CRN Women Of The Year 2025: The Winners

CRN and parent The Channel Company honored the recipients of the 2025 Women of the Year Awards at a festive event in New York City.

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

Hosted at the historic Gotham Hall in the heart of Manhattan, CRN and parent The Channel Company honored extraordinary women throughout the channel, spotlighting their most noteworthy achievements from the past year.

Over the course of the evening, CRN gave out 19 trophies to women, allies and companies. The celebration marked the culmination of a months-long process that included two rounds of judging and concluded with the 2025 Women of the Year Awards Gala event.

The evening also included the naming of the 2025 Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Round one judges included editorial staff from CRN as well as other leaders from The Channel Company. 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 2025 CRN Women of the Year Awards.

Schneider Electric

Community Impact Award

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

Schneider Electric is deeply passionate about sustainability and has set the ambitious goal of launching 200 local sustainability projects by the end of 2025. Its efforts not only demonstrate the company’s deep-rooted investment in local engagement but also cement its reputation as a global leader in sustainable business practices.

Dawn Rundell, Ecommerce, Retail Director at Schneider Electric (pictured left) accepted the award from CRN Columnist Cass Cooper.

Pythian Services

Inclusive Employer of the Year Award

The Inclusive Employer of the Year award recognizes a company that is doing industry-leading work in building an atmosphere where a diverse workforce can thrive.

Pythian says its mission is to cultivate a workplace that reflects its diverse communities and to foster a culture of belonging that inspires its global team. As part of its DEI Roadmap, the company has launched a communications training program to enhance cross-cultural communication and implemented manager training focused on their role in DEI.

Vanessa Simmons, SVP, Business Development at Pythian Services (pictured right) accepted the award from CRN Senior Associate Editor CJ Fairfield.

ESET North America

Gender Parity Award

The Gender Parity Award is given to an organization with a strong track record of nurturing talent among women with hallmarks such as a diverse workforce and a high percentage of women in leadership roles.

ESET is deeply committed to advancing gender parity and has taken steps over the past year to foster an inclusive culture where women are supported, empowered and given clear pathways to grow and lead. Today, women occupy 42 percent of leadership roles within the company and make up 50 percent of the executive leadership team. Its Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship just marked its 10th anniversary.

Marissa Pitchford, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at ESET (pictured left) accepted the award from CRN’s Cass Cooper.

Aleesa Foltz

Sr. Director, Partner Management Operations

SHI International

Hidden Gem of the Year–Solution Provider Award

The Hidden Gem of the Year Award for a solution provider recognizes a woman whose work is indispensable to the business but who rarely sees the spotlight.

Foltz describes herself as a natural builder of strategies, systems, teams and trust. With a focus on operational excellence and automation, she led an effort to optimize her company’s deal registration process to reduce turnaround time and launched its first robotic process automation initiative. She also serves as her company’s Culture and Enablement Advocate.

Foltz (pictured left) accepted the award from CRN’s CJ Fairfield.

Maggie Taylor

Partner Enablement Manager

TD Synnex

Hidden Gem of the Year Award–Vendor/Distributor

As partner enablement manager, Taylor, the winner of the Hidden Gem of the Year– Vendor/Distributor Award, connects partners with innovative solutions. This year she led a strategic challenge that united four ISVs to unlock new opportunities for resellers, helped architect her company’s go-to-market strategy for longtail business, and led interactive workshops that helped resellers understand, monetize and deliver AI solutions. Beyond her core role, she stepped up to help shape the corporate culture across TD Synnex’s more than 40 North American offices.

Taylor (pictured right) accepted the award from CRN’s Cass Cooper.

Addie Finch

VP, Channels, Americas

Cato Networks

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.

Finch has nearly two decades of experience in the channel and over the past year has led a systemwide rethinking of Cato’s Americas channel strategy. That included designing new partner incentives and rewards that turned neutral partner sales reps into active evangelists for her company’s products.

Chantell Martinez

Sales Director

Bluum

Rising Star of the Year–Solution Provider Award

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.

