre-approval policies or procedures that would allow our management to engage our independent registered public accountants to provide any specified services with only an obligation to notify the committee of the engagement for those services. None of the services provided by EYGT for fiscal 20152023 was obtained in reliance on the waiver of the pre-approval requirement permitted by SEC regulations.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS


SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS

Shareholder proposals for inclusion in our proxy materials relating to the 20172025 annual meeting of our shareholders must be received by us at our executive offices no later than January 24, 201731, 2025 or, if the date of that meeting is more than 30 calendar days before or after July 20, 2017,18, 2025, a reasonable time before we begin to print and send our proxy materials with respect to that meeting.

In addition, our by-laws provide that a shareholder desiring to bring business before any meeting of shareholders or to nominate any person for election to our board of directors must give timely written notice to our secretary in accordance with the procedural requirements set forth in our by-laws. In the case of a regularly scheduled annual meeting, written notice must be delivered or mailed to and received at our principal executive offices not less than 60 days nor more than 90 days before the first Monday in May in the year of the annual meeting (the default date for such meetings set in our by-laws), must describe the business to be brought before the meeting, and must provide specific information about the proposing shareholder, other supporters of the proposal, their stock ownership and their interest in the proposed business. If we hold a special meeting in lieu of the 20172025 annual meeting of our shareholders before May 1, 2017,2025, and if we give less than 70 days'days’ notice or prior public disclosure of the date of that special meeting, then the shareholder'sshareholder’s notice must be delivered or mailed to and received at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the tenth day after the earlier of (1) the day on which we mail notice of the date of the specialannual meeting and (2) the day on which we publicly disclose the date of the specialannual meeting. If we hold the 20172025 annual meeting of our shareholders on or after May 1, 2017,2025, in order to bring an item of business before the meeting in accordance with our by-laws, a shareholder must deliver the requisite notice of that item of business to us between January 31, 2017February 4, 2025 and March 2, 2017.


6, 2025. In addition, to comply with universal proxy rules, any notice of a solicitation of proxies in support of director nominees other than our nominees must set forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act and be postmarked or transmitted electronically to us at our principal executive office no later than May 19, 2025, or, if the date of the 2025 annual meeting has changed by more than 30 calendar days from the 2024 annual meeting, then by the later of 60 calendar days prior to the date of the 2025 annual meeting or the 10th calendar day after the day on which we first publicly announce the date of the 2025 annual meeting.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Shareholders of record on May 11, 201624, 2024 will receive this proxy statement and our annual report to shareholders, which contains detailed financial information about us. The annual report is not incorporated herein and is not deemed a part of this proxy statement.



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NNNNNNNNNNNN . NNNNNNNNNNNNNNN C123456789 000004 000000000.000000 ext 000000000.000000 ext 000000000.000000 ext 000000000.000000 ext 000000000.000000 ext 000000000.000000 ext ENDORSEMENT_LINE______________ SACKPACK_____________ MR A SAMPLE DESIGNATION (IF ANY) ADD 1 ADD 2 ADD 3 ADD 4 ADD 5 ADD 6 Using

[MISSING IMAGE: px_24craproxy01pg01-4c.jpg]
01 - Alva Taylor 02 - Heather TookesFor Withhold For Withhold1 U P X03 - Karen KeenanFor WithholdUsing a black ink pen, mark your votes with an X as shown in this example. Pleaseexample.Please do not write outside the designated areas. q PLEASE FOLD ALONG THE PERFORATION, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. q areas.03ZWSB++Proposals — The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR the listed nominees as Class IIIII Directors A and FOR Proposals 2 and 3. + 1. Election of Directors: For Withhold For Withhold For Withhold 01 - Paul Maleh 02 - William Schleyer 03 - Thomas Avery For Against Abstain ForAgainst Abstain 3:2. To approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to CRA’stoCRA’s named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statementproxystatement for the 20162024 meeting of its shareholders. 3.shareholders.3. To ratify the appointment of Ernst & Youngby our audit committee ofGrant Thornton LLP as CRA’sour independent registered publicregisteredpublic accountants for theour fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. Non-Voting Items ChangeendingDecember 28, 2024.1. To consider and vote upon the election of Address — Please print new address below. Meeting Attendance Mark box to the right if you plan to attend the Special Meeting. Authorized Signatures — This section must be completed for your vote to be counted. — Date and Sign Below Pleasethree Class II Directors:For Against AbstainPlease sign exactly as name(s) appears hereon. Joint owners should each sign. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, corporate officer, trustee, guardian, or custodian, please give full title. Dategivefull title.Date (mm/dd/yyyy) — Please print date below. Signature 1 — Please keep signature within the box. Signature 2 — Please keep signature within the box. NNNNNNN C 1234567890 J N T 7 7 2box.B Authorized Signatures — This section must be completed for your vote to count. Please date and sign below.qIF VOTING BY MAIL, SIGN, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.qAnnual Meeting Proxy CardFor Against AbstainMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM6 1 5 1 MR5 7MR A SAMPLE (THIS AREA IS SET UP TO ACCOMMODATE 140ACCOMMODATE140 CHARACTERS) MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE ANDMR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MRANDMR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MRANDC 1234567890 J N TC123456789MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM000000000.000000 ext000000000.000000 ext000000000.000000 ext000000000.000000 ext000000000.000000 ext000000000.000000 ext1234 5678 9012 345If no electronic voting,delete QR code and control #Δ ≈000001MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND + 1 U P X 2 7 02BYGB NNNNNNNNN C B A Special Meeting Proxy Card X IMPORTANT SPECIAL MEETING INFORMATION

