Channel Futures’ 2023 Circle of Excellence Inductees Named
From AT&T to Zoom, these company executives display vision, innovation and advocacy of the channel.
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Name: Seanna Baumgartner
Title: Vice President of Marketing
Company: CallTower
Seanna Baumgartner has been with CallTower for more than 10 years, playing a critical role in the company’s global brand awareness to grow indirect and direct sales activity through strategic initiatives that are result-driven. She was promoted to vice president of marketing in March 2023 and is now responsible for the marketing team, branding, social media and sales campaigns that produce revenue and reputation building in pursuit of excellence while playing a critical role in our international expansion.
Prior to joining CallTower, Baumgartner worked in marketing, public relations and entrepreneurship, building brand awareness and advertising campaigns for several companies ranging from wholesale fashion to construction to investment equity. She earned her bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University and holds multiple certifications in HubSpot Marketing Automation, strategic management and change leadership.
Name: Iran Fazlulla
Title: Senior Director, Marketing Partnerships & Strategy
Company: Vonage
Irfan Fazlulla, senior director of marketing partnerships and strategy, joined Vonage in 2016. He spearheads Vonage’s channel marketing and strategic growth initiatives in addition to supporting the go-to-market strategies with Vonage’s technology partners. Fazlulla is a firm believer in the role of marketing as a competitive differentiator for Vonage’s channel partners helping them build and deploy segmented demand generation campaigns and assets at scale. He has 20+ years of progressive profit-building experience in developing and managing the execution of integrated multichannel direct and indirect sales and marketing programs involving both SMB and enterprise technology solutions across diverse industries. Before joining Vonage, Fazlulla held various marketing leadership roles in financial services, technology consulting and advertising.
Name: Anthony Graziano
Title: Worldwide Head of Channel
Company: Logitech
Anthony Graziano is worldwide head of channel marketing for Logitech. He is responsible for partner and alliance marketing strategy, Logitech partner program marketing including MDF investments and execution, channel marketing communications, channel events and the Logitech partner portal. The crux of his work entails leading the marketing strategy and execution for Logitech’s channel and alliance business committed to providing partners with the highest level of support to develop, market, sell and deliver innovative, industry-leading personal and team workplace and collaboration solutions for business.
An IT channel veteran with professional experience in various disciplines including demand generation, advertising, market strategy, strategic and tactical marketing roles, Graziano has more than two decades of leadership and expertise in sales, customer service, marketing, product marketing, partner management and partner success.
Before joining Logitech, Graziano served as vice president, portfolio marketing for TD Synnex. There he was responsible for all marketing-focused vendor partners, strategic alliances, community and sales relationships for the Americas region. He was also responsible for all marketing programs supporting endpoint and advanced solutions, cloud, security and next-gen technologies.
Prior to the merger of Synnex and Tech Data, Graziano served as vice president, vendor marketing, endpoint solutions, Americas at Tech Data, responsible for the marketing and demand generation to accelerate go-to-market growth initiatives of workspace transformation, anytime/anywhere digital workforce and next-generation collaboration and smart signage solutions.
Graziano holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and contributes to Logitech’s global DE&I initiatives as co-lead for LogiPride, Logitech’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group (ERG).
Name: Amy Hirsh
Title: Head of Events
Company: Intermedia
Amy Hirsh has been in the channel for nearly 30 years. Before joining Intermedia in 2016 as senior events manager, she was senior event marketing manager for Allyis. Prior to that, she spent a decade with Microsoft, rising from project manager to localization project manager and international site manager. Hirsh received her bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Washington.
Name: Danny Jenkins
Title: Founder & CEO
Company: ThreatLocker
Danny Jenkins is co-founder and CEO of ThreatLocker, a cybersecurity firm providing zero trust endpoint security. Jenkins is a leading cybersecurity expert with more than two decades of experience building and securing corporate networks, including roles on red and blue teams. He is dedicated to educating industry professionals about the latest cyber threats and frequently speaks on the topics of ransomware and zero trust.
Name: Kimberly King
Title: Senior Vice President, Strategic Partners & Alliances
Company: Hitachi Vantara
As senior vice president, strategic partners and alliances for Hitachi Vantara, Kimberly King focuses on building a strategic partner ecosystem. She constructs and delivers the company’s global partner program, flexible and scalable in its design to embrace new types of partners and business models, including as-a-service, managed services, and co-creation. A respected channel veteran of more than 25 years, she has designed, managed and delivered award-winning global partner programs, developed growth plans and programs for declining partner bases and implemented global multitier recruitment, enablement and certification programs.
