The 2026 Channel Partners Circle of Excellence awards recognize leaders dedicated to advancing the channel and investing in the future of the partner ecosystem. This year’s winners include executives from some of the largest companies in IT and telecommunications, as well as individual contributors focused on philanthropic and social issues.
The awards span categories such as CEO of the Year, President of the Year, Industry Leader of the Year, Channel Leader of the Year, Distribution Executive of the Year, Sales Leader of the Year, Marketing Leader of the Year, and Individual Contributor of the Year.
The winners will be honored April 14 at the Channel Partners Conference in Las Vegas. Below is the list of honorees, along with commentary they provided as part of their nomination submissions:
- CEO of the Year: Paul Bay, chief executive officer, Ingram Micro
- President of the Year: Kira Makagon, president and chief operating officer, RingCentral
- Industry Leader of the Year: George Fischer, executive vice president, T-Mobile for Business Sales, Customer Experience and Delivery
- Industry Leader of the Year: Bruce Wirt, chief revenue officer, SilverSky
- Channel Leader of the Year: Matt Fassnacht, vice president and channel chief, Comcast Business
- Channel Leader of the Year: Brian Kane, global vice president of MSP and distribution, Malwarebytes
- Distribution Executive of the Year: Alex Danyluk, chief strategy officer, Avant
- Distribution Executive of the Year: Justin Marano, chief revenue officer – channel, Sandler Partners
- Sales Leader of the Year: Rick Chapes, assistant vice president of sales and business development, AT&T
- Sales Leader of the Year: Rachael Nagrowski, senior director of channel sales, Verizon
- Marketing Leader of the Year: Jose Matos, channel marketing manager, Nice
- Marketing Leader of the Year: Rachel Spatz, senior vice president of marketing, NinjaOne
- Marketing Leader of the Year: Patti Walkenhorst, senior lead marketing manager, Lumen Technologies
- Individual Contributor of the Year: Laura Dashney, co-founder and secretary, Tech4Change
- Individual Contributor of the Year: Ola Witukiewicz, director of community engagement, Pax8
CEO of the Year
Paul Bay, Ingram Micro
Bay has nearly three decades of experience in the IT industry and is recognized for his strategic foresight, operational excellence, and commitment to innovation. He joined Ingram Micro’s sales team in 1995 and worked his way to become CEO in 2022. He led Ingram’s IPO in 2024 with nearly $50 billion in annual revenue. Under Bay’s leadership, Ingram developed its patented AI-powered Xvantage IT distribution platform.
Ingram’s Intelligent Digital Assistant (IDA), which launched in 2025, has enabled over a half a million proactive engagements. Bay said IDA has helped customers convert over 100,000 opportunities into orders worth billions of dollars.
“I'm so proud of all we've accomplished and will continue to innovate together,” Bay said. “Keeping our customers at the center of it all, Ingram Micro is taking a differentiated approach to building a secure, intelligent platform that is redefining how modern B2B organizations operate at scale. We've kept our customers at the center of our business decisions. We're making it easier for them to do business--and not just with us, but with each other and their customers.”
President of the Year
Kira Makagon, RingCentral
Makagon is responsible for RingCentral’s product and technology organization, and direct and channel sales, customer success, marketing, and operations organizations. In more than a decade at RingCentral, she has helped define the company’s product portfolio and positioned RingCentral as a leader in AI-powered communications. Her leadership helped RingCentral advance from pre-IPO to over $2.4 billion in annual recurring revenue.
During a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference interview in March, Makagon spoke of her pride in the carrier network channel RingCentral has built. “I think almost all of them at this point are taking on our AI products and some of it we've disclosed publicly, AT&T, TELUS, Vodafone,” she said. “The uptake is great.”
Makagon referred to RingCentral as a company that enables transformation. “We're a lot more than enabling communication,” she said. “It's enabling transformation, enabling businesses to become more efficient, to produce better ROI on investment with us even because of the capabilities that we've put into the portfolio and this integrated approach to go-to-market.”
Industry Leaders of the Year
George Fischer, T-Mobile Business
As Executive VP, for business Sales, customer experience and delivery, Fischer leads the strategy, growth and national sales execution for T-Mobile’s business division. With more than 25 years of leadership in technology, software and communications, he brings deep expertise across 5G, cloud, cybersecurity and enterprise network solutions. Before joining T-Mobile, Fischer served as Chief Relationship Management officer at Fiserv, President of Verizon’s Global Enterprise Group and EVP of Worldwide Sales and Services at CA Technologies.
