Power 100: The Most Powerful Women Of The Channel 2016 (Part 1)
The Power 100
This year, CRN honored 472 Women of the Channel whose expertise and vision are deserving of recognition. The following exceptional 100 executives were chosen by CRN to its annual Power 100 list. We are proud to honor their achievements.
Here's a look at Part 1 of our list. For more, see Part 2 of our Power 100 list. You can also check out the full listing of the 2016 Women of the Channel.
Kirsten Young
A10 Networks
Global VP, Channels
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 23
Young's team was instrumental to A10's significant channel business growth. She oversees partner enablement, partner profitability, and product and service sales growth with partners, helping them to expand their business with new solutions and enter new markets.
Shannon Teel
Adobe Systems
Manager, NA Partner Sales
Years in Position: 6
Years in Channel: 16
Teel oversees the partner team for commercial, education, public sector and nonprofit business related to e-learning and collaboration solutions. She zeros in on customer retention, growth strategies and program initiatives.
Dorothy Copeland
Amazon Web Services
Director, Global Partner Program
Years in Position: 6
Years in Channel: 15
Partners participating in the programs Copeland's team developed—such as the AWS Competency Program, the AWS Managed Service Provider Program and the Premier Consulting tier—grew 100 percent faster in AWS revenue than other AWS partners.
Shannon Sbar
APC by Schneider Electric
Vice President, North America Channels & Partner Sales
Years in Position: 8
Years in Channel: 19
Sbar oversaw an increase in sales and technical support teams dedicated to partners and the launch of a partner program with refreshed training. She also strengthened key vendor relationships.
Leslie Vitrano
APC by Schneider Electric
Director, Channel Marketing & Communications
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 2
Vitrano was crucial to the launch of the refreshed Channel Partner Program and its new sales, technical support and profitability programs. Partner satisfaction increased 13 percent year over year.
Stephanie Sperry
Arrow Electronics
Director of Field Marketing
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 7
Sperry leads and manages a marketing team that supports 100-plus of the distributor's high-growing solution providers as well as its marketing intelligence team. The focus is on engaging with these solution providers with best practices and more.
Sue Galvanek
AT&T
Vice President of Marketing, Pricing and Product Solutions, AT&T Partner Exchange
Years in Position: 1.75
Years in Channel: 3
Galvanek and her team have a solid track record of accelerating solution providers' growth, providing a rich set of enablement resources, automation platforms and self-service tools.
Brooks McCorcle
AT&T
President – AT&T Partner Solutions
Years in Position: 1.5
Years in Channel: 3
In the past year, McCorcle has continued with innovative moves to better equip, enable, evolve and accelerate advancement in the channel. One such move was new revenue generators like the cloud-based Internet of Things platform.
Christy Anderson
Avnet Technology Solutions
Vice President, Strategic Sales
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 25
Enhancing the effectiveness of the sales team that interfaces with partners is Anderson's No. 1 goal. To that end, she implemented a more partner-focused structure and addressed partner feedback around responsiveness and quote turn times.
Traci Burch
Blue Coat Systems, Inc.
Senior Director of Distribution for Americas
Years in Position: 5.5
Years in Channel: 19
Burch was able to shift the mind-set that distribution is just fulfillment, developing and driving programs to further branding and sales support for the field and ensuring distributors understand the go-to-market strategy.
Pam Johansen
BMC Software
Senior director of WW Channel Operations
Years in Position: 6
Years in Channel: 13
Johansen led the channel team through a partner program transformation that included the launch of a partner certification initiative and a new go-to-market strategy. She also created a program that rewards partners who are committed across the business.
Raelyn Kritzer
Brocade Communications
Director, WW Channel Programs and Enablement
Years in Position: 9
Years in Channel: 19
Kritzer leveraged Brocade's OEM and Alliance partnerships to provide ’better together’ solutions, programs and campaigns that deliver more value to mutual channels and provide access to new markets and verticals.
Tricia Atchison
CA
VP, Global Partner Marketing
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 22
Atchison recently took on her new role and has focused on developing a global channel marketing strategy aligned to the global channel strategy. She is now driving alignment and engagement with CA's field and partner community.
Jessica Couto
Carbonite
VP Channel Sales and Marketing
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 12
Couto made Carbonite's partner program easy to understand and protected partner-generated opportunities. And, by restructuring the sales organization, each member now has a prescriptive focus on channel engagement and sales initiatives.
Wendy Bahr
Cisco Systems
Senior Vice President, Global Partner Organization
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 9
Bahr made several changes to accelerate partners' growth, including combining product and services channel teams to create more alignment and integrating the partner Emerging Solutions Ecosystem into the GPO.
Marcy Blair
Cisco Systems
Vice President, Americas Services and U.S. National Partners
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 2
Blair leads the National Partners Organization, created from the merger of the product and services sales organizations, and aligned market transitions with new business practice opportunities, Cisco solutions and partner goals.
