Channel Futures Leadership Summit Day 1: Women's Leadership Summit Highlights
More than two-dozen women took to the stage on day one of the Channel Futures Leadership Summit.
![Women Panel at CFLS 2023 Women Panel at CFLS 2023](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt3acf1fe6c193730c/654af141e88876040a093617/Women_Panel_CFLS_2023.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Three of Channel Futures' Channel Influencers for 2023 joined moderator Debbie Kane (right), principal consultant, Omdia Channel Research & Consulting Practice, to share challenges they face, the impact of influence and how they are helping not only women -- but everyone -- on their teams move forward with success.
Left to right: Xcitium's MeiLee Langley, Five9's Kelli McMillan, Coro's Hilary Gadda and Kane.
Kelly Danziger (left), general manager and VP of channel with Informa Tech (Channel Futures' parent company), invited Cindi Carter (middle), chief information security officer, Check Point Software, and Alyse Brady, senior channel manager, Vonage, to the stage.
The trio discussed the growing opportunity for women to ascend to leadership positions within their organizations by mastering a range of skills and juggling the many demands thrust upon them.
They talked about the various formulas they have used for success and offered advice for women of all experience levels, from just starting in their careers, all the way up to those considering retirement.
Attendees in this session learned from panelists of various ages and experiences about how they've been successful rising above traditional boundaries.
Speakers walked away with ideas on how to attract women to tech at both entry-level positions and at senior leadership levels.
Left to right: Seanna Baumgartner, VP of marketing, CallTower; Mel Kolinski, director of channel development, Ostra Cybersecurity; Stacy Conrad, SVP, channel sales, TPx; Ashley Cole, senior channel manager, Southeast, Fusion Connect; and Katie Merrill, CEO and founder, B-Lynk.
Growing up in rural Australia in a home her family built from the wood in the local forest, Gilli Aliotti never expected what the future would hold.
But after a music career, Aliotti told the Channel Futures Leadership Summit audience her story of entrepreneurship that led to her becoming a C-level executive at PayPal, Google and Paramount. Now she owns her own consulting firm.
She shared a number of steps to accelerate career growth with any organization, establishing work-life balance and exuding confidence in the workplace.
The session title, appropriately, was "The EntreprenHER Zone."
Yasmine Buenaseda, multicloud customer success manager at VMware, told her story of emerging from the military with skills but questioning her ability to land a job in the private sector.
Add to that, after leaving the service, she became a first-time mother.
Buenaseda told the Women's Leadership Summit crowd about her journey to become empowered, confident and capable of succeeding in the job market.
This panel delved into the experiences, challenges and industry success stories of five women with clout in the channel.
Moderated by Gilli Aliotti, strategy consultant, The Crea8ve, the panelists are all 2023 Channel Futures MSP 501 honorees.
Left to right: Aliotti; Amber Bardon, CEO, Parasol Alliance; Pamela Miranda, CEO, Triella; Pamela Diaz, CEO and president, Entara; and Esther Deutsch, operations manager, RCS Professional Services.
Trish Van de Bovenkamp (middle) built a very successful tech advisor firm and sold it to Upstack. Then she joined the buyer as a partner and managing director.
Zina Hassel (right) also has built a successful firm and plans to pass it on to her daughter, who works for her, when she retires.
These two different approaches led to a compelling discussion at the Women's Leadership Summit with moderator Janet Schijns (left).
The women shared the courage it took to start their own companies and the decisions they have made throughout their careers.
Two of the channel's top marketing gurus led an engaging session on unlocking your negotiation power.
One of the themes: "You just have to ask." You'll never get what you want if you don't.
Amy Bailey (left) of Unusually Unusual Consulting and Kathryn Rose of ChannelWise described how to take control of a complex channel negotiation process, equipping attendees with the skills and strategies they need to navigate negotiations effectively.
Deniz Sagnaklar (left), director of managed services at Entara, and Pamela Diaz (right), CEO and president of the company, delivered a blueprint on not only how to offer great customer service and reliable technology, but even more importantly, building a company with great people and an outstanding company culture.
Represented on the 2023 Channel Futures MSP 501, Entara leads the way by building an excellent company from within.
A crowd of women (and men) packed the Channel Futures Leadership Summit to hear from speakers at the Women's Leadership Summit portion of the event.
Women (and men) lined up to get tickets for the Alliance of Channel Women's ACW Connect Live networking event and program.
Everyone got a Mardi Gras-style mask for the "unmasked" theme.
Channel expert Heather Margolis delivered the keynote, "Revealing Your Authentic Leadership Style."
Women (and men) lined up to get tickets for the Alliance of Channel Women's ACW Connect Live networking event and program.
Everyone got a Mardi Gras-style mask for the "unmasked" theme.
Channel expert Heather Margolis delivered the keynote, "Revealing Your Authentic Leadership Style."
CHANNEL FUTURES LEADERSHIP SUMMIT — Work-life balance, confidence, female empowerment and exerting influence were among the leading topics at the Women's Leadership Summit, which headlined day one at the Channel Futures Leadership Summit on Monday.
The second annual event is bringing together nearly 2,000 partners, vendors, distributors and analysts to Miami Beach.
The Women's Leadership Summit began with a panel of women who made up the 2023 Channel Futures Channel Influencer list. Other sessions included a keynote presentation from entrepreneur Gilli Aliotti, a top consultant and tech industry exec; a panel featuring women channel leaders from Check Point Software and Vonage on improving your growth mindset; and a group of leaders discussing how to break traditional boundaries to build lasting success.
The day wrapped with the Alliance of Channel Women's ACW Connect Live event, a tradition on the first day of Channel Futures/Channel Partners events.
Women's Leadership Summit: ACW Awards
At ACW Connect Live, the organization handed out its annual fall awards. The LEAD awards for exceptional female channel leaders went to Intelisys' Traci Hali, ChannelWise's Kathryn Rose and Comcast Business' Holly Hunt. The organization also doled out ACT awards for outstanding volunteers. Those winners were Ntirety's Vicki Patten, One Ring Networks' Madison Beedy, RapidScale's Summer Figone and Lumen's Alexie Teferi.
See our slideshow above for highlights from the Women's Leadership Summit at the Channel Futures Leadership Summit.
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