2026 Channel Focus Award Nominees

These awards highlight the exceptional individuals who have been recognized for their groundbreaking contributions to the channel industry. These trailblazers have set the standard for leadership, innovation, and advocacy, paving the way for future generations of channel professionals.

2026 Women’s Leadership Council Award Nominees

The Women’s Leadership Council Impact Award

Honors a Woman who has made a significant and lasting impact on the channel industry through her leadership, innovation, and dedication to advancing diversity and inclusion. (Women Only)

Emily Masterton

Global Head of Channel | 8x8

Emily Masterton has built a career defined by transformative channel leadership, measurable business growth, and a steadfast commitment to partner success. As Global Head of Channel at 8x8, she has led a partner-first transformation that significantly expanded channel-driven revenue while modernizing engagement models, programs, and operations. Known for combining strategic vision with authentic leadership, Emily empowers partners, develops future leaders, and champions collaborative ecosystems that create lasting value for customers, partners, and the broader channel community.

Gretchen O'Hara

Channel Chief; EVP Strategic Partnerships, Professional Services & Business Development | Sage

Gretchen O'Hara transforms traditional vendor-partner relationships into co-creative ecosystems that accelerate innovation and business growth. Throughout her career, she has championed collaboration, strategic partnerships, and community building while helping organizations adapt to evolving market dynamics. As founder of Women in Cloud, she has created opportunities for women entrepreneurs and future leaders through mentorship, education, and advocacy. Gretchen's ability to drive business results while expanding access and inclusion has made a lasting impact on the technology channel.

Rachel Tuller

Vice President Global Partner Ecosystems | Autodesk

Rachel Tuller has established herself as a respected leader in the global channel ecosystem through her commitment to partnership, innovation, and sustainable growth. Throughout her career, she has helped organizations strengthen partner engagement, scale ecosystem strategies, and create new opportunities for shared success. Known for her collaborative leadership style and focus on enabling partners to thrive, Rachel continues to influence how modern partner organizations evolve while fostering stronger connections across the technology community.

The Women’s Leadership Council Advocate Award

The Woman who has been a powerful advocate helping other women succeed in the Channel (Women Only)

Maggie Bauer

Senior Director, Global Partner Operations and Programs | Arctic Wolf

Maggie Bauer has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to empowering women through mentorship, leadership, and meaningful advocacy. As co-leader of Women Transforming Technology, she has helped create a thriving community where women are encouraged to grow, lead, and pursue new opportunities. Whether mentoring emerging professionals, championing inclusion, or creating pathways for advancement, Maggie consistently invests in the success of others and serves as a powerful example of women helping women thrive in the channel.

Brenda Nobleza

Vice President Americas Channels | Epicor

Brenda Nobleza is widely recognized as a passionate advocate for women in the technology channel, particularly those early in their careers. Through her leadership, mentorship, and commitment to creating opportunities for others, she has helped aspiring professionals build confidence, expand their networks, and advance into leadership roles. Her willingness to invest time, guidance, and support in the next generation of channel leaders has made a meaningful and lasting impact on women across the industry.

Claudine Lagerholm

SVP, Channels & Ecosystems Advisory and Programs | Insight Partners

Claudine Lagerholm has consistently championed connection, visibility, and opportunity for women throughout the technology channel. Through her leadership at Insight Partners, she actively creates forums where women can build meaningful relationships, share experiences, and expand their influence across the ecosystem. Her commitment to ensuring women have a voice, access to leadership opportunities, and strong professional networks has helped foster a more inclusive and supportive channel community.

Jennifer Broerman Spencer

Director, Global Inclusion | Lenovo

Jennifer Broerman Spencer is a powerful advocate for women's growth and advancement, combining authentic leadership with a deep commitment to helping others succeed. A natural connector and trusted mentor, she consistently creates opportunities, facilitates meaningful introductions, and supports women as they navigate their careers. Her ability to foster confidence, encourage professional development, and build strong communities has made her a respected leader and an influential champion for women throughout the channel.

