Meet the Best Channel Achiever finalists whose standout accomplishments helped drive success for their companies and their channel businesses over the past year.
As the 2026 CRN Best of the Channel Gala in October approaches, we will be spotlighting some of the awards finalists over the next several weeks, taking a look at their achievements, what inspires them and what advice they have to share with others in the channel.
The gala will honor the winners of the second-annual CRN Best of the Channel Awards—spanning nine company categories and 6 individual awards—aiming to spotlight the executives, teams and companies who have demonstrated excellence, innovation, and leadership throughout the channel ecosystem in 2026.
The finalists were revealed on July 24, and the winners will be disclosed live at the gala on Oct. 13 in Atlanta (tickets are available here).
Here, we look at the finalists for the Best Channel Achiever, which honors an individual for exceptional performance, significant contributions and notable accomplishments throughout the past 12 months that were instrumental to the success of their channel-focused organization. Applicants from solution providers, technology vendors, distributors and marketplaces were eligible.
The finalists shared in their awards applications the impact of their achievements and how they helped their company’s wider channel business.
More from this series:
The impact of my work extends across teams, partners, and the broader channel ecosystem by shifting the organization from fragmented execution to a more standardized, scalable approach to marketing.
For the business and channel ecosystem:
• Standardized programs delivered more consistent quality and stronger performance, contributing to measurable increases in engagement and incremental business impact.
• Increased efficiency enabled the business to execute significantly more campaigns in less time, accelerating speed to market across regions.
• Vendors gained more predictable, repeatable access to global markets, improving performance and overall return on investment.
• Partners experienced more consistent, streamlined interactions across campaigns and content, driving increased engagement, platform adoption, and growth.
For global and local teams:
• Established global operating models and cross-functional communities that improved collaboration and enabled sustained execution at scale.
• Built long-term organizational capability by enabling teams with the tools, training, and support needed to execute consistently and independently.
• Simplified and aligned campaign and creative workflows, improving governance, reducing friction, and increasing overall productivity and speed.
For the future of the channel:
• Created a scalable marketing foundation that allows the organization to operate more efficiently across more markets while maintaining consistency and quality.
• Reinforced marketing’s role as a growth driver by improving visibility into performance and demonstrating clear contribution to business outcomes.
Collectively, these efforts delivered meaningful improvements in performance, efficiency, and engagement, while positioning the organization and its partners for continued, scalable growth.
Throughout the year, I furthered D&H’s ability to drive partner growth through enablement, innovation, and full-service support. My team and I expanded our “Go Big AI” offering, which helps partners utilize AI effectively through training sessions, consultative sessions, and resources. To date, over 5,000 partners have achieved AI-readiness through this award-winning initiative.
In addition to Go Big AI, my team and I prioritized helping our partners guide a smooth Windows 11 migration for their customer base. Our “Device Refresh” program provided certified experts on demand; security and deployment playbooks; toolkits for fast rollouts; and curated materials for connecting Windows 11 and OEM solutions. Device Refresh also offered guidance for leveraging Copilot+ PCs and AI-powered devices, so that partners could help their customers transform their device strategy to work faster, smarter, and more securely.
My leadership was also instrumental in bringing renowned vendor partnerships to our offering. D&H recently added Fortinet and Veeam to our line card. Our new relationship with Fortinet in the U.S. integrates the entire Fortinet security suite into our Advanced Solutions+ ecosystem. With Veeam, we brought a new M365 backup and data protection solution to our partners.
We also expanded our formidable partnership with Dell to include their Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) data center solutions. As a testament to the strength of our partnership, Dell’s SVP of North America channel sales publicly remarked that “D&H has a unique ability to reach underserved customers and partners. Their nimble team has strong partner ties and a proactive, ‘get-it-done’ attitude.” Similarly, we doubled down on our efforts to train partners on Lenovo ISG offerings and services, which bridge innovation with practicality. Through a series of thought leadership podcasts, our video training library, and other enablement collateral, we equipped our partners to communicate with confidence and accelerate new opportunity.
Lisa’s achievements have had a direct and measurable impact on both F5’s business and its partner ecosystem.
The 29% growth in partner-sourced bookings and more than half a billion dollars in partner-driven revenue highlight the effectiveness of her approach. By aligning incentives, data, and program structure, she has enabled partners to more actively identify, pursue, and close opportunities.
Her updates to renewal programs have strengthened partner ability to retain and expand customer relationships, turning renewals into a strategic growth lever rather than a transactional process.