GRAPHIC

SAMPLEDESIGNATION (IF ANY)ADD 1ADD 2ADD 3ADD 4ADD 5ADD 6ENDORSEMENT_LINE______________ SACKPACK_____________OnlineGo to www.envisionreports.com/CRAI orscan the QR code — login details arelocated in the shaded bar below.Save paper, time and money!Sign up for electronic delivery atwww.envisionreports.com/CRAIPhoneCall toll free 1-800-652-VOTE (8683) withinthe USA, US territories and CanadaYou may vote online or by phone instead of mailing this card.Votes submitted electronically must bereceived by July 18, 2024 at 1:00 A.M.,local time.Your vote matters – here’s how to vote!


. q PLEASE FOLD ALONG THE PERFORATION, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. q Proxy - CRA International, Inc. [MISSING IMAGE: px_24craproxy01pg02-4c.jpg]

THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC. THEINC.THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR EACH NOMINEE LISTED IN PROPOSAL 1 AND FOR PROPOSALSFORPROPOSALS 2 and 3. ProxyAND 3.CRA International, Inc.’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Thursday, July 18, 2024, at 8:00 A.M. local time at the offices of CRA International, Inc.,located at 200 Clarendon Street, 9th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116Proxy for Special Meeting in lieu of Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on July 20, 2016 The18, 2024The undersigned shareholder of CRA International, Inc. (“CRA”), revoking all prior proxies, hereby appoints Paul Maleh and Chad Holmes,Jonathan Yellin, and each of them acting singly, proxies, with full powerfullpower of substitution, to vote all shares of capital stock of CRA that the undersigned is entitled to vote at the Special Meeting in lieu of Annual Meeting of Shareholders of CRA to be held at CRA’s offices in the John Hancock Tower, 200 Clarendon Street, 10th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Thursday,July 20, 2016,18, 2024, beginning at 8:00 a.m., local time, and at any adjournments or postponements thereof, upon the matters set forth in the Notice of Special Meeting in lieu of Annual Meeting dated April 29, 2016, 26, 2024,and the related Proxy Statement, copies of which have been received by the undersigned, and in their discretion upon any business that may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. Attendance of theofthe undersigned at the Special Meeting in lieu of Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof will not be deemed to revoke this proxy unless the undersigned shall affirmatively indicate the intentiontheintention of the undersigned to vote the shares represented hereby in person prior to the exercise of this proxy. THEproxy.THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED. IF NO DIRECTION IS GIVEN WITH RESPECT TO A PROPOSAL, THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BEWILLBE VOTED FOR EACH NOMINEE LISTED IN PROPOSAL 1 AND FOR PROPOSALS 2 AND 3, OR OTHERWISE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. PleaseDIRECTORS.Please promptly date and sign this proxy and mail it in the enclosed envelope to ensure representation of your shares. No postage need be affixed if mailed in the United States.

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States.Proxy - CRA International, Inc.qIF VOTING BY MAIL, SIGN, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.qC Non-Voting Items++Meeting AttendanceMark box to the right ifyou plan to attend theAnnual Meeting.Change of Address — Please print new address below.Small steps make an impact.Help the environment by consenting to receive electronicdelivery, sign up at www.envisionreports.com/CRAIThe 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of CRA International, Inc. will be held onThursday, July 18, 2024, 8:00 A.M. local time at the offices of CRA International, Inc., located at200 Clarendon Street, 9th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116


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