Name: Brandon Knight
Title: Global Head of Channel, Customer Experience
Company: Zoom
Brandon Knight is head of global channel customer experience for Zoom. In this role he leads the engagement practice for all indirect sellers of Zoom products.
Prior to joining Zoom, Knight was the leader of the contact center practices at both Telarus and Intelisys. With more than 30 years of combined experience running contact centers, consulting for contact centers and leading contact center practices, Knight is a sought-after keynote speaker, panelist, webinar host and trainer in the customer experience industry.
As the co-founder of Xposure Inclusion & Diversity Council, Knight is also leading the effort to bring diversity, inclusion and equity into the forefront of the change that needs to happen in the technology industry. He was named to the Channel Futures DE&I 101 in 2021 and 2022 and serves on the Channel Futures Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) advisory board.
Knight founded and served as president of the consulting company Exceptional Contact Centers and held multiple leadership roles with Novation companies, including CC Cloud Provider Corvisa/Mitel. He served as the senior vice president of global operations for industry leader Serenova/Lifesize. He has also held several leadership roles at prominent companies including Humana Inc., Healthesystems Inc., The Travelers Companies Inc., Telerx, Bankers Warranty Group and Sprint PCS.
Name: Charlie Pagliazzo
Title: Vice President, Channels
Company: Granite
Charlie Pagliazzo oversees sales and support of channel and wholesale partners for Granite, a U.S.-based technology services provider for enterprise and government customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Granite Channels provides over 600 contracted agent, wholesale and resale partners access to Granite’s voice, data, and network integration solutions, generating over $500 million in annual revenue. Prior to Granite, Pagliazzo was responsible for the growth and management of data centers, carrier services and international telecommunications operations for another national, facilities-based CLEC.
Name: Eric Pinto
Title: Director of Channel
Company: SOCSoter
Eric Pinto attributes his success in the channel largely to his ability to connect the dots. Pinto, director of channel for Maryland-based network cybersecurity provider SOCSoter, is a member of the Channel Futures & Channel Partners Editorial Advisory Board and was an inaugural member of the Channel Futures DE&I 101. He has worked “both sides of the table,” as he puts it, working with end customers and vendors. And on both sides, he found himself well served by his ability to communicate, to help clients and partners see the big picture.
Pinto, who graduated from Boston College with a degree in advertising communication, grew up in something of a tech environment. “My dad was always tech-oriented,” he said. “He was a middle-level manager with several different tech groups coming up through the ‘80s and ‘90s and told me, ‘You really need to pay attention to what’s next.’”
Name: Greg Popham II
Title: Vice President, Americas Marketing & Go-to-Market Strategy
Company: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Greg Popham II has spent a total of more than 20 years with HPE, first from 2010 to 2017, when he left to serve as vice president of global channels for Highfive. He returned to the HPE fold in 2020 and today, as vice president of Americas marketing and go-to-market, he is responsible for field and channel marketing, demand generation, business unit last-mile strategy, vendor alliances, and programs and campaigns. Prior to joining HPE, Popham held various channel roles at Avaya, Motorola, and Symbol Technologies. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton and his MBA from Xavier University’s Williams College of Business.
Name: Randall Porter
Title: Vice President Strategic Alliances AT&T Business
Company: AT&T
Randall Porter has risen through AT&T’s ranks during his 24-year tenure. He began his career in several finance and marketing roles and was named vice president, indirect channel lead in June 2022. He has spent the last 11 years in the channel, starting with his promotion to the position of vice president of partner management and business development. Porter earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg and his MBZ from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
Name: Rob Rae
Title: Corporate Vice President of Community and Ecosystems
Company: Pax8
As corporate vice president of community and ecosystems for Pax8, Rob Rae l verages his decades of channel, vendor and managed service provider experience to build upon many different Pax8 programs including Beyond, Pax8’s partner conference, to help partners grow across the globe. Rae is also instrumental in developing Pax8’s go-to-market strategy.
