Lifetime Achievement Winner Jen Anaya Lauded As A Channel Advocate With Heart

‘She’s not just an advocate for Ingram Micro and women in the channel, she’s an advocate for the entire distribution industry,’ says Ingram Micro CEO Paul Bay. ‘She’s focused on the broader good of our customers and the ecosystem as a whole.’

Jen Anaya learned business at the dinner table. As an only child, the earliest seeds of business acumen were planted in her by her parents, who built a landscape maintenance company from the ground up.

“They started their business very young, so a lot of our life was about business,” Anaya told CRN. “I mean, we were sitting at the dinner table, listening to my parents talk about everything: contracts, employee issues, finances. It was like getting an MBA without even trying.”

Her mom kept the finances in order while her father navigated the technical aspects of the business. Together, they faced the ups and downs of running a growing company, and Anaya learned a key lesson from their example: perseverance.

“Never give up,” she said. “There were times when they didn’t know how they’d make payroll. Big contracts would be won and lost, and both brought their own set of challenges. But they always figured it out. My mom would come up with solutions, and my dad could sell ice to Eskimos. They were brilliant together. I think that’s what stuck with me most: Just don’t give up."

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That perseverance, problem-solving ability and an all-out drive to foster relationships that drive partner success have earned Anaya—a 35-year technology marketing veteran—the Lifetime Achievement Award at CRN’s Women of the Year Awards. Anaya received the honor at a black-tie gala at Gotham Hall in New York City on Dec. 10.

“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.

Cathy Vankesteren, senior vice president of Canada-based MSP and Ingram Micro partner End to End Networks, said Anaya’s approach is simple but powerful: Create clarity in the chaos.

“When you’re in a room full of passionate, Type A personalities with differing opinions, it can get overwhelming,” she told CRN. “But Jen is a genius at taking all those ideas, sometimes even conflicting ones, and wrapping them into a strategy that everyone buys into.”

Anaya’s ability to bring order to disorder has not only transformed brands but also built global communities. In 2019, Anaya led a group of business owners and leaders to the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as part of a strategic push for global expansion. Within a single hourlong meeting, the group was able to forge instant connections with new partners.

“Jen didn’t just tell the story, she helped us tell it,” Vankesteren said. “And her vision to expand globally wasn’t just a strategic move, it was a movement that took off like wildfire.”

While Anaya’s ability to strategize and lead is unparalleled, it’s her genuine care for people that truly sets her apart, she added.

“Her relationships are everything,” she said. “She invests deeply in her network, and not just in a professional sense. She’s a true friend to everyone she works with.”

Anaya has also emerged as a role model and mentor for young girls as a board member for Girls Inc. of Orange County. The organization mentors young girls, providing programs aimed at bringing forth a new generation of women leaders. In addition to her Girls Inc. philanthropy, Anaya has been a trailblazer in making sustainability a top priority for Ingram Micro and its channel partners.

Anaya, who grew up in Southern California, joined Ingram Micro in 2000 as senior director of corporate communications. After eight years, she stepped away from the role to focus on raising her daughters, Ava and Sofia, and started her own marketing business before returning to the distributor in 2012.

Her patience and ability to serve as a change agent within the company has contributed to her long-term success, Bay said.

“She’s one of the best listeners I know,” he said. “She’s able to translate what I’m trying to say. That’s a rare quality, and it speaks to her ability to understand and collaborate with others.”

A Leadership Style Grounded In Authenticity

Anaya’s impact is not limited to strategic and organizational achievements. Her joyful presence and commitment to personal connections have left an indelible mark on Ingram Micro’s workplace culture.

“Her joy is contagious,” Dennis Crupi, vice president of marketing at Ingram Micro, told CRN. “She shows up with that big smile and absolute love for what she does. It makes everyone feel confident and comfortable, even in the most challenging times.”

Her leadership style is grounded in authenticity and realness, he said, and she encourages her team to be real and to bring their full selves to work.

Holly Niedzielski, director of global event marketing and partner communities for Ingram Micro, said one of Anaya’s standout qualities is her commitment to empowering her team to take risks and stretch their boundaries.

“It’s not just about achieving immediate results,” Niedzielski said. “Jen is constantly looking ahead and thinking five, 10, even 20 years down the road. She inspires us to dream bigger.”

That forward-thinking approach is rooted in Anaya’s entrepreneurial mindset, a quality Niedzielski believes has been crucial to her long-term success.

“Jen is not afraid to challenge the status quo,” she said. “Her willingness to pursue what might seem impossible helps us see opportunities where others might see only obstacles. It’s that entrepreneurial drive that has shaped the culture of the entire organization.”

Sanjib Sahoo, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Ingram Micro, has worked closely with Anaya over the past three years and admires how she manages to be both assertive and approachable.

“Jen is like my navigating officer,” he told CRN. “She sees things I miss, especially in the blind spots of our organization. And because she’s been here longer than I have, she brings invaluable perspective.”

Her ability to balance firmness with warmth is not only a cornerstone of her leadership but also a trait that has garnered her respect from colleagues and direct reports alike.

“She’s not afraid to push back when necessary, but she does it with respect,” Sahoo said. “That’s the power of saying ‘no’ in the right way.”

But what sets her apart, according to Sahoo, is her ability to simplify complex concepts.

“One of the things I admire most about Jen is her knack for making the complex simple,” he said. “A lot of executives make simple things difficult. Jen has the ability to take a complicated issue and break it down into something actionable and understandable for everyone.”

