As CEO of PKA Technologies, Felise Katz is responsible for the day-to-day operations and is the driving force in developing the strategic direction of the business. She has been honored by CRN magazine for the last four consecutive years as a “Woman of the Channel”, an annual list compiled of female executives for their accomplishments and achievements in the technology industry. Recently, PKA was included in CIO Review magazine’s recent list of Top 20 most promising Government IT Solution Providers for 2014. Felise was raised in New York City and attended Lehman College in the City University of New York and Babson as well as post graduate study at New York University. Felise has attended a number of executive leadership training courses and is always eager to learn more. Mentorship is important to Felise both for her personal growth and more importantly in offering advice and direction to other businesswomen and college students, specifically those interested in strategic sales and management careers. A former competitive dancer and swimmer she now enjoys spending her free time cooking and entertaining. Felise’s proudest accomplishment is raising three great kids and having an incredible husband as a business partner.

With more than 20 years of marketing and management experience, Jana Valenti brings unique insight and expertise to her position as Director of Field and Channel Marketing at Symantec. Jana has been with Symantec for more than 18 years and has worked on both the security and information management sides of the business.

In a varied and successful career with Symantec, Jana has led the Distribution, Reseller Channel and Large Account Reseller marketing teams. She’s also been instrumental in helping develop the strategic direction of Symantec’s key Channel initiatives including the partner incentive platform and the launch of the new Partner Program development fund.

In 2014, Jana was named by CRN one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Channel that you don’t know but should and a Woman of the Channel in 2015 and 2016. Jana is a graduate of the University of South Florida and holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Christina Geist is a principal/strategy director for True Geist, a strategic design and branding shop. She is also the creator and CEO of Boombox Gifts. Geist draws upon nearly 20 years of experience creating, nurturing and bringing brand ideas to life across multiple platforms and markets. Her career began as a television producer and writer for the CBS affiliate in Nashville, after graduating from Vanderbilt University. She developed PR and strategic communications programs for companies like Timberland and Monster.com for Boston-based agencies Cone Inc. and Arnold Worldwide. From 2001-2004, Christina got her “mini MBA” as consumer marketing manager at Atlanta-based IN ZONE Brands, a start-up maker of children’s juices. At Interbrand from 2004-2007, she led package design strategy and implementation programs for clients including AT&T, ConAgra, Bayer Aspirin, International Paper and TRESemmé.

In 2007, Geist was the first strategy director recruited by Johnson & Johnson’s Global Strategic Design Office, where she worked alongside business partner Todd True in the massive global redesign of the company’s flagship Johnson’s Baby portfolio and led multiple cross-disciplinary workshops and ideation sessions.

Regan Ogner is Senior Director, Global Partner Marketing and oversees the global strategy to accelerate partner growth and loyalty including partner enablement, demand generation, incentives, marketing development fund investments, events, digital/social media and partner communications.

Ogner joined the Intel organization with the acquisition of McAfee Inc., now part of the Intel Security Group.  She joined McAfee Canada in 2010 where she was responsible for the Canadian and Northeast U.S. marketing strategy and programs.  Prior to joining McAfee, Ogner held leadership roles in marketing at CA Technologies and Oracle.  Ogner is a creative marketer and an authentic leader who helps others excel while making a positive impact on the business. She is passionate about helping the partner community grow through deepening their understanding of corporate direction, thought leadership, and how it aligns to their business objectives to drive better customer outcomes.

Ogner has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.  She received the Women of the Channel award in 2014, 2015 & 2016 from CRN which recognizes female executives for their accomplishments.

As VP IS/CIO, Tammy leads the Information Services department at Continental Mills, a privately held Food Manufacturer in the Seattle area which produces several well-known products including Krusteaz Baking mixes, Ghirardelli Brownies, Wild Roots Trail mix, Alpine Cider and Kretschmer Wheat germ.  During the 22 years Tammy has been with Continental Mills, she has been responsible for the successful implementation of many major systems, including the company’s first ERP Application and several large scale manufacturing automation systems.  Also during her time with Continental Mills, she has participated in growing the company from a regional manufacturer servicing the Pacific Northwest, to a national company with an international presence and multiple manufacturing sites across the US.  In this role, Tammy is committed to building high performing teams who are both technically excellent and business savvy, seeing that as the key to her department’s success.  In 2014 Tammy was named one of the “Top 20 Most Innovative Midmarket CIO’s” for her work on implementing Business Intelligence for the organization.

