15 Women Of The Year Finalists On How They Are Helping Channel Partners Succeed

As CRN prepares to present its fourth annual Women of the Year Awards, we highlight the impact this year’s finalists have had in helping channel partners and customers succeed.

With the 2026 CRN Women of the Year Gala right around the corner, we’re spotlighting the 15 finalists in the Women of the Year—Enterprise Vendor category, which honors the achievements of female leaders in the IT channel over the past 12 months as all-around standouts in channel acumen and leadership. Each finalist shared in her awards application the impact she had in helping channel partners and customers succeed.

The gala will honor the winners of the fourth annual CRN Women of the Year Awards—spanning 19 individual categories and two company categories—aiming to illuminate women who have made significant contributions to the channel throughout 2026 and the companies that support them.

The finalists were revealed on Sept. 14, and the winners will be disclosed live at the gala on Dec. 8 in New York City (tickets are available here).

Read on for a look at the impact these finalists have had over the last 12 months in helping their channel partners and customers succeed.

Gabie Boko, NetApp

CMO

Gabie's work is grounded in one principle: marketing should close the gap between what customers know they need and what they understand is possible.

Her most direct contribution was reshaping the AI readiness conversation. Most AI projects stall not because models are wrong, but because the underlying data is fragmented, ungoverned, or inaccessible. Gabie brought that message to partner audiences and decision-makers through panel discussions, executive forums, and thought leadership — framing data infrastructure as the basis for AI to deliver on its promise.

The demand-side metrics reflect the impact. Cost per lead is down, time to acquisition has compressed, and improved marketing-to-sales handoffs are driving higher renewal rates and stronger cross-sell and upsell activity — outcomes that show up in pipeline velocity and customer lifetime value.

The NFL partnership extends beyond awareness. Every sponsorship begins as a customer relationship, and when NetApp activates at Super Bowl scale, it gives other customers confidence to imagine what that kind of partnership could mean for them.

Gabie also ensured partners and customers see NetApp's 4 pillars — data infrastructure modernization, AI innovation, cyber resilience, and cloud transformation — as one connected architecture, not separate. That clarity helps customers make better decisions, faster.

Johnna Bowley, Omnissa

VP, Global Partner Organization

Over the last 12 months, I have focused on transforming Omnissa’s global partner organization into a strategic growth engine that helps partners grow their businesses, deliver greater customer value, and drive profitable outcomes. Since joining the company in July 2025, I have led the redesign of our global partner sales strategy, our global partner program, and re-aligned our indirect go-to-market model to create a more scalable, partner-centric approach.
I expanded and strengthened our partner ecosystem, deepened engagement across key partner and customer segments, and introduced new sales execution strategies and value-based programs that improved enablement, simplified engagement, and increased partner profitability. These initiatives provided partners with greater access to resources, clearer growth opportunities, and stronger support throughout the customer lifecycle.
As a result, we achieved increased partner participation, improved sales productivity, increased partner-led revenue growth, and enhanced customer outcomes. Most importantly, the work accomplished over the past year has created a more predictable, profitable, and scalable framework for partner and customer success, reinforcing the critical role of the partner ecosystem in driving Omnissa’s growth.

Julia Chen, Amazon Web Services

VP, AWS Specialists, Partner Core

I lead AWS Partner Core, ensuring every partner—from startups to global systems integrators—has the programs, incentives, tools, and support to build a profitable, sustainable business on AWS.

Managed Services Cash Incentive: I introduced direct cash benefits for MSP partners because the data is clear: MSP-supported customers show 3.4X higher cloud spend, 58% better retention, and 5.1X customer growth. I added growth incentives to reward partners for expanding accounts under management.

AI-Powered Partner Central: I launched a unified hub powered by Amazon Bedrock AgentCore with 24/7 AI agents that recommend funding, flag deadlines, identify deals, and automate documentation—reducing administrative time by up to 40%.

AI Assessment Fund: Performance-based funding for partners delivering structured AI assessments, positioning them to lead strategic customer conversations and build qualified pipeline.

