Every year, CRN highlights women from vendor, distributor, and solution provider organizations whose vision and leadership have a beneficial influence on the technology industry. The CRN 2024 Women of the Channel honorees are creative, strategic leaders who show ongoing commitment to using their skills to innovate and drive success for their partners and customers.
This year, CRN has honored these women leaders of Appgate for their unwavering dedication and commitment to furthering channel excellence: Jackie Funk, VP of Channel Sales and Global Channel Operations; Kelly O’Brien, Manager, North America Channels; and Victoria Garrote, Manager, Global Channels and Alliances.
Appgate is fortunate to have an incredibly strong channel team and Jackie, Kelly and Victoria are fundamental to the success of our global channel operations. They bring an unsurpassed channel-first approach to their roles, while maintaining a deep understanding of the importance of universal ZTNA and the role Appgate plays as the market leader in the space.
Jackie is a 30-year IT industry veteran and is the driving force for our channel efforts. She has extensive experience across sales and marketing, putting her customers and partner community at the center of everything she does and constantly seeks innovative ways to set Appgate apart. Her accomplishments include managing key partnerships with DXC Technology, a Fortune 500 global IT services provider, and AWS; developing a data-driven approach to make informed decisions for our channel investments; and leading strategy and planning for RSA Conference for the past two years. Jackie has served on numerous channel, industry and company boards and is currently a member of the Women of the Channel Leadership Network and the Association of Channel Women.
Kelly started with Appgate nearly four ago as a summer intern and after graduating from Virginia Tech, she joined the channel team as an Associate Channel Manager, supporting our referral partner community. She was then promoted Channel Manager for the southeast region, working with partners in 10 states. In 2023, Kelly took on greater responsibility as Appgate’s National Channel Manager within North America. She now oversees a portfolio of more than 100 national and regional resellers throughout North America building partner relationships, overseeing sales and technical enablement and training and ongoing sales support, plus handily representing our company at major trade shows and regional events.
Victoria also started her career with us as an intern in 2019, then became a full-time channel team member after graduating from Babson College. As our Manager, Global Channels and Alliances, she oversees channel initiatives across North America, LATAM and EMEA and is focused on accelerating the growth and reach of our partner ecosystem, including developing strategy, executing partner programs, ensuring operational excellence and helping to enable partners with training and resources. In addition, her focused efforts on our strategic AWS partnership resulted in Appgate recently being named a Rising Star Partner for the behemoth cloud company.
“It is a great privilege to honor the remarkable achievements of these women leaders in the IT channel,” said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN at The Channel Company. “Each woman on the list has demonstrated a deep commitment to innovation and leadership that advances their organizations and drives transformation and success across the IT channel.”
The 2024 Women of the Channel list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine, with online coverage available online now at www.CRN.com/WOTC.