Leadership
Cella Irvine - Chief Executive Officer
Cella Irvine brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in the digital, media and technology industries to her role as the Chief Executive Officer of Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology.
Before joining Vibrant in October 2011, Cella was CEO of The About Group, where she led extensive efforts in contextual advertising – a main driver of About.com's revenue. Under Cella's leadership, About dramatically expanded its content and language offerings.
Prior to About, she was Chief Administrative Officer of Digitas, an ad agency unit of Publicis, where she was responsible for operational, administrative and governance functions. Before Digitas, Cella was Global Head of Strategic Planning and then Chief Operations Officer for a business unit of Marsh, Inc., a risk consulting firm. She has also previously held management roles at Hearst and Prodigy.
She received her B.A. in History from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Jeff Babka - Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer
Jeff Babka is the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CFO/CAO) of Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. He has 35 years of experience in financial management of public and private companies, with a specific focus in the technology and telecommunications sectors.
Most recently, Jeff was CFO of Sophos, a global IT Security company based in Oxford, UK. Under Jeff's direction, Sophos made great progress on its IPO roadmap, having selected its underwriter slate and getting to within weeks of filing its F-1 with the SEC. In June, 2010, Sophos was acquired by Apax Partners in a transaction valuing the Company in excess of $830 million.
Prior to joining Sophos, Jeff was Senior Vice President and CFO of NeuStar, Inc., where he led NeuStar's efforts in support of its $700 million Initial Public Offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange on June 29, 2005, and $700 million follow-on offering in December, 2005. In December 2005, NeuStar was awarded "IPO of the Year" for 2005 by International Financing Review and Renaissance Capital. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Northern Virginia Technology Council's Public Company CFO of the Year Award.
Jeff is a Magna cum Laude graduate of the University of Dayton (BS in Business Administration, Accounting major), earned an MBA with honors from Manhattan College and is a graduate of the Stanford University Executive Program (1990). He attained CPA certification in Ohio in 1974.
Sheila Buckley - Global Chief Revenue Officer
Sheila Buckley is Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. She has more than two decades of senior advertising sales leadership. Before joining Vibrant in March 2012, Sheila was SVP, Digital, Mobile and Cross-Platform Ad Sales at The Weather Channel, where she was instrumental in Weather.com's ranking as #1 Digital Ad Sales team by the IAB/Jack Myers, and generating exponential profit.
Prior to The Weather Channel, Sheila held a range of high-level positions at Time Warner, including Associate Publisher and Publisher at Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Kids, where she was responsible for advertising sales, marketing, and research for the publications, websites, and custom publishing. Under Sheila's leadership, Sports Illustrated for Kids was included for the first time in 2001 on "Adweek's Hot List."
Sheila received a Bachelor of Science from the School of Management at Boston College.
Tom Iler - Chief Technology Officer
Tom Iler is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. With 15 years of tech management experience, Tom leads Vibrant's technology strategy and execution with a specific focus on innovation, automation, data optimization, and product management and development. Before joining Vibrant, Tom held the position of executive vice president and CIO of Ascend One, where he led corporate technology and was responsible for software engineering, business analytics, technology operations, and project management.
Prior to Ascend One, he was senior vice president and CIO at AOL's Platform-A, one of the industry's largest digital advertising platforms. Tom also served as CIO of Advertising.com, where he led the company's technology team and was responsible for maintaining, developing and operating its award-winning information systems.
He received his B.A. in Economics from Loyola College and his M.B.A. from the University of Baltimore.
Martin Forbes - Chief Operating Officer
Martin Forbes oversees the worldwide operations of Vibrant Media, working to increase global revenue and profitability. Prior to joining Vibrant, Martin was a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP UK working in the Management Transaction Advisory Group. Spending 10 years specializing in private equity transactions, Martin advised senior management and corporations with investment strategies. Martin graduated from Leeds University in 1997 with Joint Honors in Economics and Management Studies and was admitted to the Association of Taxation Technicians and the Chartered Institute of Taxation in May 2000 and 2001 respectively.