Before joining Continental Mills, Tammy started her career working at The Boeing Company, starting in the Industrial Engineering Department as a Master Scheduler and later working as a Systems Analyst. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Washington and a Master’s Business Administration with concentrations in Operations Management and Information Systems, also at the UW.

Michelle Kaufman is the vice president of technology for Distribution Management, a national fulfillment and distribution company.  She joined the company in 1999 as a software developer but was soon promoted to project manager, then team leader and manager.  Ultimately, her leadership and vision for the use of software as a competitive advantage in the marketplace led to her promotion to director.  A few years later she expanded that vision and leadership to oversee IT for the company and is now an integral part of the senior executive team. Kaufman received a B.A. in computer science from Goshen College.

Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her bestselling novels, including her latest, “All the Stars in the Heavens,” the instant bestseller. She wrote the blockbuster “The Shoemaker’s Wife,” the “Big Stone Gap” series, the “Valentine” trilogy and “Lucia, Lucia.”  Trigiani’s themes of love and work, emphasis upon craftsmanship and family life have brought her legions of fans who call themselves Adri-addicts--a term coined by book maven Robin Kall. Their devotion has made Trigiani one of “the reigning queens of women’s fiction” (USA Today).

The New York Times calls her “a comedy writer with a heart of gold”, her books “tiramisu for the soul.” Trigiani wrote and directed the film adaptation of her debut novel Big Stone Gap, produced by the Academy Award winning producer Donna Gigliotti, shot entirely on location in her hometown, with an all-star cast including: Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, John Benjamin Hickey, Anthony LaPaglia and Jenna Elfman.

Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson is a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation.  She is the associate director of the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia Business School and senior consultant for the Neuroleadership Institute. Halvorson is a prolific author and has penned  the following books: “No One Understands You And What To do About It,”  “Succeed: How We Can All Reach Our Goals,” and “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently.”

Halvorson is also a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, 99u, Fast Company, WSJ.com, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today.

In addition to her work as author and co-editor of the highly regarded academic book The Psychology of Goals, she has authored papers in her field’s most prestigious journals. Halvorson has also received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation for her research on goals and achievement. She received her PhD in social psychology from Columbia University.

Susanna joined Presidio in 2015 and is responsible for the company’s marketing and communications.  Prior to that, she was Chief Marketing Officer at Diligent Corporation, a leading SaaS provider of secure collaboration solutions. She has held senior marketing roles at Deloitte, Accenture and PricewaterhousCoopers and has run her own marketing firm. Susanna resides in the New York area.

Jenny Blake is an author, career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people organize their brain, move beyond burnout, and build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. Jenny is the author of Pivot: The Only Move that Matters is Your Next One (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, September 2016), and Life After College (Running Press, 2011), which is based on her blog of the same name.

With two years at a technology start-up as the first employee, five years at Google on the Training and Career Development teams, and over five years of running her own business, Jenny combines her love of technology with her superpower of simplifying complexity to help clients through big transitions — often to pivot their career or business. Today you can find her at JennyBlake.me, where she explores systems at the intersection of mind, body and business. Jenny is based in New York City, where she imagines she’s starring in a movie whenever she walks through its crowded streets.

Lisa MacKenzie is a seasoned executive with expertise in marketing, sales, product management and operations. Lisa was instrumental in The Channel Company's evolution from providing traditional media to offering a full portfolio of solutions and services. She brings her proven expertise to The Channel Company's extensive events portfolio - helping ensure that our events meet the evolving needs of our customers. Thanks to Lisa's leadership, The Channel Company attracts record audiences and receives high customer satisfaction scores. Lisa also repositioned our consulting, research and education offerings, resulting in increased profitability and new product launches.

Pamela Weinberg is a certified career management coach and personal branding strategist working with individuals in all stages of career development. Weinberg specializes in helping people make career transitions from millennials to women in transition. Helping clients build their personal brands to become the stand out candidate or professional in their chosen field is what she does best. She began her coaching career working in the career management offices at NYU-SCPS and the NYU Wasserman center after creating Mind Your Own Business Moms (www.MYOBmoms.com), a company dedicated to helping moms return to the workplace after a parenting break. She is the author of “City Baby” which is in its fourth edition.