When it comes to key initiatives that helped partners in the past year, Fischer said “We broadened our coverage of master agents, deepened the relationships at the field level.”
Bruce Wirt, SilverSky
In nearly 20 years of executive leadership, SilverSky chief revenue officer Wirt has built two nationwide brands, led organization growth in the tens of millions of dollars, and amassed a coaching tree of technology industry superstars. His leadership style is centered by encouraging employees to know their purpose, make sure it aligns with their passion, then apply perseverance and intentional relationship building cross-functionally to create success. Employees must understand how individual goals relate to organizational goals and be driven toward both.
Wirt joined SilverSky in October 2025 after holding the CRO role at Telesystem, where is team created #HackersSuck, a cybersecurity educational series attended by hundreds of people in several major markets. “The idea was to educate and inform partners about cybersecurity risks and the solutions available to protect their clients,” he said.
Channel Leaders of the Year
Matt Fassnacht, Comcast Business
Fassnacht, VP and channel chief of Comcast Business, is a results-driven channel sales leader with a record of success. His expertise lies in building high-performance teams across various segments — including small business, enterprise, and channel partner programs — excelling in recurring revenue models within the IT, hardware, and software business. He has been instrumental in achieving double-digit revenue growth.
“Last year, we made several foundational changes to our channel program, all in an effort for our partners to win more faster with us,” Fassnacht said. “We evolved our structure around three-tiered partner segments, aligning our teams more closely to how partners actually go to market and scale. We acquired and integrated Nitel, building out on their strong channel expertise, especially related to speed and experience for networking aggregation. We also continued investing in the channel through people, support, and enablement, while pairing that with the scale, network strength, and expanding solutions portfolio of Comcast Business.”
Brian Kane, Malwarebytes
Kane, global VP of MSP and distribution at Malwarebytes, is a 20-year IT and cybersecurity veteran. In his role at ThreatDown (powered by Malwarebytes), he leverages his experience as an MSP founder to bridge the gap between complex security engineering and profitable business operations. Kane has built a reputation for transforming security from a cost center into a growth engine. He focuses on making cybersecurity accessible, manageable, and—most importantly—impactful for the entire ecosystem.
“While my day-to-day is focused on global channel strategy, my secret ambition is to become a full-time catalyst for human potential,” Kane said. “I believe in the power of vulnerability in leadership. I aim to share my personal journey—from a childhood defined by medical resilience to a career in the channel—to motivate others to find the best versions of themselves and navigate their own professional 'threat landscapes' with courage.”
Distribution Executives of the Year
Alex Danyluk, AVANT
As chief strategy officer, Danyluk leads marketing and Avant’s Research and Analytics division. He has more than 30 years of experience with ISVs, cloud service providers, call center services, managed service providers, and telecommunication companies. His background includes roles in sales, marketing, channel development, product management, and engineering. He has worked at industry giants such as Microsoft, AT&T, and Qwest (now Lumen) as well as startups including Odin (now Ingram Micro Blue) and Dantis.
“As chief strategy officer, I have the amazing opportunity to continuously reflect on the industry and trusted advisors’ needs to grow and succeed,” Danyluk said. “We've always said that change is the only constant and the pace of change is accelerating even faster in today’s AI world. Staying ahead of that change has never been more important and it’s been my pleasure to collaborate with a team of brilliant minds to completely rethink our approach to TA training and enablement accordingly. We’ve re-invented every training event and tool, from on-line to in-person, new seller to industry expert, and are helping them thrive in this constant state of disruption.”
Justin Marano, Sandler Partners
Marano is Sandler’s chief revenue officer – channel. With more than 26 years of experience in the channel, Marano brings a deep industry expertise and a commitment to helping partners succeed. He oversees all revenue-generation and partner-facing teams across organizations. He works to align strategy and execution to drive growth, deliver value, and help partners expand their businesses.
Under his guidance, Sandler Partners has expanded from four channel directors to almost 20.
“Sandler Partners for the longest time was playing catch up when it came to tools and resources,” Marano said. “I've driven the investment in not just people, but also technology, innovation and development in tools. Our home-grown tools - SCOUT, SCOUT for Solutions and Solutions Finder -- are the industry leading for partners to leverage to position them as the best TA for their customers.”
Sales Leaders of the Year
Rick Chapes, AT&T
Rick Chapes, assistant vice president of sales and business development at AT&T, has more than 20 years of telecommunications experience working with solution providers across direct and indirect channel organizations. His focus has been on educating partners about new ways to think about products and services that empower them to deliver outcomes and accelerate revenue.
