CRN Women of the Year 2024: The Winners

CRN and parent The Channel Company honored the recipients of the 2024 Women of the Year Awards at a festive event in New York City.

CRN gathered some of the IT channel’s top leaders Tuesday night in New York to honor the winners of the second annual Women of the Year Awards.

At a ceremony held at the iconic Gotham Hall in the heart of Manhattan, CRN and parent The Channel Company recognized some of the channel’s most remarkable women, shining a spotlight on their most noteworthy achievements as they shape the IT channel.

Over the course of the evening, CRN handed out trophies in 18 categories to women, allies and companies, part of a months-long process that included two rounds of judging and culminated with the 2024 Women of the Year Awards Gala event.

The evening also included the naming of the Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Round one judges included editorial staff from CRN as well as leaders from The Channel Company’s Women of the Channel Community and Inclusive Leadership Network, who determined a list of finalists. In the second round, CRN editorial staff were joined by members of the IT channel industry as judges to determine the winners.

Here's a look at the winners of the 2024 CRN Women of the Year Awards.

ESET

Community Impact Award

The Community Impact Award honors the philanthropic actions a company has taken to improve the world around us.

ESET is passionate about contributing to the communities where it operates—globally, locally and in the channel. One example is its efforts to help close the STEM gap through its Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship, which has helped 26 women in the U.S. and Canada to pursue STEM-related careers. This year the program was expanded to the U.K., Australia and Singapore.

ESET’s Samantha Serpa, senior director of marketing, North America (right), accepted the award from CRN Senior Associate Editor CJ Fairfield.

Intermedia

Diversity Employer of the Year Award

The Diversity Employer of the Year Award recognizes a company that is doing industry-leading work in building an atmosphere where a diverse workforce thrives.

Intermedia strives for inclusion and mutual understanding among its employees, perhaps not surprising given that its technology is used to bring people together. Its diversity efforts include more than 75 leadership development and employee training sessions over the last year, as well as initiatives such as its Women Leadership Forum, Employee Culture Club, and inclusive celebrations of diversity.

Urvashi Sheth, Chief Customer Officer at Intermedia (right) accepted the award from CRN Columnist Cass Cooper.

Microserve

Gender Parity Award

The Gender Parity Award is given to an organization with a strong track record of nurturing talent among women employees with hallmarks such as a diverse workforce and professional development opportunities for women.

This year’s winner celebrates a diverse leadership team that’s 38 percent women, tripling the number of women on its leadership team in just five years.

To address gender disparities, Microserve has implemented targeted hiring strategies, especially in sales and IT, and it fulfills its commitment to pay equity through transparency in compensation and a culture where outstanding performance is recognized and rewarded.

Microserve Vice President of Operations Michelle Mackay (right) accepted the award from CRN’s CJ Fairfield.

Pete Trizzino, Dell Technologies

Ally of the Year Award

All genders have a role to play in seeing women succeed in the tech industry. With that in mind, the Ally of the Year Award spotlights a male individual who is using his position to foster equality in the channel.

This year’s recipient, Pete Trizzino, president of North America sales at Dell Technologies, is an ardent believer in the power of teamwork through his guiding principle of “Work together, win together.” He actively champions diversity and inclusion within the company, as seen in his work as North America Co-Executive Sponsor for the Women in Action employee resource group and Global Co-Executive Sponsor for GenNext, a group supporting those newer to their careers.

Trizzino (left) accepted the award from CRN’s Cass Cooper.

Tashua Case, Bluum

Hidden Gem of the Year Award—Solution Provider

The Hidden Gem of the Year Award for a solution provider recognizes a woman who shines brightly even when no one is looking.

Recipient Tashua Case, director of business intelligence at Bluum, describes herself as an “internal entrepreneur,” tackling complex and challenging projects that go beyond her job description. In 2023 she was named a company MVP, and one of her proudest accomplishments was assembling a state-of-the art data warehouse and reporting system from a fragmented data environment following several mergers and acquisitions.

Case (right) accepted the award from CRN’s CJ Fairfield

Rebecca Campbell, HP Inc.

Hidden Gem of the Year Award—Vendor/Distributor

The Hidden Gem of the Year Award for a vendor or distributor recognizes a woman works hard behind the scenes, but whose hard work rarely makes the spotlight.

As vice president of the channel managed solutions business at HP Inc., winner Rebecca Campbell displays a passion for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Calling on her background that spans engineering, product marketing, operations, service delivery and business management, she has spearheaded numerous initiatives that revolutionize existing business paradigms and introduced cutting-edge service solutions and enablers.