Martinez has demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable impact during one of the most challenging periods in the educational technology sector. This past year, following a promotion, she led her team to exceed ambitious forecasts within her region and achieve an impressive 20-plus percent year-over-year growth rate. Much of that is due to her exceptional ability to build relationships with customers.

Martinez (pictured right) accepted the award from Andrea Medeiros, vice president of The Content Studio at The Channel Company.

Micaela Goytia

Sr. Partner Development Manager

Splunk, a Cisco Company

Rising Star of the Year–Vendor/Distributor Award

Goytia built a global partnership from scratch between Splunk and Microsoft, turning it into a high-impact, strategic motion that in just 12 months drove over $40 million in pipeline, $20 million in annual recurring revenue and activated over 1,000 co-sell deals. Her work has established the blueprint at her company for modern partnerships in an increasingly multi-cloud world.

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

Judith Breen

VP, Partner Alliances, Portfolio Solutions

Insight Enterprises

Role Model of the Year–Solution Provider Award

The Role Model of the Year–Solution Provider Award honors an executive who inspires colleagues and leads by example, setting the bar for channel leadership success.

Breen is passionate about mentoring and building high-performing teams. Her dedication to her teammates and commitment to their development are key aspects of her leadership style. She is a local leader in The Women in Tech Network and a member of the Microsoft Canada Partner Women’s Council. And she will be a judge at this year’s Technovation regional competition, an international program that introduces girls to entrepreneurship and technology.

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

Cheryl Rang

VP, Technology Solutions

Ingram Micro

Role Model of the Year Award–Vendor/Distributor

Being seen as a role model is deeply important to Rang: As a girl mom, she wants her daughter to see firsthand that hard work and perseverance can break glass ceilings and that women can achieve anything. Over the last year she has actively mentored six rising female professionals, guiding them in career development, including promotions. She also leads a women’s forum group within her company that has grown to over 100 members and offers leadership training, workshops, and sharing best practices on rising leadership.

Rang (pictured left) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Jacquie Rives.

Dori White

VP, Field, Partner Marketing

EPlus Technology

Marketing Executive of the Year–Solution Provider Award

Marketing teams sit at the heart of many successful channel businesses. This award honors an outstanding woman in marketing who has generated demand and increased brand awareness for their channel business.

White is a dynamic and results-driven executive with the ability to consistently deliver creative channel marketing strategies. Over the past year, she has led a high-performing team of 10 to execute 116 integrated marketing campaigns, 104 trade shows, 186 customer events, 27 partner trainings, and engage over 2,000 customers, all while strengthening more than 100 partner relationships.

White (pictured center) accepted the award from The Channel Company’s Jacquie Rives (pictured left) and Andrea Medeiros.

Christina Nairn

Sr. Director, Americas Marketing,

Sophos

Marketing Executive of the Year–Vendor/Distributor Award

The Marketing Executive of the Year Award for a vendor or distributor went to Nairn, a marketing leader who oversees demand generation, channel and sales development teams. Over the past year, she has helped Sophos achieve double-digit growth in both channel pipeline and revenue across the Americas. She has played a key role in transformative global initiatives, including an MSP loyalty and growth program that enrolled more than 100 partners in its first 30 days. She also led the global integration of two marketing operations into a single, high-performing organization after the Secureworks acquisition.

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

Joyce Mullen

President, CEO

Insight Enterprises

Lifetime Achievement Award

During Mullen’s 21 years at Dell Technologies, she rose through a series of roles to lead sales, operations, supply chain, partner strategy, services delivery and logistics. Under Mullen’s leadership, Dell redefined what it meant to be a channel partner, putting the focus on innovation and complex digital transformation. That helped push Dell’s channel sales above $50 billion, as she drove channel strategy, partner programs, solution provider enablement and channel sales execution.

She joined Insight as the president of its North America business in 2020 and then became president and CEO in 2022. Since then she has built the company into an AI-first solutions integrator that’s one of the biggest and most influential in the world.

Under her watch, Insight acquired SADA, a perennial Google Partner of the Year that brought deep cloud expertise into the Insight fold. She also spearheaded a multibillion- dollar global partnership agreement with Microsoft to provide cutting-edge digital solutions and managed services built on Azure and Microsoft 365.