Kirk Robinson echoed that sentiment.

“There were countless times in executive meetings where we’d go round and round, throwing out ideas, but never really getting to the heart of the matter,” said Robinson, who retired from his role as executive vice president and president of North America at Ingram Micro in September. “Then Jen would stand up, go to the whiteboard, and with a few strokes, pull everything together. She’d take the jumble of thoughts and put a bow on it. It was always spot on, and that’s what made her so valuable. She had the ability to tell the story of Ingram, to take all the different pieces and make them make sense.

“I remember watching Jen interact with the CEOs early in her career,” he added. “It was clear that she had their respect because she didn’t back down. She told them the truth, even when it was uncomfortable. That honesty, that directness, was something they valued. It’s the reason Jen got to where she is today.”

Using Marketing To Spread The Message Globally

Anaya creating a unified strategy across so many different regions is a testament to her leadership and knowledge of the market, said Sahoo, who recalled how her expertise helped align marketing efforts with the company’s broader goals.

“We had many different websites, different content strategies. Jen helped bring it all together,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. Coordinating marketing across so many different countries and cultures is challenging ,but she did it with grace.”

From building customer data platforms to executing complex loyalty programs like Xvantage Ultra, her ability to tie together disparate efforts into a cohesive strategy has been critical to the company’s growth.

“She has excelled in driving change, fostering relationships and boosting initiatives that benefit the organization as a whole,” said Sahoo.

Frank Vitagliano, CEO of the Global Technology Distribution Council—who spent his career at channel powerhouses such as IBM, Juniper Networks and Dell Technologies—pointed to Anaya’s understanding of the channel ecosystem and her ability to execute as things that set her apart.

“Jen’s been in the industry long enough to see the evolution firsthand,” he said. “She understands distribution’s role and how vital it is to the overall ecosystem. That knowledge, coupled with her leadership skills, makes her an invaluable asset.”

‘What I Care About Is Helping Others Succeed’

After studying journalism and English at the University of Southern California, Anaya quickly realized that her talent was crafting narratives.

Following a brief stint at a magazine as an ad coordinator, a colleague encouraged her to apply for a public relations role at sportswear brand K-Swiss. This move marked the start of her PR career, and she was thrown into the fire almost immediately.

“They handed me trade magazines and said, ‘OK, go do PR,’” she said. “I was like, ‘OK, sure. I can do that.’ But what followed was an incredible learning experience.”

That role had her working closely with the leadership team at K-Swiss, particularly when the company went public.

“I got a front-row seat to what it’s like when a company goes public," she said. "That’s where I learned a lot about managing communication with senior executives and understanding how the press, PR and business decisions all come together.”

When she landed at Ingram Micro, she traveled extensively with the leadership team, meeting clients and partners across the U.S. and abroad. This hands-on, global approach to business would come to define Anaya’s ethos: understanding people, connecting across borders and building bridges that brought people together.

While Anaya has elevated marketing’s role at Ingram Micro and transformed its approach to digitalization, she sees her true strength as her ability to connect on a human level. “At the end of the day, people do business with people, and it’s about how you service and what you can do to help that business,” said Anaya.

Luxy Thuraisingam, vice president of global SMB and partner marketing for Cisco Systems, has reached out to Anaya on numerous occasions, not just for work advice but for personal mentorship.

“She always makes time for those conversations,” Thuraisingam said. “She’s authentic and has no ego. She’ll talk to you the same way whether you’re a peer or a team member."

Over the years, Kelly Carter has witnessed Anaya’s evolution both professionally and personally.

“Her confidence has grown so much,” said Carter, chief strategy officer at Fulcrum IT Partners, who spent 26 years at Ingram Micro, many of them alongside Anaya. “She’s become an even stronger leader, not just within Ingram but across the industry. Young people who came into Ingram flourished under her guidance and always carried the lessons they learned from Jen.”

Lisa Locklear met Anaya when Locklear was on the finance side of the house at Ingram Micro. Locklear left the distributor in 2015 but developed a personal friendship with Anaya outside work.

Calling her “the ultimate mentor,” Locklear described her friend as loyal, creative and bold.

“She’s great at delegating and coaching and she’s built a strong, loyal team,” she said. “People love working with her, and she’s influenced so many lives.”

While Anaya’s leadership and mentorship are central to her success, it’s her personal qualities that really leave an impression with others.

Donna Grothjan, who spent 15 years at Ingram Micro as senior vice president of product management, and who was the recipient of the CRN Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023, recalled a recent flight she shared with Anaya, a memory that perfectly encapsulates her kindness.

“We were on a flight and Jen moved her seat three times to accommodate other people who wanted to sit together,” she said. “She moved her bag in and out of the overhead bin. She’s just so considerate of everyone around her. It’s rare to see someone so genuinely kind, especially when people are often at their worst when traveling. But Jen? She just radiates warmth.”

She said Anaya’s kindness is not just about the big moments, but the small everyday gestures that make people feel valued. And that’s what helped Anaya to land where she is today.

“We’ve both been in this industry for more years than we’d like to admit, but the things we’ve achieved together and the lessons she’s taught me, I couldn’t be more proud of everything she’s accomplished,” Grothjan said.

Anaya, for her part, says even in an industry enamored with the latest and greatest technology breakthroughs and buzzwords, she has remained grounded by the lessons from her childhood.

“What I care about is helping others succeed,” she said. “I got that from my mom. Her greatest success was helping others go farther than they thought possible.”