Welocalize Leadership: Meet Our Executive Team

Chief Executive Officer

Smith Yewell

Smith Yewell is CEO of Welocalize, which he co-founded with Julia Yewell in 1997. Celebrating the company’s 20th anniversary, Smith shares, “What inspires me is the challenge of transforming a business, revolutionizing an industry, and doing things differently. When I see this inspiration reflected in our company culture and strategy, and seeing people achieve more than they thought possible for themselves, colleagues, and customers – this is what guides Welocalize into the next phase of our journey.” Prior to establishing the company, Smith served as a Field Artillery Officer in the US Army and received a Bronze Star for service in Operation Desert Storm. Smith serves on the board of The Aslan Foundation and Color Me A Cure Foundation. He’s also the lead guitarist in a band called Fuzzy Match, a nod to the industry.

Co-Founder

Julia Yewell

As co-founder, Julia led the recruitment and development of Welocalize’s first teams responsible for accounting and personnel. Her focus on investing and developing the right talent and culture has been foundational to the company’s rapid growth over the years. Prior to Welocalize, Julia co-founded a successful leather goods company in Riga, Latvia. Julia cherishes her time with Smith, their daughter, and her extended family and friends, especially in travel adventures and wine tasting.

Chief Financial Officer

Jeff Ash

Jeff Ash is Chief Financial Officer and oversees teams driving global finance, HR, Legal and M&A functions. Jeff leads initiatives to align strategic financial and growth planning to support transformational delivery and operational business models. Previously, Jeff held leadership roles at PwC, TeleCorp PCS, AOL-Time Warner and was CFO at BabyCenter and Six Apart. When Six Apart merged with VideoEgg to form Say Media, Jeff became Senior Vice President of Operations, responsible for global advertising delivery and content production. While most of his free time is spent keeping up with his three children, Jeff is an avid backpacker and a loyal Georgia Bulldog football fan.

Chief Customer Officer

Erin Wynn

As Chief Customer Officer, Erin Wynn leads teams who deliver customer success programs. She is instrumental in advocating for the voice of the customer in all Welocalize’s growth initiatives. Erin joined the company as part of the Transware acquisition in 2008. When Welocalize acquired Park IP in 2012, Erin became General Manager, which later expanded to include two additional acquisitions, which became Welocalize Life Sciences. Growing up in the middle of the US, Erin now lives in the middle of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. She loves time with her husband, daughter and two labradoodles.

Chief Innovation Officer

Chris Grebisz

Chris Grebisz is Chief Innovation Officer, responsible for enabling digital transformation within Welocalize and strategic advisory to clients. These solutions and innovations unify business strategy, R&D, information technology and data to drive automation, performance and scale. Chris is on his second journey at Welocalize. The first was in 2002 when Welocalize acquired GSSI, a Portland-based localization company Chris founded. After some years as Chief Operating Officer, Chris left Welocalize to lead several technology firms. He returned in 2013 to manage North America before assuming his current role and is based in Portland, Oregon.

Leadership

Chief Executive Officer

Smith Yewell

Co-Founder

Julia Yewell

Chief Financial Officer

Jeff Ash

Chief Customer Officer

Erin Wynn

Chief Innovation Officer

Chris Grebisz

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