Leadership
Smith Yewell
CEO & Founder
- Founded the company in 1997.
- Winner of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
- Inc. 500/5000 multi-year winner.
- Deloitte & Touche's "Technology Fast 500" National Program multi-year winner.
- "Firm of the Year" winner awarded by the Tech Council of Maryland.
- Awarded US Army Bronze Star in Operation Desert Storm, 1991.
- Serves on the advisory boards of the Rosetta Foundation and the OpenTM2 Steering Committee.
- Tulane University, BA in English, 1988.
Eugene McGinty
Chief Operations Officer
- As CEO and founder of Connect Global Solutions, which merged with Welocalize in 2005, Eugene McGinty brings over 20 years of business leadership to Welocalize.
- Prior to founding Connect, Eugene held senior management positions with Apple's subsidiary Claris, Lotus Development and IBM.
- Eugene has created a world-class operational infrastructure at Welocalize built around the company's 4 Pillars: Customer Service, Quality, Innovation and Global Teamwork.
- BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Ulster.
Tim Delbrugge, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
- Tim Delbrugge brings over 24 years of accounting and finance experience including 3.5 years as CFO for the Europe, Middle East, Africa region for W.R. Grace & Co., where he was responsible for a $1.3 billion business, over 25 legal entities and 90 financial/accounting professionals.
- Prior to his relocation to Germany, Tim served as Vice President Corporate Controller and Vice President Audit at Grace for which he headed the worldwide accounting and reporting functions, led Grace's successful compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and chaired Grace's Accounting and Reporting Policy Committee.
- Prior to joining Grace, Tim served as Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer for MedStar Health, a $1.8 billion regional healthcare system in Baltimore and Washington. Tim also spent 9.5 years at Price Waterhouse LLP.
- BS degrees in Accounting and Finance from Bryant University.
Max McNeil
Vice President, Brand & User Experience
- Executive design director and consultant with over 20 years experience and focus in strategy, user experience and design.
- Strong creative and management experience spanning entertainment, television, information technologies and internet including companies AOL, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Ogilvy, PBS, Special Olympics, RosettaStone, Hearst, GE, Nestle Worldwide, Tropicana and the Chicago White Soxs.
- Co-founded an award winning interactive firm, CO2 Media Inc., and was a designer for the earliest explorations in interactive television and providing trend forecasting and next generation prototyping solutions for one of the largest online media companies.
- Recipient of over 50 design awards including 43 ADDY Awards, Award of Excellence in the Graphic Arts/Mead Top 60, 3 Gold and 6 Silver Awards in the National Casebooks, 4 FCAF Best of Show ADDY Awards, 4 Gold AAFC ADDY Awards and 2 Silver AAFC ADDY Awards.
- Holds a BA and BFA in Design and Communication from Roanoke College and The Maryland Institute College of Art.
Olga Blasco
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Production Business Units
- Olga Blasco has over 15 years of experience in the localization industry.
- Expert in executing supply chain optimization in global companies designed to deliver operational excellence through quality and capacity management, vendor development and translation technology.
- Prior to joining Welocalize, Olga held the positions of Language Group Manager and Business Unit Manager at Lionbridge Ireland (formerly Bowne Global Solutions and Berlitz GlobalNET).
- Her extensive leadership experience includes managing and coaching successful Operations and Shared Services teams in a rapid growth environment through mergers and acquisitions.
- BA in Translation and Interpreting (English, German, Spanish, Catalan) from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). Olga also holds a Professional Music Degree by the Conservatori de Vila-seca i Salou (Spain).
Yan Yu
Vice President, Product Development
- Yan brings over 15 years of technology experience to Welocalize.
- Prior to working at Welocalize, he began his technology career at Oracle Consulting, where he was a Managing Principal Consultant focusing on developing web applications. After Oracle, Yan spent 7.5 years at Idiom Technologies (acquired by SDL) focusing on implementation of the translation management system (Idiom WorldServer). He held a number of management positions at Idiom including Director of Professional Services and Director of Business Development.
- He served as Director of Development for the TAUS Data Association (TDA) and built one of the largest, industry-wide translation memory databases with sophisticate search technology.
- BS and a MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University, and a MBA degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.
Derek Coffey
Vice President, Technology & Professional Services
- Over 20 years' experience delivering technology services in a variety of industries, with the last 10 years spent in the localization industry.
- Prior to the Welocalize acquisition of Transware in 2008, Derek was Vice President of Technology and he played a key role in the acquisition of the GlobalSight Corporation and its Ambassador TMS in 2005.
- Since 2009, Derek has worked to open source the Ambassador product, rebranding it as GlobalSight TMS. He also serves as a GlobalSight advocate, helping industry participants understand how to make best use of the technology.
- Derek holds an honors degree in business and IT from Trinity College Dublin
Julia Yewell
Vice President, Finance
- As a co-founder of Welocalize, Julia Yewell has managed the company's Accounting Department since its inception in 1997.
- Julia brings over 15 years of valuable Financial Management experience to Welocalize.
- Prior to Welocalize, Julia founded a successful leather accessories manufacturing and retail business in Riga, Latvia.
- Julia holds a BA degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Latvia and the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
- She is fluent in Latvian, Russian and German.
Erin Wynn
Vice President, North America Sales
- Over 20 years of business experience and leadership.
- Erin was Director of Partner Sales at Transware and she joined Welocalize in 2008 through the acquisition of Transware.
- She currently manages North American sales and works with key strategic accounts and teams on the development of new services and offerings.
Antoine Rey
Director, Europe & Asia Sales
- Antoine has held various technical, sales and management roles and brings 15 years experience in the localization industry.
- Antoine joined Welocalize in 2002 with the acquisition of Connect and is responsible for Europe & Asia business development.
- Prior to working at Welocalize, Antoine worked at Digital (DecExec) and IT Alliance.
- He is a French native and holds a MSc in Information Technology and a BA in International Business and Communications from the University of Ulster.
