The Tracer Story
With decades of expertise in data intelligence, engineering, and strategic planning, our leaders have firsthand experience managing complex data to derive meaningful business insights — they grasp the challenges that business users face and have built Tracer to turn data into decisions for both non-technical and technical teams.
Leadership
Jeff Nicholson
Jeff has been innovating in the media and tech space for 15+ years. Before joining Tracer, he was the first Chief Media Officer at VaynerMedia, where he spent five years scaling the business globally. He has also served as the Head of Ads at SocialCode, which was the largest spending agency on Facebook in North America. Prior to that, he was VP of Ads at LeadKarma, which sold to BankRate for $30MM. Currently, he sits on the advisory boards of Roku, Pinterest, and NextDoor.
Leighton Welch
Leighton graduated from Harvard in 2013, with a degree in Computer Science and Economics. Since then, he has worked with Jeff across three companies, providing economies of scale through technology. Prior to becoming the Chief Technology Officer at Tracer, Leighton was the Director of Consumer Insights at SocialCode, and the VP of Engineering at VaynerMedia. He has spent his career pioneering in the ad tech ecosystem, running the first ever Snapchat Ad and consulting on commercial APIs for some of the world's biggest platforms.
Obele Brown-West
Obele is an award-winning digital marketing innovator recognized by Ad Age, Adweek, PRWeek, and more. With over 20 years of digital marketing experience, Obele most recently led Tinuiti’s 800+ media, lifecycle, commerce and creative specialists as Chief Solutions Officer. Prior to Tinuiti, Obele led the North America digital group for IPG’s Weber Shandwick, and was also an early employee of iProspect and 360i. Obele launched The Week Magazine’s website (TheWeek.com), building the traffic generation and monetization strategy. She is an Executive member of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and sits on boards for Goodlife Clothing, Gifting Brands and Stop Soldier Suicide.
Sarah Martinez
Sarah is a seasoned revenue growth leader with 20 years of experience in the publishing, ad tech, data, and measurement sectors. She has held pivotal roles at leading companies such as The New York Times, WPP, Yahoo!, and Verizon Media. Most recently, Sarah served as the Global Chief Revenue Officer at Integral Ad Science, where she collaborated with major marketers and agencies to enhance trust and transparency in digital media. Her deep commercial expertise encompasses go-to-market strategies, sales leadership, and client relationship management. Sarah Martinez is committed to driving sustainable revenue growth and delivering innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of the digital landscape. Sarah holds an M.A. in Advertising from The Newhouse School at Syracuse University, her Executive Coach certificate from NYU and DE&I certificate from Cornell. She was recently recognized as Cynopsis’s 2024 Top Women in Media in the Ad Tech Innovator Category. Sarah resides in New Jersey with her husband and two children.