Partner Revenue Measurement: For the first time, AWS can see and credit the full scope of value partners create. Through innovative resource tagging and user tagging technology, we can trace partner influence all the way to revenue.

SMB Go-To-Market: Tiered lead generation and vertical-specific communities with standardized playbooks to help partners build scalable SMB practices.

AI Competency & ISV Expansion: Updated AI Competency with performance-based benefits; grew ISV Accelerate to 1,600+

Tara Fine, Broadcom

VP, Amercias Partner

Over the last 12 months, I am most proud of the continued evolution of our partners' role in our go-to-market strategy—and how we have elevated their impact on our collective success. Partners are not adjacent to our strategy; they are essential to how we reach customers, innovate, and drive meaningful outcomes.

This evolution is reflected in our partners' increased commitment. Across the ecosystem, they are investing in dedicated resources and capabilities, reporting that their business with us is more profitable than ever. This validates that focus, clarity, and alignment create sustainable, mutual value.

A visible example was our annual VMware Explore event, where we gave partners and customers the platform to showcase their impact firsthand, rather than Broadcom speaking on their behalf. This reflected a deliberate shift in positioning: recognizing partners not just for business transacted, but for the innovation and value they create for customers and our collective business.

Through our Executive Partner Advisory Board and ongoing engagement, I have prioritized candid, two-way dialogue. My goal is to connect disconnected perspectives—business goals, partner investment needs, and customer demands—ensuring our strongest partners play a strategic, visible role in influencing what comes next and consequentely driving our mutual success.

Dani Foutz, Epicor

Director, Channel Marketing

Through this past year, my role evolved to support partner and customer success from two crucial vantage points. Initially, as Director of Enablement, Growth, and Revenue Impact, I focused on structural partner readiness. I developed and executed target programs that upgraded training, modernized resources, and improved overall partner performance. By aligning these enablement initiatives with the complex needs of modern manufacturers, I equipped our partners to deliver sharper customer experiences and achieve measurable business outcomes.

More recently, as Director of Channel Sales, Manufacturing, I shifted to direct field engagement. I leverage my operational background to help partners identify fresh growth opportunities, expand their market footprint, and solve real-world supply chain challenges. My impact lies in strengthening these relationships and aligning our joint go-to-market strategies. By providing a clear roadmap and consistent channel engagement, I have helped our partners increase their day-to-day effectiveness, win new business, and deliver exceptional outcomes for their manufacturing customers. Ultimately success is measured by our partners achieving sustainable growth, and over the past year, we have built a stronger, more resilient ecosystem capable of thriving in a complex landscape.

Michelle Hoover, Cloudera

SVP, Global Alliances, Channels

Over the past 12 months, I played a key role in helping channel partners, such as AWS, NVIDIA and IBM, and customers succeed through Cloudera’s EVOLVE25 global conference series. This embraced an ecosystem-first approach that placed partners at the center of the experience. Across six global events, I helped create opportunities for partners to shape programming, amplify their voices, and engage directly with customers around trusted data and “AI Anywhere” strategies. By combining thought leadership, real-world AI use cases, and hands-on collaboration, the program strengthened partner relationships, increased visibility, and accelerated customer engagement and pipeline growth. Ultimately, EVOLVE25 demonstrated how scalable, partner-led experiences can drive measurable business impact, deeper collaboration, and long-term ecosystem alignment.

Amy Kodl, Snowflake

SVP, Worldwide Alliances, Channels

Over the last year, I have been focused on accelerating an AI-led partner motion: moving our ecosystem from awareness to activation on Snowflake's transformative platform. A centerpiece of this work has been championing partner enablement around Cortex Code (CoCo), Snowflake's AI coding agent embedded directly in the platform. We have invested in training and certifications to build partner fluency in AI, and focused on demystifying the pace of technological change so our ecosystem could confidently lead CoCo-powered customer engagements.
The impact has been a meaningful shift in how our partners show up for customers - not just as implementation resources, but as trusted AI transformation advisors. Partners are now actively delivering AI-native solutions on top of the Snowflake AI Data Cloud, with CoCo serving as a force multiplier that accelerates development cycles and drives measurable customer outcomes.
My focus has been on positioning our ecosystem to lead in this moment of rapid innovation, ensuring every partner has the tools, knowledge, and support to lead with AI today.