Tina Gravel

National Channel Director | TierPoint

For more than a decade, Tina Gravel has been a tireless advocate for women across the technology channel. Through leadership roles, mentorship, industry organizations, and community initiatives, she has helped advance the careers of countless women while creating opportunities for greater representation and inclusion. Her contributions to organizations such as the Alliance of Channel Women, Women in Alliances, and the Women’s Leadership Council have left a lasting impact on the channel and the generations of women she has helped develop.

The Women’s Leadership Council Connector Award

The Woman who has most effectively built and used their connections to highlight the most important issues that impact Women working in the channel. (Women Only)

Lisa Citron

SVP, Global Partner Ecosystem | F5

Lisa Citron has built a reputation as one of the channel's most influential connectors, creating meaningful relationships that strengthen both businesses and careers. Through her leadership of global partner ecosystems, she has consistently brought together partners, customers, and industry leaders to drive collaboration, innovation, and growth. Her ability to build trusted networks and elevate diverse voices has helped create opportunities across the channel while fostering a more connected and supportive community for women in technology.

Renee McCloden

Global Senior Director of Vendor Strategy and Programs | Pax8

Renee McCloden has become a powerful force for connection, mentorship, and inclusion across the technology channel. Through her leadership of GTIA's Global Women in Tech community, she has created opportunities for women to build relationships, expand their networks, and develop professionally. Known for actively bringing others into conversations, events, and leadership opportunities, Renee consistently invests her time and influence in helping others succeed. Her commitment to building community has strengthened the channel and empowered countless women to grow their careers.

Tricia Atchison

VP, Global Partner & Americas Marketing | Equinix

For more than two decades, Tricia Atchison has played a meaningful role in shaping the channel through innovative partner marketing, enablement, and engagement strategies. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is widely recognized for connecting people, creating opportunities, and mentoring emerging leaders throughout the industry. Her ability to foster authentic relationships, champion women in technology, and bring communities together has left a lasting impact on the channel and inspired the next generation of professionals and leaders.

Channel Leadership Awards 2026 Nominees

The Channel Lifetime Achievement Award

Honors an individual whose exceptional contributions, innovative vision, and lasting impact have significantly shaped and inspired the channel industry throughout their career.

Ruba Borno

Vice President, Global Specialists and Partners | AWS

Ruba Borno has helped define what world-class ecosystem leadership looks like in the cloud era. Through her leadership at AWS, she has advanced one of the industry's most influential partner ecosystems, fostering innovation, co-selling, and customer success across distributors, global systems integrators, ISVs, and managed service providers. A respected mentor, thought leader, and advocate for ecosystem thinking, Ruba's impact extends far beyond AWS and continues to influence how technology companies engage with partners worldwide.

Amanda Adams

SVP, Global Alliances | Crowdstrike

Amanda Adams has played a pivotal role in shaping one of the technology industry's most successful partner ecosystems. As a driving force behind CrowdStrike's partner-first strategy, she helped build a global network of distributors, service providers, technology alliances, and cloud partners that has fueled extraordinary growth. Known for her collaborative leadership and commitment to partner success, Amanda has consistently championed innovation, strengthened industry relationships, and helped define modern cybersecurity partnerships for the channel community.

Mary Beth Walker

VP and Global Head of Partner Experience and Enablement | HP

Throughout her career, Mary Beth Walker has been a driving force behind partner success and channel innovation. Her leadership has helped shape partner strategy, experience, and enablement initiatives that strengthened relationships across one of the industry's largest ecosystems. A trusted advocate for partners and a champion of transformation, Mary Beth has consistently ensured that partner voices remain central to business strategy while mentoring future leaders and elevating standards across the broader channel community.

Marc Monday

GVP, Global Partnerships & Channels | ServiceNow

For nearly three decades, Marc Monday has helped shape the evolution of the modern technology channel. From cloud and SaaS to marketplaces, hyperscalers, and AI, he has built and scaled partner programs that generated significant growth across Microsoft, Concur, SAP, VMware, and ServiceNow. Beyond his business achievements, Marc is widely respected for mentoring emerging leaders, sharing best practices, and strengthening the broader channel community through his unwavering commitment to collaboration, innovation, and partner success.

