QDOBA, the Mexican restaurant chain voted best fast-casual restaurant in 2019 and 2020 by USA Today 10Best, today announced that seasoned restaurant investor relations executive Carol DiRaimo has been appointed to its Board of Directors.

“It is an honor to welcome Carol to our Board of Directors,” says Keith Guilbault, CEO of QDOBA. “Her contributions within the restaurant industry are unparalleled, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her strategic perspective on our board.”

DiRaimo has over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry and six years of public accounting experience at Deloitte. Prior to joining QDOBA’s Board of Directors, DiRaimo served as Chief Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Officer at Jack in the Box Inc. and held the position of Vice President of Investor Relations for Applebee’s International, Inc., where she headed the financial planning and reporting, treasury and corporate analysis functions before leading investor relations for the company.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the board of an organization that is committed to being a leader in the fast-casual restaurant space. I look forward to bringing valuable insights from my previous experience to help grow the QDOBA brand,” says DiRaimo.

DiRaimo recently received IR Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and is a six-time winner of the publication’s Best Investor Relations Officer for a small to mid-cap company in the United States. In addition, Institutional Investor has named Carol to its All-America Executive Team 12 times. 

In addition to her corporate work, DiRaimo currently serves on the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Missouri, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in accounting and has an endowed scholarship supporting women from the Kansas City area. She previously served on the Board of Trustees of Rockhurst University, where she earned an Executive MBA, from 2010 until 2019, and continues to serve on its Audit Committee. From 2006 to 2011, Carol served on the Board of Directors of the National Investor Relations Institute.