About Centro
Our Mission
Since 2001, we have provided unified software and services, to simplify and automate digital media operations, while driving performance. Centro’s digital platform, Basis, is the most comprehensive media automation and intelligence platform in the industry—and the only platform to support the planning, reporting, and financial reconciliation of direct, programmatic, search, and social media, all in one place.
Our Locations
Executive Leadership
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Shawn Riegsecker is the CEO and Founder of Centro. He founded the company in 2001 intent on developing the most comprehensive, automated and intelligent software platform for the digital media industry.
His leadership, commitment to innovation and modernized approach to culture and employee happiness have led Centro to receive many accolades, including appearing on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, the Inc. 500, and No. 1 on Crain’s Chicago Business’ Best Places to Work for three years in a row.
Shawn is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and a founding director and co-chairman of Unite America, a new movement working on solving the partisan divide in politics through the election of Independent, moderate candidates.
He serves on the board of directors of The Director’s Cup, a ski pro-am focused on bringing together influential leaders to aid and support the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team. Shawn is also serves on the Board of Governor’s of the Metropolitan Planning Council, dedicated to shaping a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous greater Chicago region.
Shawn is an active angel investor through Firestarter Fund, a venture capital fund driven by a network of successful technology entrepreneurs in Chicago.
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Tyler, a 12-year veteran at Centro, leads software and service sales teams and Centro’s managed service organization. In this role, he oversees a team of more than 150 sales professionals and 300 service specialists. Tyler was the fourth employee hired at Centro and has advanced his expertise and knowledge of digital media throughout his ascension within the company. Most recently Senior Vice President of Client Development, he managed a team that drove Centro’s relationships with more than 300 regional, independent agencies in the past year. This group was also awarded the 2016 IAB Sales Excellence Award. His extensive experience includes overseeing the digital advertising strategy of more than 1,200 brands. Tyler’s career began with Real Media, one of the original Internet media services and technology firms. He moved on to Publicitas North America, where he sold advertising for Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly, and then to Forbes magazine where he was the Southwest Director.
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Katie leads Centro’s marketing, customer education, and sales engineering functions. With more than 15 years of experience in the digital marketing and advertising space, Katie was the third employee hired at Centro and has held various roles throughout her tenure. Most recently, as Executive Vice President of Customer Experience, Katie oversaw the organization’s customer success team and led the go to market strategy and implementation of Centro’s platform, Basis. Previously, Katie launched, built, and led various new business units and teams within the company, including Centro’s publisher solutions division and private ad exchange, overseeing everything from product development, to marketing, to sales for each. She began her career at Centro as a media planner and buyer, handling the digital media strategy and execution for multi-million dollar accounts including General Motors, Dell Computers, and Lionsgate. Katie got her start in print sales, as an advertising account executive for the Cincinnati Enquirer. She is originally from Milwaukee, and lives in Chicago. Katie holds a B.A. in English from Indiana University.
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Emily Barron oversees all aspects of human resources for Centro. She is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategy in support of Centro’s business plan and strategic direction. She also drives the programs that contribute to Centro’s award-winning workplace, as recognized by Fortune, Advertising Age, and Crain’s Chicago Business. Emily ascended to her role after spending 11 years at Centro building her career in digital media by overseeing multi-million dollar cross-channel digital media spending from nationally-recognized brands. She later adopted leadership roles in Centro’s business operations side and then human resources. She was Centro’s second employee when she joined in 2004 as a media planner and buyer. Before Centro, she worked at Mass Mutual, CDW and AT&T. Emily grew up in Cincinnati and graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree. Emily and her husband reside in the Western Suburbs of Chicago with their two young boys.
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Hiten Mistry leads the product direction for Centro, serving as the lead architect for Basis, the industry’s most comprehensive, automated and intelligent digital media platform. Hiten orchestrated the formation of Basis by integrating Centro’s media workflow automation software with the SiteScout programmatic advertising platform Centro acquired. Prior to this acquisition, Hiten served as SiteScout’s director of platform operations. Hiten previously supported business architecture for marketing & channel strategy at the Royal Bank of Canada. He has also led new product introduction process and end-to-end architecture for new features & services at Bell Mobility. Hiten has an MBA from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Engineering from Simon Fraser University.
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Clayton leads Centro’s finance operations. Prior to joining Centro, Clayton served as chief financial officer of Paintzen, a technology business where he was overseeing multiple departments, and where he helped navigate rapid growth through its sale to PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG). Prior to Paintzen, Clayton was part of the finance and strategy team at healthcare technology business ZocDoc, where he played a pivotal role in its multibillion-dollar valuation capital raise.
Clayton has served as an advisor, outside CFO, and board member for several high-growth technology businesses. A key partner for business leaders in their achievements, Clayton has navigated successful outcomes including ZipDrug’s sale to Anthem, Inc. (NYSE: ANTM), MyClean’s sale to Surge Private Equity, and several capital raises and organizational strategy implementations.