Michelle Chiantera
Cisco Systems
Vice President, Global Partner Marketing
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 20
As it becomes increasingly important for partners to have a solid digital marketing practice, Chiantera helped launch Cisco Engage, a suite of digital marketing services to help partners deliver content to drive revenue.
Kimberly Martin
Citrix Systems
VP, Worldwide Partner Strategy & Sales, Citrix Channel Chief
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 10
Rallying the company behind a transformational change around the channel, Martin analyzed the market and identified opportunity areas, evolved partner-facing field roles to be more strategic, and focused on partner success.
Tammy Richards
Citrix Systems
Managing Director, Worldwide Partner Success
Years in Position: 3
Years in Channel: 8
Richards expanded partners' opportunities with new solutions that address expanded markets, maximized their profit via stackable incentives, and rewarded them for delivering customer value.
Linda Brotherton
ConnectWise
General Manager, ConnectWise
Years in Position: 18
Years in Channel: 30
ConnectWise's new rapid release cycle gives customers faster turnaround on corrections and new features. Brotherton oversaw the Partner Innovation Network in which a cross-section of the customer base has review enhancements prior to release to provide better feedback.
Jeanne Hopkins
Continuum Managed Services
Senior Vice President & CMO
Years in Position: 3
Years in Channel: 3
All of Hopkins' marketing efforts go to increasing business for the channel. Collaborate, a private forum for Continuum's partners to connect, share and learn, and its MSP Resource Center, an on­line library of valuable content, both launched in 2015.
Mary Campbell
D&H Distributing
Vice President of Marketing
Years in Position: 8
Years in Channel: 17
Campbell has enhanced D&H's level of customer engagement, creating more opportunities to engage with resellers and help them develop best practices, become informed about new opportunities and create new sales strategies. This includes the new "VAR Track" meetings and trade-show boot camps.
Christine Gassman
Datto
Manager of Partner Development
Years in Position: 3
Years in Channel: 11
Partners look to Gassman as a great resource on a daily basis. She manages Datto's Partner Plus Program and helps partners develop their business with training opportunities, marketing materials, sales strategies and more.
Cheryl Cook
Dell
Vice President of Global Channels & Alliances for Dell
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 2
Cook helped grow Dell's channel program to 40-plus percent of overall global revenue, due to new incentives and rebates. She also helped increase total North America partner revenue, with the majority of partners showing growth.
Sheri Hedlund
Dell
Executive Director, Enterprise Solutions Channel Sales
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 12
Hedlund enabled the sales organization to maximize the scale and reach of solution partners, enriched channel programs and expanded long-term growth plans. She also drove more strategic partner discussions.
Mary Catherine Wilson
Dell
Director Americas Channel Marketing & Programs
Years in Position: 6
Years in Channel: 6
Under her leadership, Dell launched a Premier Plus program with new incentives for Premier and Preferred partners, including client rebates and higher rewards for selling into new accounts.
Sommer Goodknecht
Eaton
Manager, Partner Marketing
Years in Position: 4
Years in Channel: 4
Eaton placed more focus this year on small solution providers. To that end, Goodknecht made smart investments and hired the necessary people to recruit and nurture these partners.
Julie Christiansen
EMC
Senior Director, Partner Strategy and Operations
Years in Position: 5
Years in Channel: 20
Christiansen's team is responsible for the full spectrum of partner strategy, spend strategy and operations. She increased the rebate percentages for Silver partner tiers and simplified the enablement curriculum on the Business Partner Academy.
Linda Connly
EMC
SVP, GTM Integratoin Lead & Global Inside Sales
Years in Position: 5
Years in Channel: 12
As the EMC integration lead for the EMC/Dell merger, Connly is responsible for the plan to ensure the partner and customer experience is maintained and then to build on the best of both companies' channel programs.
Anna Dorcey
EMC
Vice President, Americas Field and Partner Marketing, Global Enterprise Marketing
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 24
Dorcey drove closed loop ROI reporting for EMC's partner marketing development funds, providing tangible metrics so that partners can make data-driven decisions.
Jules Johnston
Equinix
Sr. Director, Channel Sales, Americas
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 21
Johnston helped Equinix's channel business by bringing in a fresh perspective and an emphasis around partners. She evangelizes the importance of embedding Equinix into partners' solutions and drives true partnership and consistency.
Hope McCluskey
ESET
Channel Marketing Director
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 22
McCluskey helped launch a Partner Program, creating a simple way for partners to on-board, understand their path to success and take advantage of resources. She also led ESET's new Sales and Technical Certification programs to help build partner competencies.
Paige Powers
Extreme Networks
Senior Director of Worldwide Distribution and Inside Sales
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 13
Powers and her team led the global distribution strategy for 30-plus distributors, building transformational partnerships to extend Extreme's coverage model for partners. She also helped launch a Wireless Specialization Program with rewards for qualified partners.