But from her perspective, that all pales in comparison to her ability to always put people first, elevate rising leaders, empower countless women and leave every organization stronger than she found it.

Mullen (pictured right), who recently announced plans to retire soon, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from Jennifer Follett, vice president of U.S. content and executive editor of CRN at The Channel Company.

Calhoun McKinney

VP, North America Go-To-Market

TD Synnex

Executive Mentor of the Year Award

The Executive Mentor of the Year Award celebrates women who have a passion for developing others’ careers, helping them build their skills and rise to leadership positions in the channel.

McKinney has mentored dozens of people, both within TD Synnex and across the broader channel, through formal programs and informal, consistent touchpoints. She has guided people through promotions, strategic transitions and critical moments of self-doubt. And she champions policies that support working parents, everything from expanding parental leave to improving family-friendly infrastructure.

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

Sarah Harris

Commercial Inside Sales VP

SHI International

Sales Executive of the Year

Sales has always been the bedrock of the channel. This award goes to an outstanding woman in sales with a proven track record of building strong customer relationships and driving growth.

Harris has grown her leadership skills after stepping into a new role to oversee a 300-person, $1 billion commercial sales team covering six distinct regions. Over the last 12 months she has united this incredibly diverse team behind one shared vision, reoriented the commercial sales organization around high-growth solution pillars, built deeper relationships with customers, and delivered 20 percent year-over-year sales growth.

Paul Pinkney

President, GM, Sales

Red Hat Canada

Ally of the Year Award

All genders have a role in amplifying the success of women in IT. With that in mind, the Ally of the Year Award spotlights a man who uses his position to foster equality in the channel.

Pinkney views allyship as a leadership imperative, woven into how his company recruits, promotes, builds trust and scales impact. Some of the actions he has taken to ensure women are not just invited in but have a voice include expanding the company’s annual Women+Leadership+Allies event, providing women with continuous public-speaking opportunities, and deepening a partnership with the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Women in IT Management program.

Pinkney accepted the award from CRN’s Gina Narcisi.

Jennifer Roy

CEO

Nucleus Networks

CEO of the Year Award

The CEO of the Year Award, new this year, goes to a woman who has reached the top of her game, demonstrating exceptional vision, innovation and impact while driving significant success for her organization.

Roy has led Nucleus Networks through a phase of substantial growth and transformation. Under her management this past year, the company has increased its earnings, improved customer support and maintained an exceptional employee NPS score. It has also expanded its managed services offerings and deepened relationships within the channel. But she is most proud of her company’s ability to grow profitably while sustaining a people-first culture.

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

Nicole Dezen

Chief Partner Officer

Microsoft

Woman of the Year–Vendor/Distributor Award

The Woman of the Year–Vendor/Distributor Award, recognizes a woman’s achievements in the IT channel over the past year as an all-around standout in channel acumen and leadership.

Dezen leads the global channel partner sales organization and partner ecosystem at Microsoft. Under her leadership over the last 12 months, her organization introduced an operating model that combines the strengths of the channel with the company’s sellers in the small and medium enterprise customer segment. She has overseen investments in new commerce capabilities, systems and tools, as well as AI-enhanced reporting to fuel channel growth. And she has managed the continued expansion of her Microsoft’s AI Cloud Partner Program.

Tara Kallstrom

Director, Cloud Channel Partnerships, Go-To-Market Strategy, Portfolio

Connection

Woman of the Year–Solution Provider Award

Our final award of the night went to Kallstrom, winner of the Woman of the Year–Solution Provider Award.

Kallstrom leads Connection’s channel partner services operations and is a key member of the company’s go-to-market strategy and portfolio team. She has implemented strategies over the past 12 months that include expanding technical capabilities through trusted partnerships, delivering multimillion-dollar gains in recurring revenue and gross profit for both her company and its partners. She also led a companywide shift in how her organization engages with referral partners, embedding Channel Partner Services into pre-sales, business development and sales team solution offerings.

Kallstrom (pictured left) accepted the award from CRN’s Jennifer Follett.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!