Additionally, the introduction of a new technical training pathway has accelerated partner readiness, enabling more partners to invest in F5 and deliver value more quickly.
Collectively, these efforts have strengthened F5’s partner ecosystem, increased partner-driven revenue, and positioned the company for continued growth.
Mitch Diodato, Infinidat
The single most impactful initiative for which Mitch Diodato was responsible this year was standardizing the best practices of Infinidat’s comprehensive global channel sales initiative across all channel partners globally. The impact on the worldwide channel was significant, growing partner revenue and margin, attracting new partners, and positioning all partners for optimal success in ways that had never been done before.
a. Increasing percentage of revenue.
b. Better sales and technical enablement of partners
c. Infuziast Certification (knowledge of our products)
Willa led one core team for most of her tenure at TD SYNNEX; in FY25 she was asked to assume responsibility for four additional sales teams spanning different customer segments, coverage motions, and product mixes. She accelerated ramp by quickly building executive relationships across each segment, clarifying priorities, and implementing a repeatable operating cadence (pipeline hygiene, weekly deal reviews, and targeted enablement). The combined book of business delivered double digit year-over-year growth in FY25 and is trending to 30%+ growth in FY26, while improving execution consistency across teams.
Her most visible impact was positioning TD SYNNEX to win with AI infrastructure. Partners started to evaluate their networking demand separately. We translated that shift into an executable channel motion and created a dedicated hunter pod to pursue net-new AI infrastructure opportunities, partnered with NVIDIA on joint account targeting and solution positioning, and operationalized a “fast lane” to speed design validation and partner alignment. In 2024 and throughout 2025 team laid the groundwork, building repeatable playbooks, tightening execution, and expanding attach of high performance networking to GPU opportunities. Now in 2026, this has scaled into a sizeable, repeatable business that materially expands TD SYNNEX’s AI footprint and strengthens the company’s strategic position across the broader channel ecosystem.
The impact of my work over the past year has been centered on building a more scalable, efficient, and aligned partner ecosystem that directly supports both our internal teams and the broader channel business at Blackwood.
Internally, the structure and consistency I’ve brought to our alliances function has made it easier for our sales and marketing teams to engage with partners in a more intentional and productive way. By improving partner alignment, co-sell motions, and executive engagement, our teams are spending less time navigating partner friction and more time executing on opportunities. This has created a more repeatable and predictable model for working with partners across Federal, SLED, and Commercial.
As part of continuing to modernize our approach, I have also incorporated multi-partner strategy and lifecycle-based incentives into our broader framework—ensuring alignment not just at the point of sale, but across the full customer lifecycle. These elements help reinforce collaboration across partners and support more durable, long-term outcomes.
At the company level, this work has directly supported the accelerated growth outlined in the previous section, ensuring that expansion is driven through a coordinated partner ecosystem rather than requiring equivalent increases in headcount. The result is a more efficient, partner-led model that allows the business to scale while maintaining alignment and operational discipline.
From a broader channel perspective, the partner program framework I developed has extended beyond Blackwood. By working directly with strategic partners to implement elements of a mutual success model—focused on shared accountability, aligned incentives, and structured collaboration—I’ve helped improve how partners engage across their wider ecosystems.
At its core, the impact has been creating a more connected, efficient, and partner-driven model where stronger alignment leads to better outcomes for our teams, our partners, and the customers we serve.
Kerry’s impact extends beyond individual deals to long-term partner value and sustained revenue growth.
Commercially, she:
• Achieved 96% of her H1 target ahead of schedule
• Contributed to over $450K in closed opportunities
• Supported multiple multi-year agreements, driving predictable, long-term revenue
From a partner perspective, she has:
• Strengthened trust through consistent, high-quality engagement
• Accelerated deal progression by removing blockers
• Improved collaboration between partners and internal teams
• Built confidence through clear, dependable communication
Her active presence at key events has further amplified Progress’ position in the channel, enabling more meaningful engagement with both existing and prospective partners.
Ultimately, her impact is defined by more than revenue. By combining consistency, trust, and execution, she has become a true partner advocate—driving momentum, strengthening relationships, and delivering measurable business outcomes.
Brook Lee, Rev.io
Over the past 12 months I have built Rev.io’s channel community function from zero, expanded my leadership across GTIA, and continued a decade-plus commitment to developing the next generation of channel talent.