Lauren Gonzalez, NWN Carousel

Rising Star of the Year Award—Solution Provider

The Rising Star of the Year Award for a Solution Provider recognizes a woman who is making her mark within her company on the way to the top.

Winner Lauren Gonzalez, customer success center manager at NWN Carousel, has strategically aimed to advance her department and her company as a whole, ensuring top-notch customer experiences by closely collaborating with cross-functional teams. One of her pivotal initiatives has been enhancing customer on-boarding processes and improving customer training and development.

Gonzalez (right) accepted the award from Andrea Medeiros, senior director and head of global content and creative at The Channel Company.

Andrea McGlothin, Moovila

Rising Star of the Year Award—Vendor/Distributor

The Rising Star of the Year Award goes to a promising up-and-coming woman at a vendor or distributor.

Winner Andrea McGlothin, senior account executive at Moovila, has leveraged her strategic insight on the MSP industry to establish a new primary target market for her company and help drive its rapid growth, including boosting annual recurring revenue by 300 percent, achieving top earner status and setting a company record for the largest number of new clients in a year. She has also led the way in developing new content and marketing strategies that have substantially increased MSP engagement and pipeline.

McGlothin (right) accepted the award from Jacquie Rives, Women of the Channel community leader and program director at The Channel Company.

Liz Costerisan, ConRes

Role Model of the Year Award—Solution Provider

Because the IT industry remains short of women in the workforce and in leadership positions, role models are essential. Our Role Model of the Year—Solution Provider award honors women who inspire their colleagues and lead by example, setting a high bar for channel leadership success.

This year’s winner marked her 20th anniversary at ConRes, where she has served in several high-visibility positions including inside sales and account executive, regional sales manager, and her current role of leading services and strategy. She founded the company’s Connected Women’s Group to foster an inclusive and progressive culture and led the creation of the DEI Committee to set and track goals for corporate initiatives in diversity, sustainability and culture.

Costerisan (right) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Andrea Medeiros.

Jen Waltz, Kron Technologies

Role Model of the Year Award—Vendor/Distributor

The Role Model of the Year Award honors women who set a high bar at a vendor or distributor organization.

This year’s winner, Jen Waltz, vice president, global alternate channels at Kron Technologies, is an accomplished business development leader who through her 20 years of experience has driven over $2 billion in growth in digital transformation, direct sales and strategic channel partnerships. By sharing her experiences and challenges, she helps mentees navigate their careers in the IT industry and build confidence in themselves. And as a vocal advocate for diversity, she has implemented policies and practices that promote an inclusive workplace culture.

Waltz (right) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Jacquie Rives.

Narine Galstian, SADA, an Insight Company

Marketing Executive of the Year Award – Solution Provider

The award for Marketing Executive of the Year—Solution Provider honors outstanding women in marketing who demonstrate quantifiable demand generation and increased brand awareness for their company.

Chief Marketing Officer Narine Galstian currently oversees global branding and marketing initiatives for SADA, including corporate communications, conferences and events, solutions marketing and demand generation. Her background includes leading marketing programs for B2B and B2C technology as well as SaaS companies and tech startups. More recently she successfully tackled communications and branding challenges across SADA following its acquisition by Insight.

Galstian (right) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Andrea Medeiros.

Alex Stanton, Arctic Wolf

Marketing Executive of the Year Award—Vendor/Distributor

The Marketing Executive of the Year Award honors outstanding marketing executives at vendor or distribution organizations.

The recipient, Alex Stanton, senior director of partner marketing, was Arctic Wolf’s first channel marketer seven years ago, pioneering the development of its partner marketing functions. With her passion for building high-performance teams, she leads the company’s channel and alliance marketing organizations that are responsible for partner journey and experience, activation and engagement. The scope of her duties recently expanded beyond North America to global emerging regions.

Stanton (right) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Jacquie Rives.

Jennifer Anaya, Ingram Micro

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jennifer Anaya, senior vice president of global marketing at Ingram Micro, was named as the winner of the 2024 CRN Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

“She’s not just an advocate for Ingram Micro and women in the channel, she’s an advocate for the entire distribution industry,” said Ingram Micro CEO Paul Bay. “She’s focused on the broader good of our customers and the ecosystem as a whole. In this industry, you never know who you’ll work with, but Jen has consistently built strong relationships that have helped both her and the company thrive.”