Frank Rauch

Private Equity / Venture Capital Board Member

Frank Rauch has built one of the most respected careers in channel leadership, helping global technology organizations create thriving partner-first businesses. Across 35 years of leadership roles at HPE, VMware, Check Point, and Cato Networks, he has consistently driven growth by strengthening partner profitability and accelerating partner success. Frank recently decided to leave his operational role to pursue Private Equity, Venture Capital, Boards and philanthropic opportunities. He is an active CEC Board member and a proud founding member of Club Next.

The Channel Innovator Award

Recognizes a channel professional that has demonstrated exceptional creativity and forward-thinking in developing groundbreaking solutions that drive significant advancements within the channel industry.

Tony Surma

Chief Technology Officer - Americas Enterprise Partner Solutions | Microsoft

Tony Surma is widely recognized as a forward-thinking technology and channel leader whose work has helped partners navigate complex digital transformation initiatives. Through his leadership in Microsoft's Global Partner Solutions organization, he has championed innovation across cloud, AI, security, and emerging technologies, helping partners build new capabilities and deliver greater customer value. His ability to bridge technical expertise with partner strategy continues to influence how organizations accelerate growth and drive meaningful outcomes through the channel.

Amber Sepulvado

Senior Director, Partner Engagement, Comms & Events | ServiceNow

Amber Sepulvado is redefining how global partner ecosystems connect, engage, and collaborate. At ServiceNow, she has transformed partner engagement from a collection of disconnected touchpoints into a unified experience spanning events, communications, digital platforms, enablement, and AI-powered innovation. Her leadership has elevated flagship partner programs, modernized the Partner Portal through intelligent technologies, and created more scalable, personalized experiences for partners worldwide. By pairing bold vision with operational excellence, Amber continues to shape the future of partner engagement and ecosystem growth.

Karen Park-Jones

Vice President Marketing - Global Ecosystem & Marketplace | Workday

Karen Park Jones has consistently redefined how marketing, communications, and partner engagement come together to drive channel success. Through her leadership at Workday, she has championed innovative, human-centered approaches that strengthen partner enablement while accelerating business growth. Known for anticipating market shifts and turning complex challenges into scalable strategies, Karen has helped modernize how organizations connect with partners, empowering ecosystems to move faster, collaborate more effectively, and create greater value for customers and channel communities alike.

The Channel Rising Star Award

Recognizes an emerging leader who has demonstrated exceptional promise, creativity, and leadership, making a significant impact early in their career and showing potential to become a future leader in the channel industry.

Riley Norman

National Alliance Director | AgileBlue

Riley Norman exemplifies the qualities of an exceptional emerging channel leader through her integrity, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to partner success. Known for building trusted relationships and delivering consistently strong results, she has earned the respect of colleagues, customers, and partners alike. Her thoughtful leadership style, attention to detail, and dedication to helping others succeed have already made a meaningful impact, establishing her as one of the channel's most promising rising stars.

Hunter Haverty

Sr. Director Partner Programs and Operations | Optiv

Hunter Haverty is bringing fresh thinking to the channel by challenging traditional approaches to partner engagement and program design. As the architect of Optiv One, he developed an innovative model that streamlines access across multiple vendor ecosystems while creating a more connected and efficient partner experience. His forward-looking approach to partner operations, governance, and collaboration demonstrates the creativity, leadership, and vision that define the next generation of channel leaders.

Lilli Beckwith

Go-to-Market Strategy Lead - Global Partnerships & Channels | ServiceNow

Lilli Beckwith has quickly emerged as a strategic force within one of the industry's most partner-centric organizations. After a successful decade at EY, she joined ServiceNow and immediately drove meaningful transformation across partner sales, partner management, and go-to-market strategy. Her ability to align complex organizations around shared objectives, combined with a sharp understanding of partner-led growth, has positioned her as a rising leader helping shape the future of the global channel ecosystem.