Building Rev.io’s channel engine from scratch. I joined Rev.io January 2026. I launched MSP Unfiltered (the company’s first podcast), our community platform with eight role-segmented RoleHubs and a CommerceHub marketplace, “In the Loop with Brook” newsletter, MSP101 company-wide training, a mentorship program, and co-branded partner webinars. None of this existed 12 months ago. The role-based architecture running through all of it is the scaled version of a persona framework I previously built. The approach is repeatable.
Driving measurable channel outcomes. Four new partners signed at ISCWest directly from the event floor. I built the events ROI tracker the leadership team now populates from Salesforce, and the community value tracker the CMO requested, which deliberately reports net savings rather than inflated market-value figures. I structured the Pax8 sponsorship trade around brand credibility rather than audience size, and delivered solo sessions at MSPSummit and BootCamp on MSP profitability.
Industry leadership through GTIA. Co-Chair of the NA Executive Council, member of the Global Leadership Council, contributor to ChannelCon’s educational tracks. I received the 2026 GTIA Community Leadership Award. I am developing a channel internship initiative at Rev.io with support from GTIA, designed to be a replicable framework other member organizations can adopt.
Representation. Published guidebook on hiring and retaining women and minorities at MSPs. GWIT in a Box, now adopted across multiple GTIA regions. Hosting a GTIA-referred intern this summer, and bringing two early-career female mentees from Rev.io to The Channel Company’s WOTC West in May.
The common thread: I build things that work, I measure them honestly, and I bring others with me.
The true impact of our growth lies in systematically dismantling talent and delivery bottlenecks to support surging market demand for Google Cloud engineering. By transforming our operational capacity, we ensured our expansion lifted our teams, our enterprise customers, and Google Cloud alike through three primary initiatives:
1. Building Elite Talent and FDE Capacity
To solve the severe industry shortage of specialized cloud and AI talent, I drove aggressive credentialing programs, achieving 2,700+ certifications—securing the highest per-capita credential density in the partner ecosystem. This expanded capacity earned us a Tier 1 Delivery Readiness Platform (DRP) partner rank and positioned Quantiphi as the largest provider of Gemini Enterprise (GE) CX and Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) capacity globally, granting enterprises immediate access to elite technical expertise.
2. Accelerating Innovation via TSaaS and Codeaira
Through our Technology Services-as-a-Software (TSaaS) model, I shifted enterprise IT away from legacy, manual billable hours toward automated, software-driven execution. Deploying our proprietary agentic AI suite, Codeaira, successfully doubled developer productivity and saved engineers over six hours daily. This allowed customers to rapidly clear transformation backlogs while enabling Google Cloud to retire outstanding enterprise spend commitments, directly fueling our 40%+ YoY growth in Partner Influenced Revenue (PIR).
3. Nurturing Next-Gen Diverse Leadership
Beyond commercial milestones, I focused on creating an inclusive culture that fast-tracks early-career professionals into managerial roles well ahead of rigid industry timelines. I have personally championed elevating a deeply diverse workforce into critical management seats across our sales, delivery, and alliance organizations, ensuring the next generation of leaders directly shapes our strategic direction.
Candace Montoya, Wildix
* Delivered measurable impact on company growth by turning new partner acquisition into a reliable revenue engine, contributing directly to partner-sourced pipeline and ARR.
* Established a scalable “zero-to-revenue” partner model, enabling new partners to consistently reach $5K+ revenue within their first year, improving overall program ROI.
* Strengthened the quality of the partner ecosystem, prioritising high-potential partners and increasing overall partner productivity rather than just partner volume.
* Acted as a mentor and role model within the team, sharing best practices on partner recruitment, onboarding, and activation to elevate overall team performance.
* Supported colleagues by coaching on partner engagement strategies, helping replicate success across other regions and roles.
* Contributed to building a culture of accountability and high performance, setting a benchmark for what success in partner development looks like.
* Collaborated cross-functionally with sales, marketing, and leadership teams to align partner strategy with wider business goals, ensuring consistent messaging and execution.
* Influenced the evolution of the partner program structure, providing feedback from the field to improve onboarding processes, enablement, and partner experience.
* Helped reduce time-to-revenue for new partners, accelerating the impact of recruitment efforts on the company’s bottom line.
* Elevated the perception of the channel internally by demonstrating that strategic partner development drives sustainable, long-term growth, not just short-term wins.
* Built strong, trust-based relationships with partners, resulting in higher retention, deeper engagement, and increased partner advocacy within the market.