Anna Lawler, Dynatrace

VP, Global Partner Marketing

When our Partner Advisory Councils and Executive Partner Advisory Board expressed that GTM support was a top ask, we listened and acted. Over the past year, my team has made measurable improvements to how partners access Dynatrace leaders, expertise, campaigns, and enablement, with a direct impact on readiness and how partners show up for customers.

With over 90% of Dynatrace business going through partners, the work my team does has a direct line to customer outcomes. My focus has been on strengthening that connection, integrating top partners into Dynatrace-led campaigns to showcase the combined power of joint offerings and connect customers with the strategic alliances they already know and trust. We support partner-led marketing and reinforce the importance of "Teaming Agreements" through events and enablement programs to ensure Dynatrace and partners bring their respective strengths together to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Underpinning all of this was investment in my team. A dedicated six-part Forrester training program upskilled the team on modern partner marketing, buyer journey alignment, and multi-channel planning and execution. The partner recognition is strong: 9/10 satisfaction scores sustained across advisory forums, 100% intent to continue participation, and tangible improvements as a direct result of their feedback.

Denise Millard, Dell Technologies

Chief Partner Officer

My focus has been on making Dell the most rewarding and most strategic partner in the industry because when partners succeed, customers succeed, and so does Dell.

At Dell Technologies World we announced the most significant program enhancements in recent memory: a differentiated rebate rewarding partners who lead with strategic solutions like Dell Private Cloud, Dell Automation Platform, Cyber Resilience and PowerStore; a Focus Accounts incentive recognizing partners who deepen relationships in named and underpenetrated accounts; and a formalized co-sell recognition program for advisory and systems integrator partners.

We also announced our first AI-powered partner platform, a unified experience that connects demand signals, deal registration, pricing and account management in one place. In FY26 alone, we delivered more than 200,000 demand signals to partners. The new platform accelerates that and gives partners time back to invest in customers and growth.

The proof of our commitment to the channel is in the specifics: new incentives built around what customers are actually buying, a partner platform that makes it faster and easier to do business with us and AI tools that help partners compete more effectively every day. There has never been a better time to partner with Dell.

Jennifer Odess, ServiceNow

Group VP, Americas Global Partnerships, Channels

This year Odess has transformed ServiceNow’s partner strategy, driving measurable impact across two critical initiatives.

Leading Global Partner Excellence, she scaled partner enablement and AI readiness programs that accelerated partner capability, delivering 105% year-over-year growth in AI credentials. This investment directly equipped partners to position and close next-generation AI solutions with customers. She launched the Partner Business Value Composer, an AI-powered tool that enables partners to build and present customer-specific ServiceNow business cases in January 2026, and laid the groundwork for the newly released Partner Intelligent Matching, an AI-driven capability that connects customers with the right partner for their needs.

In the Americas, she has fundamentally restructured how the partner organization operates, embedding partner leadership directly within vertical sales teams and shifting to dedicated partner coverage. This alignment created true co-ownership of pipeline and deal outcomes. Partners are an extension of ServiceNow, and for the first time, the model reflects that. These structural changes delivered immediate results. The largest partner-sourced deal in LATAM history closed under this new model, demonstrating that reimagined partnerships drive transformational customer outcomes.

Her leadership has unlocked new partner potential and created a scalable playbook that elevates how ServiceNow operates with and through its channel ecosystem.

