Press release

Seven Mitel Leaders Earn Recognition on CRN’s 2020 Women of the Channel List

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Mitel®, a global leader in business communications, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sue Anders, Stephanie Ford, Lana King, Kristi Lakich, Jennifer Orr, Kilynn Sommer and Donna Walter to its esteemed 2020 Women of the Channel list. Recognizing the unique strengths, vision, and achievements of a select group of women, this prestigious, annual list acknowledges channel leaders who are blazing a trail for future generations. These women are from all areas of the IT ecosystem, including technology vendors, distributors, solution providers, and other IT organizations.

CRN® editorial team selects the honorees to celebrate a list of exceptional women acclaimed for their contributions to channel advocacy, growth, thought leadership, and dedication to the IT channel. This year, the Mitel team made its strongest showing yet with a record number of its channel leaders securing spots based on the following contributions:

  • Sue Anders, Regional Vice President, Verticals East, SLED and Healthcare – Anders helped secure the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing contract for the third consecutive term, giving more than 200 Mitel channel partners, who are authorized selling agents, a competitive advantage in public sector sales opportunities. She additionally created a selling agent program, which enables partners to successfully navigate government contracts.
  • Stephanie Ford, Regional Vice President, Vertical Sales – Ford teamed with Mitel’s partners to address their specific needs and the growing customer demand for options in cloud solutions, mobility support and application integrations. She continues to focus on strengthening communications and sharpening strategies with partners while evangelizing Mitel’s unique ability to offer partners and customers greater choice in their journey to cloud.
  • Lana King, Senior Director, Global Channel Strategy and Programs – King advanced Mitel’s channel business through the development of new processes and digital tools, which enable partners to more effectively manage their customers and Mitel business. King and her team also streamlined communication processes to drive partner awareness and enhanced Mitel’s Global Partner Program dashboard to aid partners in measuring their success.
  • Kristi Lakich, Regional Vice President, Channel Sales– Lakich expanded Mitel’s channel team in the West to support new and existing UCaaS partners, leading the team to deliver more than 30 percent of the total new partners selling MiCloud Connect. In 2020, her primary goal is helping further grow mindshare for Mitel within the region and enable partners to capture additional UCaaS opportunities among both SMBs and enterprises.
  • Jennifer Orr, Vice President, Master Agent Channel – Orr worked in concert with Mitel’s national channel managers to customize strategies for each of Mitel’s master agent partners. She also collaborated cross-functionally to develop messaging and enablement for pre and post sales. Her focus in the year ahead remains on further shaping a channel support model that consistently reflects the attributes of a world-class partner program.
  • Kilynn Sommer, Group Director, Channel Marketing – Sommer supported Mitel’s partners through the development of tailored marketing programs that allow them to assist customers in finding their best path to the cloud. One of her key accomplishments was the creation of a “marketing marketplace” that provides partners a one-stop shop with vetted vendors, services and cost-effective programs they can leverage in their own marketing and sales efforts.
  • Donna Walter, Senior Business Tools Design and Solutions Manager – Walter built an inside channel account management team focused on growing Mitel’s business by engaging with smaller Authorized and Silver partners. She also implemented tools, dashboards and metrics to support the initiative. The results have included ongoing, proactive business planning conversations with the partners, an increase in pipeline and a higher overall engagement.

The 2020 Women of the Channel list will be featured in CRN® Magazine on June 8 and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC.

Quotes

“CRN’s 2020 Women of the Channel list recognizes an accomplished group of influential women leaders whose strategic vision and unique achievements accelerate channel growth through cultivated partnerships, innovative thought leadership, and unwavering dedication to the IT channel,” said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. “We are proud to honor them for their accomplishments and contributions to driving channel success.”

“Each Mitel honoree represents the best of the best when it comes to their passion and commitment to the channel community. Their focus and ingenuity have played a pivotal role in creating new opportunities for our partners to better serve customers and ignite business growth,” said Mary McDowell, President and CEO, Mitel. “As digital transformation accelerates and customers seek greater choice in moving to the cloud, Mitel’s partners can depend on these outstanding leaders to provide the solutions and tools they need to offer customers a seamless communications and collaboration experience.”

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About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

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About Mitel

A global market leader in business communications powering more than two billion business connections, Mitel helps businesses and service providers connect, collaborate and provide innovative services to their customers. Our innovation and communications experts serve more than 70 million business users in more than 100 countries. For more information, go to www.mitel.com and follow us on Twitter @Mitel.

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