Working alongside the Channel Alliances team and her executive peers, Laura has helped build a much stronger, more predictable channel engine for PDT. Internally, the MOUs, partner audits, and structured program design give sellers and engineers clearer rules of engagement, better-aligned OEM support, and higher confidence pursuing joint opportunities. Together, these leaders have increased field participation with priority partners, strengthened pipeline coverage, and improved follow-through after events. Externally, her leadership in Lady Driven and Women of the Channel has expanded mentoring, visibility, and co-marketing opportunities for women and rising leaders, strengthening partner ecosystems and positioning PDT as a collaborative, high-impact ally across the channel.
The impact of my work has been both measurable in business results and transformational in how the channel operates at scale.
At a business level, this work delivered:
1. Triple‑digit pipeline growth across key segments
2. 40% revenue uplift, contributing to significant net new revenue
3. Accelerated AI adoption, including enabling one partner to drive a double‑digit share of global Copilot seat sales
At an ecosystem level, the impact is structural and long-term:
1. Redefined how partners sell: Introduced an AI-driven, agentic sales model that replaces manual account planning with real-time, data-driven, persona-based engagement, improving productivity, deal quality, and speed.
2. Scaled global execution: Deployed across 120+ markets, creating a repeatable and scalable operating framework that ensures consistent execution across regions and teams.
3. Connected the ecosystem through data: Integrated Microsoft, partner, and third-party signals into a unified intelligence layer, enabling better prioritisation, stronger alignment, and more effective co-selling.
4. Accelerated AI-led growth: Embedded AI directly into the sales motion, enabling partners to more effectively drive Copilot and AI solution adoption across industries.
5. Established a new industry standard: The model has been adopted as a best practice across Microsoft’s largest Global System Integrators, extending its impact beyond a single alliance and creating a scalable blueprint for AI-driven partner engagement.
Overall, this work has not only delivered significant business growth, but has redefined the channel from fragmented, manual execution to a unified, AI-powered engine for growth at global scale.
Ahmet Polat’s achievements over the past 12 months had a measurable impact on both partner operations and the company’s channel growth.
By leading the shift to a continuously enforced access model, he directly addressed a major operational issue for MSPs: user-dependent connectivity. As a result, partners reported a reduction in access-related support tickets driven by the elimination of reconnect failures and inconsistent policy enforcement. This allowed MSPs to reallocate time from troubleshooting connectivity issues to delivering security services.
This operational improvement translated into stronger channel performance. The partner ecosystem grew approximately 2x year over year, with partners expanding usage across multiple client environments rather than limiting deployments to isolated use cases. This increase in adoption depth contributed to a 2.5x growth in annual recurring revenue, driven primarily through partner-led expansion.
Ahmet’s impact also extended internally. He aligned product, support, and go-to-market teams around reducing partner friction, prioritizing consistency and ease of deployment over feature expansion. This improved onboarding efficiency and enabled partners to deploy and scale more quickly across environments.
The result is a more predictable and scalable channel model, where partners can standardize their services, reduce operational overhead, and expand usage without increasing complexity. Ahmet’s achievements not only improved product performance but also directly strengthened the company’s ability to grow through the channel in a sustainable way.
The impact of these achievements has been both immediate and structural. In the short term, the business delivered significant growth across devices, software, and partner participation, while improving quality indicators such as license attach rates and partner productivity. This translated into stronger revenue performance and better alignment between sales motions and Microsoft’s AI‑powered workplace strategy.
More importantly, the work fundamentally improved how the channel operates in the Americas region. Going forward, we have a more disciplined and standardized operating model that aligns partner activation, sales execution, and marketing investments under a common framework. This will enable more consistent execution across regions, reduced fragmentation, and performance is more measurable and comparable.
I also strengthened the connection between marketing investment and business outcomes by implementing clear expectations around return on investment, campaign performance, and pipeline contribution. This shift moved the organization away from activity‑based execution toward outcome‑driven decision‑making, improving efficiency and enabling leadership to invest with greater confidence.
At the ecosystem level, my work increased the capability, confidence, and alignment of partners with Microsoft’s AI‑powered workplace vision. Partners are now better equipped to lead customer conversations around AI, collaboration, and hybrid work transformation, rather than focusing solely on hardware. This has resulted in a stronger pipeline of services‑led opportunities and deeper, more strategic customer engagements.
Overall, the result is a more scalable, resilient, and high‑performing channel business that can continue to grow while supporting Microsoft’s broader transformation toward AI‑driven workplace solutions.