During her two decades at Ingram Micro, Anaya has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to partner success, taking Ingram Micro’s Trust X Alliance—a community of Ingram Micro partners who collaborate, share best practices and drive innovation—to a global scale. She also created Agency Ingram Micro, a complete end-to-end marketing service for partners, and has championed the launch of the distributor’s Xvantage platform, which aims to provide partners with AI-driven business insight, increased process automation and access to a wide-ranging digital marketplace.

Anaya (right) accepted the award from last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Donna Grothjan.

Tiffany Goddard, Carahsoft

Executive Mentor of the Year Award—Solution Provider

The Executive Mentor of the Year Award celebrates women at solution provider organizations who have a passion for growing others’ careers, proactively helping women build their skills and rise to leadership positions.

Winner Tiffany Goddard, vice president of sales at Carahsoft, sees mentoring as core to her identity as a leader. She wrote her MBA thesis on the importance of professional mentoring and has leveraged that knowledge to develop mentor programs for her team. She herself has mentored 36 emerging leaders, 22 of whom are women. More recently she has expanded her efforts with training sessions for her company’s management on the benefits of a mentorship program and how to be an impactful mentor.

Goddard (right) accepted the award from CRN Associate Managing Editor Gina Narcisi.

Kristy Kirby, TD Synnex

Executive Mentor of the Year Award—Vendor/Distributor

The Executive Mentor of the Year Award for a Vendor/Distributor honors an executive who makes it her mission to help others build their careers.

Recipient Kristy Kirby, senior vice president, marketing and programs at TD Synnex, lives by the motto that we should all leave this world a better place than we found it, and mentorship is a big part of living that. In addition to her extensive one-to-one mentoring efforts, she chairs the company’s Elevate business resource group and its E3 formal mentorship engagement program that’s focused on advancing women.

Kirby (left) accepted the award from CRN Executive Editor Jennifer Follett.

Regina Vignone, Sophos

Sales Executive of the Year Award

The Sales Executive of the Year Award goes to an outstanding executive with an established ability to understand customer needs and help her team and her partners win deals.

The winner of this year’s award, Regina Vignone, vice president of midmarket sales, East, at Sophos, has redefined cybersecurity sales for her company and driven revenue growth and market expansion. She has been critical in developing the company’s go-to-market strategy for its advanced cybersecurity portfolio as it expanded into new territories with tailored services for SMBs and midmarket enterprises through channel partnerships. And her ability to nurture top talent has created a sales force known for their expertise as trusted cybersecurity advisers.

Vignone (right) accepted the award from CRN’s Gina Narcisi.

Colette Tunstead, Amazon Web Services

Channel Innovator of the Year Award

The Channel Innovator of the Year Award celebrates trailblazing women with a fresh business perspective who have shown outstanding capacity to instigate channel evolution.

Recipient Colette Tunstead, senior manager of global channel activation for worldwide public sector at AWS, developed a talent for innovation through 30 years of extensive technology experience in such roles as network engineer, data center infrastructure architect, and IT manager for a major ISV. Over the last year at AWS, she spearheaded the global rollout of an innovative program that has not only accelerated the development timeline for partners but set a new standard for partner development.

Tunstead (right) accepted the award from CRN’s Jennifer Follett.

Julie Sanford, Microsoft

Woman of the Year—Vendor/Distributor

The Woman of the Year at a Vendor or Distributor recognizes an executive who over the past year has been an all-around standout in terms of channel acumen and leadership.

As vice president of go to market programs and operations at Microsoft, Julie Sanford is responsible for go-to-market strategy, programs and platforms that accelerate growth and improve the partner experience across all segments of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem. She has led critical initiatives around partner program launches and the expansion of partner resources. Most notably, she has overseen efforts to provide partners with the training and skills they need to sell and support solutions around her company’s AI offerings.

Megan Amdahl, Insight

Woman of the Year – Solution Provider

The Woman of the Year—Solution Provider Award goes to the executive who most deserves recognition for her achievements in the IT channel over the past year, inspiring others and bringing about significant success for her organization.

As Insight’s senior vice president of client experience and North America COO, Amdahl is responsible for the company’s operations, partner management and client experience, leading a team of approximately 2,400 employees. Topping her list of achievements is her management of a complex transformation initiative called “Ambition,” with the goal of transforming her company’s business model. Successfully overseeing the program’s strategy, execution and collaboration, she delivered results in less than a year, capping a record of leadership and achievement that led to a promotion.

Amdahl (right) accepted the award from CRN’s Jennifer Follett.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2024 CRN Women of the Year Awards!