Leadership
WTR was founded by a group of Fortune 100 global executives who needed to conduct business on a global scale in a faster, more productive and cost effective way. The firm is led by Stephan M. Branch, PhD, President and CEO. Dr. Branch directs a team of Editors, Coaches and 800 Analysts in 50 editorial sites around the world. He is responsible for the revenue growth, service quality and strategic expansion of the firm.
- Veteran global executives
- National Foreign Trade experience
- Sensitive to distinct challenges in private and public companies
Our Leadership
Stephan M. Branch, MBA, PhD
President and CEO
In his role as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Branch is responsible for the revenue growth, overall quality and strategic direction of the firm. His extensive global experience includes serving as the executive vice president of a 3.8 billion dollar publicly traded talent and mobility company and several terms as a Board of Director on the National Foreign Trade Council in Washington DC. He has led both privately held and publicly traded companies in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the US. During his tenure at those companies, he was responsible for a total of 55 countries and lived on five continents. Dr. Branch is multilingual and has an MBA and Ph.D. in International Business from the George Washington University and is a graduate of Harvard Law School's Program on International Negotiation.
John Ortega, MS
Senior Vice President of Client Services
As Senior Vice President of Client Services, John Jacob has overall responsibility for service delivery and business-to-business solutions in EMEA, APAC and the Americas. He works closely with our Managing Editor and our 50 editorial sites to ensure that clients are receiving the most up-to-date information possible to drive their business objectives. John is multilingual and has lived and worked on five continents. John is currently pursuing his Master of Science degree in Human Capital Analytics and Technology at New York University.
Justine Masters
Senior Cultural Coach
Justine Masters is multi-cultural and multi-lingual and has lived in Jamaica, England, and various cities in the US and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. She currently resides in her hometown of New York City. Justine has achieved various certification programs and has completed over 200 hours of cross-cultural, competency-based training to provide growth-based cultural coaching. Ms. Masters is passionate about learning about other cultures and is very active in her local community while supporting grass-roots organizations dedicated to affecting change.
Jennifer Pineda
Marketing Digital Media
Ms. Pineda executes WTR’s marketing strategy while maintaining the customer CRM database. As well, Jennifer manages promotions, campaigns, and target marketing including ROI tracking. Jennifer is completing her BS degree at the University of North Texas and is bilingual speaking both English and Spanish, and she understands the importance of cultivating an environment that celebrates diversity.
Chris Richardson
Managing Editor
Chris Richardson has lived in seven countries on three continents, performing both global and regional roles in the areas of mobility and talent management. As Managing Editor of World Trade Resource, Chris has overall responsibility for the content integrity for 200 countries around the world for the World Trade Resource (WTR). He speaks French and German in addition to his native English. An avid traveler, Chris enjoys returning to the countries in which he has lived while every year also visiting a new country for the first time.
Britto Sebastian
Senior Editor
Britto Sebastian is Senior Editor for Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Britto works closely with our Managing Editor and our 50 editorial sites to ensure that clients are receiving the most up-to-date information possible to drive their business objectives. Britto is multilingual and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel and Hospitality Administration from the Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore (IHM-B), India. He previously worked with The Oberoi Hotels and Resorts and ITC Limited.
Rinil Jose
Lead Research Analyst
As Lead Research Analyst for the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Rinil Jose works with our editorial teams to ensure that our content is always current, accurate and meeting the objectives of our clients. He began his career at Geojit and later moved to Conduent. He has an MBA in Finance from Kannur University, India. In addition to his role at WTR, he is also completing work on a second Master of Commerce degree at Kannur University and is a certified Master Practitioner in NLP through ANLP India. Rinil is multi-lingual and has traveled extensively throughout the regions. His training and skill-set bring valuable analytical and data science expertise to the team.