Welocalize: Management

Company: management

Smith Yewell
CEO and Founder

Eugene McGinty
Vice President, Europe

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.
Finalist Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 in Ireland.
Special commendation from Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 50 Program for making top ten 3 years in succession.
Prior to founding Connect, Eugene held senior management positions with Apple's subsidiary Claris, Lotus Development and IBM.
BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Ulster.

Rick Myers
Vice President, USA

As CEO of Sinometrics, which merged with Welocalize in February of 2008, Rick Myers brings a strategic combination of operational skills, technical knowledge and a customer-focused philosophy to the management team at Welocalize.
Prior to joining Sinometrics, Rick was the Director of Operations and Director of Logistics at Terabeam Corporation, and the Vice President of Operations at technology startup Maxfunds.
Rick also spent six years at AT&T Wireless Services in technology and operational roles, including Director of Information Technology.
BA degree in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Washington.

Gary Prioste
Vice President, Technology Solutions

Gary Prioste brings over 20 years of experience in the delivery and support of complex IT solutions, with significant senior level experience in business management, strategic development and operations.
CEO and President of Localize Technologies, which merged with Welocalize in August of 2007.
Founder and CEO of Servinet Consulting in San Francisco, an IT consulting firm he grew to over $25m in revenues.
Gary is a graduate of CSUH and the Executive Program at Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.

Olga Blasco
Vice President, Global Language Services, Germany & Japan

Olga Blasco brings over 12 years of experience in the localization industry to Welocalize.
Expert in implementing Language Services improvement plans in global companies designed to align business requirements with quality management, vendor development, translation technology and language asset management.
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 management experience includes leading, recruiting and coaching successful teams of Language Coordinators, Resource Managers and Project Managers through mergers and acquisitions.
BA in Translation and Interpreting (English, German) from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain).

Yolanda Tan
General Manager, China

Yolanda Tan brings over 7 years of localization and management experience to Welocalize.
She served as General Manager of Transco, which merged with Welocalize in 2006.
Additionally, her experience as a translator, and Manager of Translation and Vendor Management for Transco brings her knowledge and expertise in both localization and operations management.
She is an advocate of process control and management in localization.
MA Degree in Material Science from Zhejiang University.

Shinji Yoshitake
General Manager, Japan

Shinji Yoshitake brings over 6 years of localization production experience to Welocalize.
Shinji joined Welocalize Japan in January 2008, serving as Manager of the project management team, Operations Manager and now General Manager of Welocalize Japan.
Prior to joining Welocalize, he served as Manager of the Project Management division at Toin.
Born and raised in the USA and now a resident of Japan for 10 years, Shinji provides the local expertise and strategic, global knowledge necessary for managing inter-company communications and in-country customer relations.
BA in Japanese and BS in Psychology from the University of Washington.

Robert (Butch) Pfremmer
Vice President, eLearning Practice

Butch Pfremmer brings over 20 years of globalization experience and expertise in eLearning localization and translation methodologies.
Prior to joining Welocalize, Butch held various management and development roles in software design, software development and training responsibilities at companies such as IBM, Control Data and Unisys.
Butch was Chief Architect and team leader for IBM's Translation Workbench suite used in IBM development labs and translation centers worldwide for the internationalization of IBM software products.
Formerly Vice President of Tools and Technology position at Language Management International (LMI) and Director of Language Technology Consulting position at ALPNET, Inc.
BS in Computer Science; BSBA Accounting; University of North Dakota. Graduate Certificate work in Human-Computer-Interface (HCI) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Willem Stoeller
Vice President, Security/Storage and Supply Chain Practice

Willem Stoeller brings over 15 years of globalization experience and expertise in project management.
Has held senior management positions at Andersen Consulting and several US software companies.
Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Has served on the Board of the Project Management Institute Silicon Valley Chapter.
Frequent lecturer at the Localization Institute, Localization World and Client Side News.
Visiting Professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
PhD from Amsterdam University.

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.
Her finance background includes various management positions in leading global banking institutions.
Julia holds a BA degree in Economics and Accounting from The University of Latvia.