Janet Schijns is Vice President of Global Verticals and Channel Marketing for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, representing more than 50 countries. She and her team are responsible for understanding vertical and segment technology issues across varying geographies and identifying key enterprise solutions that meet their unique business needs. She also manages the award winning, Verizon Partner Program (VPP), which broadens Verizon’s reach and creates best-in-class solutions through the use of indirect partners.
Schijns previously served as Vice President of Corporate, Medium and Indirect Marketing. In this role, she was responsible for launching VPP to drive innovations in channels of distribution and business products to ensure that the right solutions are delivered via the best channels for the company’s mid-tier customers. Schijns and her team achieved CRN’s 5-Star Award for the program in March 2014.
Schijns joined Verizon in 2010 to apply her extensive experience of linking market needs, business strategy and technology evolutions to the development of market leading solutions. During her tenure as Vice President Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless, she and her team deployed a number of industry-leading solutions, evolved Verizon’s B2B Go-to-Market process, enhanced the company’s M2M position, and led B2B strategy for mobile worker empowerment using Verizon’s LTE network. Prior to joining Verizon Wireless, Schijns was Vice President of Enterprise and Government Business at Motorola. During her tenure at Motorola, she developed Motorola EMS’ 5-Star, award-winning channel strategy and program – PartnerEmpower and drove strategic solutions alignment across channels and drove vertical and segment solutions.
Schijns was previously Founder & CEO of The JS Group, an international consultancy firm focused on providing business-based programs for strategic growth to high-tech companies, large and small. She is the creator of the industry-recognized, award-winning Master-of-Convergence, Partner Expert, and Solutions First programs.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Business from Montclair State University, is a member of the Women of the Channel Advisory Board, the Channel Partner Board and a founding member of the Vanguard Council for Channels, as well CRN’s Channel Partner Top Award Winner for the past decade.

Tiffani is the Global, Customer Growth, Sales and Innovation Evangelist. Her focus will be helping companies reimagine how they can not only grow bigger but grow better with innovative business models and technology. Tiffani considers herself a ‘recovering sales rep’, spending time meeting with sales leaders from some of the largest and most successful sales organizations in the world who are using Salesforce technology, to improve performance and enhance customer experience, in order to uncover best practices and insights which can be shared more broadly. Prior to joining Salesforce, Tiffani was with Gartner as a VP, Distinguished Analyst and Research Fellow covering Sales Strategies and Channel Innovation.

FDNY Firefighter Jackie-Michelle Martinez, a 10-year veteran of the department, also serves as the women's outreach coordinator. She is one of 50 female firefighters on the department which has 10,700 members. She serves as the Secretary of the United Women Firefighter’s program. The program provides training by both active women firefighters and professional trainers with the aim of preparing them for many of the unique and demanding tasks the Fire Academy requires such as hauling hoses, dragging mannequins and using the stair master while wearing a 50-pound vest. Martinez was also featured in the 2017 FDNY Calendar of Heroes which included women for the first time.

Mary Wyderski is the Senior Director of Information Technology for DSC Logistics, a $500 million logistics firm based out of Chicago. Mary recently joined DSC after serving as the VP of Technology for PSI for 17 years.  Due to her background in accounting and passion for technology, she recognizes the need to drive efficiency while focusing on how automation can increase the organization's bottom line. Mary's desire to streamline processes led to an early adoption of cloud strategy and resulted in the organization's ability to be more agile. Mary led a $5-million-dollar laboratory management system roll-out, encompassing 80 offices nationwide, which resulted in the company receiving a National Engineering Award for mobile technology. Mary attributes her success to working with a great team of leaders, vendors and technologists. 

Kelly Ireland is the CEO of CB Technologies Inc. Kelly has been striving to serve customers with excellence since entering the Reseller industry in 1984. Kelly is a catalyst, change agent, mentor and enthusiast. Spending her time driving strategic growth initiatives and most importantly, providing CB Technologies' employees with an outstanding work environment.

Valerie Singer is the Vice President for Cloud Strategy and Sales in the North American Alliances & Channels group, responsible for driving the cloud go-to-market strategy, and creating programs and deliverables to drive cloud profitability with and through partners.

Prior to joining Oracle, Valerie led Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) partner team supporting the United States and Canada, including regional and national partner managers. In that role, Valerie ensured partner-sales interlock, established the national systems integrator program and drove partner competency development and practice expansion to migrate enterprise-class, large-scale workloads to AWS.

Valerie has over 20 years of direct selling and channels experience with distributors, channel partners, ISVs and system integrators. Prior to AWS, she held senior positions at Quest Software, Adobe Systems, Oracle Corporation and BEA Systems.

Jessica Couto has earned worldwide recognition as a leader in channel management, growth and development with resellers ranging from small to global. As Vice President of U.S. Channel Sales and Marketing at Carbonite, Jessica and her team go above and beyond to ensure a positive experience for partners and customers alike.