With more than 25 years of sales and B2B activities, Rae has extensive experience in IT hardware and software sales. His industry experience includes work with channel-focused organizations supporting VARs, solution providers and MSPs to help them achieve their business goals.
Prior to joining Pax8, Rae built successful sales and channel teams in a variety of industries including Datto (acquired by Kaseya), Level Platforms (acquired by AVG) and Compaq Computers (acquired by HP). He has received numerous awards and recognition in the channel. Rae is an award-winning speaker and has been recognized on many top industry lists as a top executive, influencer and midmarket executive. He serves on several industry advisory boards, including the board of directors for CompTIA.
Name: Mayka Rosales-Peterson
Title: Senior Manager, Partner Marketing
Company: Intelisys
Mayka Rosales-Peterson is the senior manager of partner marketing at Intelisys a ScanSource Company, a global technology distributor in the indirect channel. She is responsible for leading partner marketing strategy, education and enablement programs for Intelisys partners.
Rosales-Peterson serves on the Alliance of Channel Women (ACW) board of directors and is co-chair of ACW’s DE&I committee. She also serves on Xposure Inclusion & Diversity Council‘s board of directors and the Channel Futures DE&I Advisory Board. Rosales-Peterson has been recognized on the Channel Futures DE&I 101 in 2021 and 2022 and received much industry award recognition for her leadership in marketing and commitment to DE&I in technology.
Name: Paul Spencer
Title: Director, Channel Partner Sales
Company: T-Mobile for Business
Paul Spencer, head of channel partner sales at T-Mobile for Business, is a srategic visionary with the ability to influence and collaborate with teams and clients to deliver uncompromised results. Spencer has 19+ years’ experience in transforming brands and processes within teams and strategic accounts and is committed to an environment that puts people first and brings out the besr of their abilities in any situation by providing them with vision and tactics to achieve results. He is experienced in leading brand strategy, corporate marketing strategy and business development as well as driving sales results while managing large-scale teams and accounts with brands such as T-Mobile and Samsung.
During his more than 16 years at T-Mobile, Spencer has headed partnerships at the largest national retailers and managed large-scale teams across the country. He has run some of the largest teams across T-Mobile for Business in multiple segments and verticals, winning multiple awards over that time.
Over the past three years, Spencer has led T-Mobile’s “un-carrier” approach to providing value to the channel partner community. He and his team help partners provide solutions to customers on T-Mobile’s industry-leading 5G network and award-winning customer care. The T-Mobile for Business Partner Program frees partners and customers from contracts, overages and bad service they are used to overpaying for.
Name: Sam Sundstrom
Title: Director, Marketing
Company: Lumen Technologies
Sam Sundstrom, director of marketing at Lumen Technologies, has extensive marketing and management experience in the direct and indirect channels in both business and consumer segments. A 2001 graduate of Colorado State University’s School of Business, Sundstrom has had a successful marketing career at three Fortune 200 companies (technology and TV) plus a wireless internet startup.
Sundstrom takes pride in having a reputation as someone who executes quickly and efficiently, while delivering high-quality and positive results. He has excelled in his career through hard work, dedication, passion, exceeding expectations and an understanding of what will differentiate a business in the market. He serves on the Channel Futures and Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board.
Name: Sam Sundstrom
Title: Director, Marketing
Company: Lumen Technologies
Sam Sundstrom, director of marketing at Lumen Technologies, has extensive marketing and management experience in the direct and indirect channels in both business and consumer segments. A 2001 graduate of Colorado State University’s School of Business, Sundstrom has had a successful marketing career at three Fortune 200 companies (technology and TV) plus a wireless internet startup.
Sundstrom takes pride in having a reputation as someone who executes quickly and efficiently, while delivering high-quality and positive results. He has excelled in his career through hard work, dedication, passion, exceeding expectations and an understanding of what will differentiate a business in the market. He serves on the Channel Futures and Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board.
Channel Futures’ 2023 Circle of Excellence inductees range from seasoned veterans to relative newcomers. But they all have one thing in common: They are helping their partners create business value for customers. Honorees come from across the entire channel, from connectivity and telecom to IT. Some are long-term employees; others are familiar faces in new places.
Scroll through the slideshow above to meet the 2023 inductees (in alphabetical order).
We will honor them during a special dinner at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, May 1-4 at The Venetian in Las Vegas. It’s not too late to register for the world’s largest independent channel event!
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