He began his career at KippsDeSanto, an investment banking firm with an aerospace/defense and technology focus, after attending Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
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As chief technology officer, Michael oversees engineering, quality assurance and production operations at Centro. He leads a group of talented engineers and architects charged with development and operation of the Basis by Centro media automation platform, as well as data solutions aimed at providing exceptional reporting and insight across the data that Basis generates. Michael’s 28 years of industry experience encompasses a diverse range of innovation-minded organizations: before joining Centro in 2014, he worked as the Director of Research and Development for OpenText, where he developed the mobile strategy for the company’s Social Workplace offering and drove implementation of its software for clients. Prior to OpenText, Michael worked as the Director of Research and Development at Hummingbird, where he was leading various communication and document management solutions.
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As the EVP of Media Services & Operations at Centro, April leads a team of 300 media professionals focused on helping clients solve business challenges in the complex world of digital media.
April has over 20 years of experience partnering with multiple Fortune 500 brands to develop omnichannel media plans and investment strategies that deliver results. Prior to joining Centro, April spent several years at IPG and Omnicom agencies working in leadership roles. April’s background includes planning and activation across the entire media landscape inclusive of print, out-of-home, radio, and television, with nearly two decades of digital media experience. She has partnered with brands within the CPG, energy, finance and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical, recruitment, retail, travel, and tourism verticals.
April has been the recipient of the IPG Organic Growth Initiative Award, and her past work received an Effie.
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Joanna is a results-oriented portfolio, program, project management, and change leader with a history of leading highly successful teams in enterprise-level and global environments. Prior to joining Centro, she was Director of Digital Portfolio Management at Weight Watchers International for over seven years. Her background also includes five years managing Federal and State Accountability Programs for the State of Georgia and five years in project management consulting.
Board of Directors
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Mike Brochu is a seasoned technology executive who has over 20 years of senior-level experience at a variety of global companies. Most recently he was the President and CEO of Global Market Insite, a developer of technology platforms serving the market research industry, acquired in September 2011 by WPP. Prior leadership positions include President and CEO of Loudeye Corporation and Primus Knowledge Solutions, Inc.,and President and COO of Sierra On-Line, Inc. Mike currently sits on the board of directors of Vines of Mendoza, Zotec Partners, hopTo and the advisory board of Seattle-based venture capital firm Voyager Capital, which is also one of GMI’s early institutional investors. Mike was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000.
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Liron is responsible for leading investments in the software and business services sectors. Prior to joining FTV Capital, Liron was responsible for software investments at venture funds including Lazard Technology Partners, Giza GE Venture Fund and BRM Capital. Before entering the venture capital field, Liron served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Fundtech Corporation, a global provider of electronic payments, cash management and settlement solutions. At Fundtech, Liron was responsible for leading strategic planning, and for identifying and executing on strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Liron began his career as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, where he provided corporate finance and strategic advisory services to leading companies in the technology industry. Liron received a BS degree magna cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a joint JD/MBA degree from the Columbia Law and Business Schools.
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Christian Hendricks’ leadership in news and advertising spans more than 25 years. He spent more than 20 years at the helm of McClatchy’s digital foray. Christian is currently the president of the Local Media Consortium (LMC), which is made up of more than 80 media companies that include more than 3,300 different outlets. He is also the managing partner at Extol Digital, a management consulting firm providing businesses with growth and execution strategies. Christian guides and advises a multi-faceted set of companies. He currently serves on the board of directors for Recruitology, Vibrant Body Company, and Maynard Institute, and is on the advisory boards of Liveintent, and Report For America. He is also a Venture Partner at Sacramento-based Impact Venture Capital. Chris’ prior board experience includes Moonlighting, Apartments.com, Cars.com and Careerbuilder. In his spare time Chris enjoys playing soccer, a good glass of wine and murky IPAs.
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Leland is on the board of Labanswer (lab informatics), Solarsense (alternative energy development), Realnexx (real estate software), Trivie (social gaming/training) and also a co-founder & Executive Chairman. He helps these companies with strategy, marketing, sales and general mentoring. Previously, Leland set the strategy for Acorn Performance Group and oversaw its daily operations. He brings extensive experience in managing large organizations that deliver software solutions and consulting services to corporate customers. Prior to Acorn, Leland was at BMC Software, where he served as an Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. There, he was responsible for worldwide marketing operations and grew the division to 275 employees, as BMC evolved from a mainframe product vendor to an enterprise software company. Prior to BMC, Leland worked for Oracle in various senior management positions, including Vice President of Product Marketing and Regional VP of Sales. He received a B.A. with Honors in Economics from Princeton University.
Recognition & Achievements
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Ad Tech Magic Quadrant -
#1 User-Rated DSP by G2 -
IAB Sales Excellence Award -
AdExchanger Programmatic Power Players
Accreditations