Stacey Hafers - Sr. Vice President, Finance
Stacey Hafers is Senior Vice President of Finance and Vibrant Media's principal accounting executive responsible for global financial management, reporting and analysis. She develops internal and external systems and processes that are compliant and have improved reporting capabilities. Stacey has over 20 years of accounting expertise with companies which include Village Voice Media, Walker Digital Media, and OSI Corporation. A licensed CPA, Stacey also holds an MBA from Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa, and a BS in Accounting and Finance from the University of Tampa.
Ariff Quli - Sr. Vice President,
Sales Operations and Global Accounts
Ariff Quli is SVP, Sales Operations and Global Accounts at Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. With 20 years of sales experience in digital media and publishing and business development, Ariff leads, develops and executes strategies for Vibrant’s top clients.
Prior to Vibrant Media, Ariff held a range of senior level positions with leading organizations in the publishing and media industry such as CNET Networks, IDG, PC Mall & MicroWarehouse (CDW).
He received his B.S. in Business at Berea College.
Michelle Weston - Sr. Vice President, Global Human Resources
Michelle Weston heads global human resources and recruitment for Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. Michelle has almost a decade's experience in senior HR roles in the media industry. Prior to her career in HR Leadership, Michelle spent 15 years as a senior advertising sales executive in leading international publishers including Thomson Reuters, EMAP and Centaur. While at Centaur, Michelle was responsible for the successful development and subsequent sale of the industry leading online service Lawtel to Thomson Reuters.
Brian White - Sr. Vice President, Publisher Solutions
Brian White leads Vibrant Media's US publisher development team, which is responsible for growing the company's distribution network of top-tier partner Web sites. Brian has more than 15 years of sales and development management experience. He and his team have helped grow Vibrant's network to include more than 6,500 premium publishers. Prior to Vibrant, Brian served as Director of Strategic Business Development at Valueclick, managing a national business development and sales planning team. During his tenure, Valueclick grew to become the second-largest ad network in the US. From 1999 to 2004, Brian worked for 24/7 Real Media leading divisions including business development, sales and product development in both the UK and the US.
Julie R. Fenster - Vice President, Corporate Counsel
Julie Fenster is VP, Corporate Counsel at Vibrant Media, and founder of the Office of Julie R. Fenster, a boutique legal practice specializing in the legal and business aspects of the rapidly converging worlds of publishing, broadcasting and Internet information services, advertising, direct marketing and e-commerce. She has over 15 years of experience working with companies in digital media and technology.
Prior to founding the Office of Julie R. Fenster, Julie served as VP, Business Affairs & General Counsel at Everyday Health, Inc., a leading online health information services company. Previously, she was VP, Law and Business Affairs at Time Inc. New Media. She also held leadership positions as General Manager at ParentTime LLC, and EVP, Strategy and Business Development at Worth Interactive. Julie began her legal career at the leading firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
She is currently a member of the New York state bar and former President of the Board of the Center for Children's Initiatives, Inc. Julie studied at St. Hilda's College, Oxford University, earned an AB at Brown University, and received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
John Haskin - Vice President, Marketing
John Haskin brings over 20 years of professional experience to his role as the VP of Marketing of Vibrant Media, the world’s leading provider of in-content contextual technology. He is responsible for providing senior leadership and management to the company's marketing, corporate branding, custom creative, sales marketing, sales development, and sales research teams.
Prior to joining Vibrant, John was Vice President of Digital Sales Development and Marketing at Bonnier Corporation, where he helped transform the company's approach to selling branded content. Previous to Bonnier, he served as WebMD's Vice President of Marketing, where he oversaw content solutions, ROI models and cross-platform solutions. He has also held senior positions at JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi.
John holds a B.A. in Psychology from Hobart College.