Beata Reimer, Dayforce

Head of Global Ecosystem

The most significant change I led was the transition from a fragmented partner model to an orchestrated ecosystem operating model. The distinction matters: a partner program coordinates. An orchestrated ecosystem accelerates.
Historically, partner engagement varied across regions, roles, and deal stages. Strong components existed — but they did not connect. That limited both partner success and our ability to scale. We addressed this by building a unified operating model and then activating it as a system.
This included lifecycle integration (partners embedded from pre-sales through delivery), Rules of Engagement (clear guidance on when and how partners engage at each deal stage), role clarity (PADs driving strategic depth, FADs driving regional breadth), and the DPN Advisory Council creating a formal partner feedback loop that directly shaped program design.
The real shift was conceptual: from managing partners to orchestrating an ecosystem; from disconnected motions to connected outcomes; from activity metrics to business impact. The flywheel model I introduced — Market Reach, Structured Growth, Shared Value, Delivery Excellence, Ecosystem Insight — operationalized this as a compounding system, not a collection of programs.

Florence Sollo, Avaya

U.S. Channel Leader

Throughout my tenure supporting Avaya channel partners, I have focused on driving measurable growth and helping businesses navigate an evolving technology ecosystem. A cornerstone of this impact has been accelerating the adoption and sales of key modern platforms, specifically Avaya Infinity and Avaya Nexus, empowering partners to transition clients from legacy platforms to cutting-edge cloud solutions. By aligning closely with our network, I have successfully catalyzed a robust opportunity pipeline, unlocking new revenue streams and equipping partners with the strategic tools needed to win in competitive markets.

My commitment to partner sustainability has directly resulted in a significant increase in Avaya software and subscription renewal rates, securing long-term customer loyalty and predictable recurring revenue. Through tailored mentorship, joint go-to-market strategies, and targeted enablement, I have fostered an environment where partners achieve sustainable, year-over-year business expansion. Ultimately, my role has been to transform the vendor-partner relationship into a true growth engine, ensuring that Avaya’s channel partners are fully equipped to deliver high-value communication infrastructure and thrive at scale.

Jas Sood, Palo Alto Networks

President, Strategics Sales West

Over the last 12 months, I have established new working relationships with my peers at my top partners. I have set a precedent in my organization where we have “straight talk” good or bad news with our ecosystem because that is the only way we build trust. I have continued to build these relationships on the basis of transparency and with that, have delivered in 3 quarters over 65M in net new business to the channel (not share shift).

Nancy Sperry, Sage

SVP, Partner Sales

Over the past 12 months, I’ve focused on strengthening the performance and strategic alignment of our partner ecosystem by ensuring our partners are not just enabled to sell but positioned to win and deliver real business results for customers. I’ve advocated the integration of AI into our partner strategy and expanding enablement to equip partners with the tools and confidence to bring AI-driven solutions to market.

I’ve also prioritized deeper engagement and accountability across the ecosystem, reinforcing a model centered on long-term success. We’ve driven improved partner performance, faster time-to-value for customers, and a more resilient, future-ready channel through expansion across over 40 micro verticals, levering partner expertise to create improved customer outcomes.

Mary Beth Walker, HP Inc.

VP, Head of Global Partner Experience, Enablement

My focus has been helping partners create sustainable growth by providing the programs and support needed to adapt to evolving customer demands.

Over the past year, I led the evolution of HP Amplify Impact, the industry's first sustainability program for channel partners, incorporating partner feedback and introducing a simplified tiering structure that makes participation more accessible. Today, more than 4,800 partners across 50+ countries use sustainability as a competitive differentiator, with 70% reporting improved success in sustainability-led opportunities. The program's impact has been recognized through CRN's 2026 Sustainability in Tech Awards, while HP was named a Champion in the Omdia Global Sustainable Ecosystems Leadership Matrix.

I also helped expand adoption of HP Amplify Data Insights, enabling partners to make more informed business decisions through customer and market intelligence. Partners using Data Insights are seeing stronger engagement, improved targeting, and accelerated growth. TD SYNNEX highlighted how the program helps identify opportunities, strengthen customer relationships, and drive measurable business outcomes.

Additionally, I supported a highly collaborative approach to partner growth through Joint Business Plans. HP is driving double-digit business growth with more than 4,000 partners globally through these plans, helping partners access HP's resources, expertise, and portfolio.