Extreme has achieved a new personal record – 12 members of our channel team have been recognized on CRN’s 2022 Women of the Channel List! Congratulations to each of you: Amy Bravo, Robyn Grasso, Julia Hammer, Kim Kleintz, Lorna Pierno, Kate Price, Brenda Richardson, Kilynn Summer, Nancy Taha, Karis Underhill, Natalia Vianden, and Abbey Wolfram.
Many of our channel teams are led by women, and as an organization we have felt the benefits of having a diverse group of leaders who bring different skills and experiences to the table. Extreme has seen a 30% increase in both women in our workplace and a 37% increase in women in senior executive roles over the past four years. This is largely due to our efforts around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, where we continuously strive to bring more equal representation to our workforce. We firmly believe that diversity breeds both innovation and a richer culture.
Read on below to see quotes from the women recognized on CRN’s 2022 Women of the Channel list. Congratulations again to this amazing team! You are a key part of Extreme’s incredible channel organization, and I am honored to work with each of you.
“I love that I have a great degree of control and freedom within my job. Even though I work a lot, I can arrange my time. Apart from that, I enjoy the variety of things to do, and every day there is something new to solve for. It never gets boring!” – Natalia Vianden, Director, Global Channel Programs*
*Natalia is also recognized on the CRN Women of the Channel Power 100 List for the fourth time!
“I really love working with and engaging partners to drive opportunity for joint net new growth – for the partner and Extreme Networks. There is so much opportunity for growth in our space that there is no better feeling than joint success.” – Amy Bravo, Director, Global Solution Partners, Americas
“My advice to women entering the channel is to believe in and know yourself – know your strengths and weaknesses, strive to constantly improve, celebrate every success no matter the size, and learn from every mistake. Your ideas matter – never be afraid to voice them. Understand that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.” – Robyn Grasso, Senior Partner Account Manager, Team Lead
“I love that in Distribution Management I get to manage all areas of business: marketing, sales, finance, operations, logistics, supply, training, etc. It just never gets boring!” – Julia Hammer, Senior Distribution Channel Account Manager
“I love the people I get to work with every day! Extreme has a wonderful culture based on teamwork, transparency, candor, curiosity, ownership, and inclusion, which is exemplified from the top to the bottom of the organization. We all have the same goals for our customers and partners – we work hard and have fun along the way!” – Kim Kleintz, Senior Channel Manager
«The community that I am a part of supports and empowers growth in each other – I believe that’s what makes us so strong! My advice to women entering the channel is to make time to nurture relationships and learn about the different areas that impact the channel outside of your role or department. This will help you gain a better understanding of the bigger picture and, ultimately, work together to succeed.» — Lorna Pierno, Director, Channel Marketing and Communications
“My advice for women entering the channel is don’t be intimidated by all the tech talk. There are so many skills, especially in the channel world that are non-technical, and personal relationships and empathy go a long way.” – Kate Price, Director, Global Channel Operations
“I love leading through change, and I enjoy my team immensely. We strive to maintain a transparent, supportive environment where each member of the team feels comfortable expressing themselves, and that’s just one reason I enjoy my role in the channel and my job at Extreme.” – Brenda Richardson, Head of Channels, Americas
“I love our tight-knit channel community! At Extreme we have such a diverse and dynamic group of female channel leaders that are dedicated to ensuring our partner community is growing and thriving with us. There is so much transformation in the channel today and to be a part of this change is exciting.” – Kilynn Sommer, Senior Director, Global Partner Programs and Channel Marketing
“I highly value the freedom I have building out distribution operations, and I’m glad to have the same freedom and flexibility for spending time with my family. If you want to start a career in the channel, be passionate, always willing to learn and grow. Connect, collaborate, enable.” – Nancy Taha, Manager, EMEA Distribution Operations
“My job is all about partnerships and relationships, which really means it’s about people. I love making new connections, developing relationships, and discovering mutual interests in both business and our personal lives.” – Karis Underhill, Channel Account Executive
“In a channel role, don’t be afraid to network yourself. The channel is a huge community, all cheering you on behind the scenes. Internally, Extreme has built a company where people want to work together while encouraging different perspectives, and with this strategy I feel like we’re unstoppable.” – Abbey Wolfram, Global Channel Campaign Manager
See the complete list of WOTC winners here.
