CRN Women in Channel Awards 2019: Meet the judges
CRN unveils its judges line-up for the Women in Channel Awards 2019, as the deadline for entrants draws closer
CRN is proud to be running the second Women in Channel Awards, to recognise the achievements of the entrepreneurs, leaders and exceptional employees who act as role models for women in this fast-paced, dynamic industry.
The deadline for entrants to nominate themselves, or a colleague, is less than three weeks away, on 17 May.
And remember, men as well as women can enter our new category: Executive Mentor of the Year. As well as the categories for individuals, there are three company-wide categories, including a new category that recognises firms that are leading the way when it comes to gender pay equality (see full list of categories here).
We are delighted to be able to introduce the first 12 judges who will be responsible for picking the accomplished winners.
Although we are still finalising our judging line-up, those who have already kindly agreed to give up their time to be on the panel are:
Hayley Roberts, CEO, Distology
Following a 20-plus-year career with blue-chip enterprise businesses in retail, recruitment and technology, Hayley has spent the last nine years in IT security businesses and the last four years setting up and running Distology, a value-added distributor.
Hayley has been recognised in the A-list for CRN 2018 and Distology is gaining much recognition as a serious VAD in the UK and now the Benelux. The leadership and entrepreneurial skills Hayley possesses transmit throughout the organisation to nurture a vibrant, highly professional and hardworking culture.
Graeme Watt, CEO, Softcat
Graham was delighted to join Softcat as CEO in April 2018, moving from Tech Data where he ran the EMEA Enterprise Solutions business. He started his career as a qualified accountant, but soon moved over to tech and has held various senior EMEA and global roles in IT distribution over the past 30 years.
In his spare time he enjoys cycling, skiing and golf as well as watching football and rugby. He is married with four children and really enjoys spending time with his family.
Penny Williams, sales director public sector, CDW
Penny Williams leads CDW's UK public sector, delivering digital transformation IT solutions across all verticals including central and local government, healthcare, blue light, housing and higher education.
Penny is a public sector specialist with over 30 years of strong reseller leadership experience and achievement.
With a passion for providing thought leadership on critical policy issues and championing better use of disruptive technology, Penny ensures her voice for transforming UK public services is heard at all levels through her role as deputy chair on the techUK Public Services Board. She is helping to define delivery of UK government strategies, moving beyond front-end transformation to delivery of end-to-end change in the way that citizens engage with public services.
Helen Slinger, CEO, BT Product Supply Business
Helen Slinger is CEO of BT's Product Supply Business - the IT arm of BT's Business and Public Sector organisation. As well as leading this growing end-to-end IT business which employs around 225 people, Helen is also chair of BT's regional board in the North West, trustee of the Greater Manchester Academies Trust, and a member of the North West Business Leadership Team.
Aged 44, Helen's career has seen her tackle challenging roles in both distribution and reseller organisations, working across lots of disciplines including customer service, sales, product management, marketing and of course, in a lead team board environment.
Helen has twice been a finalist in the Institute of Directors' North West Director of the Year Awards, and was triumphant in winning the North West Young Director of the Year title in 2015. In 2016 she was a finalist in the National Women in Business Awards.
Apay Obang-Oyway, director channel sales Northern Europe, Symantec
Apay Obang-Oyway has for over 10 years worked in the IT industry, within the channel and large corporate enterprise resellers. Today, Apay is director of channel sales Northern Europe at Symantec.
Apay has a keen interest in geopolitics, hockey and skiing. He holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool, which has augmented his passion for delivering ITC solutions that address business challenges for today and tomorrow. His interest in the ICT industry has been driven by his keen interest in geopolitics and how technology plays a major role in the sustainable socioeconomic development from low-income to high-income economies.
Sarah Shields, VP of enterprise channel Europe, Dell
Since starting her career in IT, Sarah has worked for some of the top technology brands in the market and has covered sales and marketing in a variety of roles. Sarah has been at Dell EMC since 2008 and has traversed the company's consumer, retail, small business and now channel units.
Sarah is one of the leading female businesswomen in the UK, having been voted PCR Woman of the Year in 2014 and been recognised as one of the top 500 Women in IT Globally - one of only a handful in EMEA. Sarah is a huge advocate for women in technology and is passionate about encouraging girls to reach their full potential.
Annabel Berry, CEO, Sapphire
Appointed CEO of Sapphire in 2015, with a career spanning over 20 years in the cybersecurity industry, Annabel has recently been recognised by CRN as one of the most influential women in the UK IT channel and included in its 2018 A-list. Annabel's expertise lies in the development and implementation of new strategies and identifying emerging technologies.
As a member of everywoman.com, Annabel takes an active involvement in encouraging more women into the cybersecurity industry and is proud to have recently been invited to become a leadership fellow at St George's House, Windsor Castle.
Alex Tatham, MD, Westcoast Limited
Alex has been in the UK IT distribution channel for over 25 years. With a degree from Durham University in zoology, Alex qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in 1991.
He joined newly listed Ideal Hardware in 1995 and served as head of the Ideal Institute (training), head of European sales, commercial director and UK managing director before joining Westcoast as sales and marketing director in 2008. He was promoted to managing director in 2014.
Jen Norman, head of infrastructure transformation, XMA
Following an injury during training as a ballerina, Jen took herself off to college and retrained. She headed into the IT industry as many people do, starting out on an IT helpdesk. She then moved to a support role within the finance industry, and in turn applied to become a junior server engineer, before progressing to senior server engineer.
After 10 years in the finance industry, Jen took on architecture roles within the construction industry, first as an infrastructure architect and then solutions architect. Eventually, moving away from the private sector, Jen moved into consultancy roles where she has spent the last nine years working on datacentre and network architecture and solutions. Jen is now head of infrastructure transformation at XMA and leads on digital transformation projects and technologies, as well as evolving technologies and strategy.
Jamie Brothwell, business development director, Exertis
Working as part of the senior leadership team at technology distributor Exertis, Jamie is charged with the strategic vision and implementation of business strategy for the Print division, overseeing sales, marketing and product management.
During her tenure at Exertis, Jamie has led the successful introduction of the value-added print specialist team and defined Exertis' B2B and retail print business strategy. Having worked in the channel for 16 years, previously at Samsung and the Midwich Group in head of sales and sales management roles, Jamie has extensive experience and knowledge of the channel and has built up key relationships with vendors and customers.
Outside work, Jamie is a car enthusiast and social media blogger. She is an advocate for gender equality and is currently working as part of Exertis' diversity project to drive new initiatives within the Exertis Group.
Darren Spence, MD, Boost Technology
Darren is a sales and marketing channel specialist and has 23 years' experience working in the tech industry, 20 years of which have been in leadership roles. He currently holds a few technology NED positions and runs Boost Technology Group.
Boost is a channel services group that comprises an award-winning sales training company, Boost Training; and a value proposition and demand generation business, Boost Performance.
Prior to setting up Boost, Darren was MD of Bytes Document Solutions.
Gina Hough, owner, The Marketing Communications Company
Gina founded her first agency MCC International in her early 20s and grew it to be one of the UK's largest regional consultancies, before moving on to set up a successful PR division at WLM.Digital where she was co-owner and communications director for seven years.
Now back in consultancy, she's working with a great team of freelancers and global partner agencies, offering a wider range of services to clients and drawing on the knowledge she has built up over the past 30 years. Gina spends a lot of time mentoring and training and her hands-on, tell-it-how-it-is approach to managing clients' expectations has never changed. Humour and an abhorrence of pretentiousness have always stood her in good stead and she's currently enjoying her third time around the working wheel.