Chapes manages the AT&T Partner Exchange business segment, overseeing relationships with solution providers across network and IT services, technology infrastructure, mobility, and cloud communications. Over his 23-year career with AT&T, his senior leadership roles have spanned finance, international business development, corporate development, and wholesale sales.
“I developed and executed on a capital investment plan to modernize and strengthen the sales channel by developing a new automation portal, establishing an analytics tool using artificial intelligence, and refining enablement resources to support 1,000-plus channel advisors,” Chapes said.
Rachael Nagrowski, Verizon
Rachael Nagrowski, senior director of channel sales at Verizon, is responsible for driving sustainable growth through indirect distribution with Wireless Connectivity Partners. She works with partners and direct sales teams to drive volume, revenue, and provide an exemplary customer and partner experience.
Nagrowski has 26 years of industry experience, including management of outside, inside, channel, technical, and retail sales teams, as well as operations. She joined Verizon Wireless in 2007 after years of work in wireless retail management and technical sales/marketing.
“This past year has been about removing friction for our partners—being the place they want to do business with and feel appreciated and valued,” Nagrowski said. “We have invested in channel with additional people, resources, and offerings. I am excited to help shape the future and win more together.”
As for the future, Nagrowski said, “This year is going to be about healthy growth. Finding the right motions to partner on that provide a win-win-win for the partners and the end customer.”
Marketing Leaders of the Year
Jose Matos, NICE
Jose Matos, channel marketing manager at NICE, specializes in building and scaling partner-driven growth strategies within the customer experience and cloud technology ecosystem. At NICE, he focuses on enabling partners, driving go-to-market initiatives, and developing programs that help organizations deliver innovative CX solutions through strategic alliances.
“The channel will continue shifting from traditional resale toward ecosystem-driven partnerships focused on delivering complete customer solutions,” Matos said. “As cloud platforms, AI, and marketplaces become more central to technology buying, partners will need to move beyond simply selling products and instead provide consulting, integration, and managed services that drive measurable outcomes for customers.”
Rachel Spatz, NinjaOne
Rachel Spatz, senior vice president of marketing at NinjaOne, joined the company in 2018 after holding positions at Barkly, Cybereason, and SSH Communications Security. In the last year, she played a central role in NinjaOne’s channel business by investing in people, programs, operational rigor, and measurement.
“My team improved and operationalized how we intake, prioritize, and execute channel requests from our channel account managers,” Spatz said. “By establishing clearer processes, expectations, and workflows, we increased our ability to support partner-driven events and engagements at scale, while maintaining quality and responsiveness. Critically, we matured our campaign measurement and attribution model, improving how we track the influence of channel marketing activities on channel-sourced MRR. This enabled us to clearly connect channel marketing investments to revenue outcomes and make more informed decisions about where to scale.”
Patti Walkenhorst, Lumen Technologies
Patti Walkenhorst, senior lead marketing manager at Lumen Technologies, has more than 24 years of experience in the telecom and technology industry. After spending two decades in human resources, she transitioned to marketing, combining her passion for people with creative storytelling and strategic execution.
“I thrive on using my experience and skill set to design thoughtful, compelling events and programs that create value for everyone involved,” Walkenhorst said. “Building meaningful connections and delivering experiences that resonate with partners continue to be the most rewarding aspects of my work.”
Individual Contributors of the Year
Laura Dashney, Tech4Change
Laura Dashney, co-founder and secretary of Tech4Change, has helped embed philanthropy into the culture of partnership—demonstrating that performance and purpose are strongest when aligned. Tech4Change has raised more than $1.75 million for grassroots charities nationwide.
“Over the past year, I’ve focused on strengthening the connective tissue of the channel community,” Dashney said. “We re-launched Tech4Change’s Community Growth & Giving Committee to bring more trusted advisors into leadership roles, expanding ownership of the mission beyond a small group. Differentiation isn’t only about innovation in products or revenue growth—it’s about investing in the culture and cohesion of the ecosystem.”
Ola Witukiewicz, Pax8
Ola Witukiewicz, director of community engagement at Pax8, leads strategic, data-driven programs that strengthen partner relationships and accelerate ecosystem growth.
“Over the past year, I’ve focused on creating deeper, more meaningful connections across the channel,” Witukiewicz said. “Through growing and evolving our global partner advisory council, I’ve been able to help turn partner feedback into real insights that influence strategy, strengthen relationships, and shape a better overall partner experience. One quote I live by is: ‘pressure is a privilege.’ It always comes back to connection for me, because when you build strong communities, everything else follows.”