Lisa Citron
F5 Networks
Director, North American Channel Sales
Years in Position: 5
Years in Channel: 20
Citron was deeply involved in helping channel partners learn about and sell F5 security products. Her focus has included dedicated resources within channel sales and channel sales engineering to ensure partners have the necessary programs to succeed.
Claire Trimble
Fortinet
Vice President, Americas Marketing
Years in Position: 0.5
Years in Channel: 15
Since coming on board, Trimble has been guiding the development of programs to drive awareness of Fortinet and of its partners' brands. She has been key to Partner Acceleration Updates, a series of in-person events geared toward helping partners understand and leverage the Fortinet story.
Barbara Spicek
Gigamon Inc.
Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 21
New to Gigamon, Spicek is focused on expanding and growing Gigamon's partner base through ongoing investments in enablement, lead generation and sales tools while allowing partners to build strong business models to retain margins.
Francine Geller
Head of Global Channel Programs
Years in Position: 5
Years in Channel: 15
Geller developed a team of global Channel Managers that have been a driving force in developing go-to-market programs for Google's partner base, contributing to the 30 percent year-over-growth of Google's channel sales business.
Alessandra Brambilla
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Vice President Worldwide Channel GTM and Small & Medium Business
Years in Position: 4
Years in Channel: 23
During the HP separation, Brambilla focused on the transformation of partners' business models, skills and financial approaches to address the hybrid IT opportunity.
Donna Grothjan
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
VP, WW Channels, HPE Aruba
Years in Position: 0
Years in Channel: 25
Grothjan recently took on this new role and has focused on strategic alignment by identifying and promoting opportunities for switching partners to expand their competencies to wireless networking and vice versa.
Ivonne Valdes
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
VP WW Technology Services Indirect Sales
Years in Position: 0.5
Years in Channel: 17
Valdes is chartered with ensuring that HPE's partner programs are aligned to the unique and often-evolving business needs of partners, their end customers and the company.
Tonia Gonsalves
Hitachi Data Systems
Vice President, Global Partner Programs and Communications, Global Partner Organization
Years in Position: 12
Years in Channel: 26
Gonsalves significantly invested in systems, tools, programs and communications to make it easier for partners to do business with the company, including new partner relationship management tools.
Marie Cheung-Ong
HP Inc.
Americas Partner Sales, Development Manager
Years in Position: 2
Years in Channel: 20
Cheung-Ong executed on a commercial channel sales business plan to spur profitable growth with partners and drive partner pipeline generation in SMB, public sector and mobility.
Stephanie Dismore
HP Inc.
Vice President and General Manager, Americas Commercial Channel
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 17
Dismore has been a change agent in helping HP improve its channel business. She has been key to optimizing product distribution models and sales operations and evolving HP's partner development.
Heather Kent
HP Inc.
Director, Americas Channel Marketing
Years in Position: 4
Years in Channel: 28
Through the split of the company, Kent and her team managed several executive engagement events that were well received by HP partners. She also made a push to help partners see the value of building out integrated campaigns.
Nancy Pearson
IBM
VP Marketing Cognitive Business
Years in Position: 4
Years in Channel: 10
After working as CMO of IBM's Cloud Business, Pearson took on the role of leading Cognitive Business marketing across IBM. She extended her influence in cloud to leverage cognitive capabilities for businesses to be successful in the digital era.
Michele E. Stern
IBM
Vice President, North America Business Partners
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 20
Stern's focus has been on ensuring partners have the information and education they need to best serve their customers. To that end, she debuted a training program that rewards partners for completion of certification and launched a multicity road show.
Renee Bergeron
Ingram Micro
Vice President, Global Cloud, Ingram Micro
Years in Position: 6
Years in Channel: 6
Ingram Micro's global cloud organization has grown from 700 to 1,200 dedicated cloud associates and almost three times the amount of channel partners engaging globally since last year. Bergeron has led the way as the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace is now embraced in 18 countries.
Laura Crone
Intel
Vice President, Client Computing Group and General Manager, Channel Platforms and Operations
Years in Position: 3
Years in Channel: 16
Crone and her team accelerated growth in the 2-in-1 segment, providing a robust offering for channel partners. She also focused on growing the enthusiast and gaming business through high-performance products.
Gia Filice
Intel Security
Global Channel Strategy and Marketing
Years in Position: 1
Years in Channel: 16
Filice helped Intel Security move its global channel from a ’business entity’ legacy revenue recognition model to an Intel-based ’legal entity’ model, which created a cleaner alignment and positively impacted MDF and rebate rewards for partners.
Lisa Matherly
Intel Security
Head of Content Marketing
Years in Position: 0.25
Years in Channel: 15
Matherly led initiatives to simplify profitability offerings by eliminating complicated tiered pricing and introducing tiered deal registration, teaming agreements and incumbency advantage—improving partner profitability.