Prior to joining Carbonite, Jessica was Director of Worldwide Channel Sales Bit9 where she was instrumental in driving the exceptional growth of the business. Jessica also served as New England Channel Manager at Kaspersky Labs, and as Director Channel Lenovo Sales at LANDesk.

Jessica holds an A.A. in Computer Engineering and a B.S. in Information Science from Johnson and Wales University, and an M.S. in Information Technology Management from Capella University.

Kiley Kunkler is a vice president in the supply chain finance division of Wells Fargo Capital Finance.  With more than 10 years of experience in the finance industry, Kunkler has been focused on providing leadership to technology vendors to reduce credit exposure and shift risk off their balance sheets, provide growth capital to resellers without increased credit risk, and outsource credit administration and receivables collection and management. Prior to joining Wells Fargo’s supply chain finance group, Kunkler worked for Wachovia’s derivatives and high grade syndicate desk. She earned her bachelor of science degree in finance from West Virginia University. Additionally, she co-founded and currently serves as a board member of the Wells Fargo Capital Finance Women’s Connection and is the Charlotte chapter chairman. Kunkler and her team are also members of CompTIA.

Pam Johansen, serves as Sr. Director, Sales Ecosystem for BMC. In this role, she is responsible for global ecosystem programs, operations for VAR, ISD, GOSI, & renewals. Johansen is an innovative senior leader and ecosystem champion acknowledged for her expertise in VARs, distribution, SaaS, OEMs, global outsourcing companies and system integrators. Johansen's achievements in the channel include recognition by the editors of CRN as one of the Power 100: Women of the Channel from 2009–2017 and channel program recognition for the CRN 5-Star Partner Program from 2006-2017.

Melanie Spring. Melanie is the Chief Inspiration Officer at Sisarina, a DC-based brand strategy agency. She's an entrepreneur, international speaker, and approachable badass spreading the gospel of rocking your brand. Sick of hearing the same old corporate stories, she traveled 7,000 miles in 3 weeks on the Live Your Brand Tour interviewing businesses of all sizes about what makes them tick. After the stories were published in Entrepreneur Magazine, she became a Contributing Writer and successfully established herself as a branding expert.

Sisarina created Brands That Rock, an entrepreneurial tribe of rockstar humans, while Melanie facilitates workshops at Fortune 500 companies. She’s truly living her purpose inspiring others. After listening to her TED-style talks and workshops, you'll have a solid to-do list, bold ideas, and the inspiration to get out there and do something bigger.

Laura Crone is Vice President of the Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group (NSG) and director of End User Solutions Marketing (ESM).

She is responsible for driving end user and channel demand for Intel’s storage and memory solutions.

Award winning journalist, Soledad O’Brien has established herself as one of the most recognized names in broadcasting, bringing wider exposure as storyteller to some of the most important issues and stories in the world through her coverage of breaking news, and critically-acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and Latino in America.

In 2005 O’Brien and her husband started Starfish Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps bridge the gap of opportunities for young minority women from low-income families to attend college.

Soledad's memoir The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities chronicles her biggest reporting moments and how her upbringing and background have influenced these experiences and was published in 2010.

O'Brien has earned numerous Emmy awards for her reporting on the earthquake in Haiti, her coverage of the 2012 Presidential Election, and her work on "Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture." Her coverage of Hurricane Katrina earned her and CNN a Peabody award and she earned another for her coverage of the BP Gulf coast oil spill.

In 2013, she launched Starfish Media Group, a multiplatform media production and distribution company dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering stories that take a look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity. O'Brien is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and a contributing editor to the PBS NewsHour.

O'Brien has also been selected to apply her wealth of expertise as a member of the RAND Corporation's 2015 Board of Trustees.

An engaging storyteller, she offers a behind-the-scenes look at her life, work, and inspiring, empowering narratives by bringing a voice and sharing untold stories in the world.

Marina Kurian, M.D., has dedicated a significant part of her professional life to the treatment of obesity and making surgery less painful with minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Kurian is a New York City native and graduated from prestigious Stuyvesant High School. She was accepted into a combined six-year college/medical school program at Albany Medical College. She completed her surgical training at Albany Medical College where she began to develop her interest in obesity management. After completing her residency, Dr. Kurian became a member of a team of physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center that pioneered techniques that helped make minimally invasive obesity surgery safe and effective. Dr. Kurian has educated other surgeons in New York City and throughout the country, and has published numerous articles on minimally invasive obesity surgery.

She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). She is also a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and the Association of Women Surgeons. She has numerous publications and book chapters in laparoscopic literature.