Lenovo Channel Exec Described As ‘Inspiration’ Departs

‘It is with gratitude and much respect that I bid farewell to Lenovo, an organization that has been instrumental in my career and enabled me to lead teams that reached key milestones and achieved new record highs,’ Lenovo’s Wendy Welch wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

Much-beloved Lenovo channel executive Wendy Welch announced that she is stepping down after spending nearly five years advancing through the PC giant’s corporate ranks to executive director of global accounts.

“It is with gratitude and much respect that I bid farewell to Lenovo, an organization that has been instrumental in my career and enabled me to lead teams that reached key milestones and achieved new record highs,” Welch wrote in a post on LinkedIn Monday. “Over the past 4.5 years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with exceptional teams that embody passion, innovation, and dedication. The dynamic challenges we tackled, successes we celebrated, and the lessons we learned together have left an indelible mark on my professional journey.”

Welch won spots in CRN's Women of the Channel and Power 100 Women of the Channel lists in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2020, Welch was named a CRN Women of the Channel and featured on CRN’s "100 People You Don't Know But Should" list. Welch also served on the CRN Women of the Channel Advisory Board.

There was an outpouring of support for her accomplishments and leadership from fellow executives inside and outside the company. Lenovo Director of Distribution Melissa Gould called her “an inspiration to all Lenovo women.”

“It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you, working on our channel coaching project with you and having you be an inspiration to all Lenovo women. I am super excited to see where the next chapter takes you,” Gould wrote.

Jason Kimrey, vice president of Intel’s North America Commercial and Partner Sales Organization, joined in the well wishes, saying he was looking forward to working with Welch in her next role. It was not clear why Welch departed. Both she and Lenovo did not respond to CRN’s request for comment. In her note, Welch said she is looking forward to sharing details of her next opportunity “soon.”

Welch was hired by Lenovo in September 2019. She had previously worked for Poly as the senior director of global accounts for telephone hardware maker Plantronics and Polycom. At Lenovo, Welch initially took charge of driving the company’s Intelligent Design Group through tier-two distribution and resellers, designing the channel program and strategy and working with the company’s larger partners such as Intel and AMD.

“A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey,” Welch wrote on LinkedIn. “Here’s to embracing new challenges, seizing fresh opportunities, and pushing beyond the comfort zone! As I embark on this new chapter, I am reminded of the boundless encouragement from my husband, G C.. Gerry your unwavering support has been my anchor, and I couldn't have asked for a better teammate and partner. … My passion for technology and the relentless innovation it entails remains unwavering. I am eager to share updates on my next endeavor soon!”

According to her LinkedIn profile, during her time at Lenovo the company won back-to-back market-share records in U.S. public sector and implemented engagement programs to respond to post-pandemic market trends.

“I describe my leadership style as pragmatic with an approach that blends industry best practices while fearlessly challenging the status quo,” she wrote on LinkedIn.