Every year, the CRN Women of the Channel list celebrates women from vendors, distributors, solution providers, and other channel-focused organizations who positively impact the IT ecosystem. The 2025 CRN WOTC honorees are innovative and strategic leaders committed to advancing channel excellence and supporting the success of their partners and customers.
This year, Mitel is proud to have six channel leaders on the list: Sarah Watson, Fiona Hills, Ashley Williams, Meloni Lemoine, Sara Wilde, and Misty Hanvey. These women have accomplished so much over the past year and have a far-reaching impact on the industry. In honor of this star lineup, we would like to take a moment to spotlight each of these women and their achievements.
Meet Mitel’s 2025 CRN Women of the Channel
Sarah Watson, Named Account Manager, Vertical Solutions
Sarah Watson is a tenured professional with over 30 years of experience supporting channel partners and customers with technology-based strategies for solving business problems. She is an excellent, innovative problem solver who seeks disruptive, sustainable, frictionless, and differentiating solutions. Sarah has a few simple rules: “Be honest, stay humble, deliver value as well as value everyone’s contribution, give back, and be curious.”
After the successful rollout of the Mitel financial vertical solutions suite, Sarah mentored regional resources to evolve sales expertise. She contributed to several $1M+ channel partner wins outside her region. She and her team were 125% of quota last year and projected many channel partners to financial specialization expert status.
Over the next year, Sarah will continue growing the business alongside Mitel’s channel partners. She is passionate about educating partners, helping them develop their skills and success, and delivering value to their clients through Mitel solutions and support.
Fiona Hills, Director, Global Partner Program
Fiona Hills leads the development and execution of Mitel’s Global Partner Program. With more than 20 years of channel experience, there are few partner-facing initiatives that Fiona hasn't tackled in her career, with a proven track record in various program development and management activities, including partner programs, deal registration, joint marketing funds, performance rebates, business development funds, sales incentives, promotions, and more.
Over the past year, Fiona focused on driving engagement with several new partner program metrics. Her responsibility for communication and channel training on various new partner user interfaces was critical in maximizing participation and understanding. She was instrumental in developing communication touchpoints and training that increased channel partner engagement by over 50%.
In 2025, Fiona is working to develop a new consolidated partner program, emphasizing a best-in-class global initiative by integrating key features from both Mitel and Unify’s existing programs. Customer lifecycle management (CLM) and partner relationship management (PRM) will be critical measures of partner success, and the program will also focus on ensuring a seamless transition for current Unify channel partners to Mitel’s toolchain.
Ashley Williams, Head of Hospitality - Americas
Ashley Williams is responsible for Mitel’s go-to-market hospitality solutions. With almost a decade of hospitality experience at Mitel, she has built long-trusted relationships with market influencers, analysts, consultants, and ownership groups, including major flags like Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton. Each plays a significant role in this industry's direction, and Ashley’s strong partnerships are vital in driving Mitel’s hospitality portfolio to deliver the next-gen solutions the market demands.
As a trusted brand ambassador for Mitel in the hospitality industry, Ashley works closely with partners and customers to ensure that Mitel products remain the preferred communications solutions for major hospitality brands in the US and worldwide. Last year, this resulted in a significant win where she negotiated and built a go-to-market (GTM) partnership between Hilton Hotels and Mitel.
In 2025, Ashley will continue working to enhance partnerships with other major hotel flags. She also aims to continue communicating with these hospitality brands about their needs and strategically align Mitel’s product roadmap with business initiatives to help them deliver an even better guest experience.
Meloni Lemoine, Head of Global Channel Communications
Meloni Lemoine is a telecommunications SME with a proven record of driving innovation, integrating transformative technologies, and enabling channel partner success, with a 30-year career spanning B2C, B2B, SMB, mid-market, sales, tech support, tech/Ops, PMO, enablement, marketing, partner/channel marketing, and communications. She is steadfastly committed to embracing change and fostering collaboration, leading transformative product and technology teams during pivotal moments in the information and wireless, and now hybrid solutions eras.
Meloni is passionate about uncovering talent and aligning individuals with opportunities to thrive. Guided by the principle, “Let’s see what we can build together,” she meets every challenge focusing on shared achievement and forward momentum.
Last year, Meloni enhanced cross-functional collaboration by centralizing communications and processes, unifying diverse teams to develop a cohesive strategy for channel engagement post-acquisition, and advocating for channel impact by ensuring solutions and processes prioritize partner success. In 2025, she aims to build a strong partner marketing organization to enhance partner engagement, streamline communication, and drive shared success by equipping partners with the resources and clarity needed to thrive in an evolving market.
Sara Wilde, Senior Channel Marketing Manager
Sara Wilde is a results-driven channel leader recognized for high productivity and a growth mindset. Skilled in developing strategic marketing partnerships, executing robust channel strategies, and leveraging data analytics to drive revenue expansion, she excels in communication, leadership, and problem-solving, ensuring seamless collaboration with partners and stakeholders. Sara is committed to enhancing partner satisfaction and achieving sales objectives through innovative marketing and alliance solutions.
Over the past year, Sara has helped create and execute on an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) program that successfully generated high-quality enterprise leads. The program has driven millions of dollars in opportunities, contributing significantly to business growth. Additionally, Sara assisted in planning and executing Mitel’s annual partner conference, where she spearheaded sponsorship growth, resulting in a 102% year-over-year increase and a 99% sponsor renewal rate.
In 2025, Sara aims to help Mitel become the leading force in the hybrid market by empowering our partners to expand their businesses and acquire new customers. She believes that achieving success is not only about delivering exceptional products and services but also about educating the partner, customer, and distribution communities on why Mitel is uniquely positioned as a leader in the market.
Misty Hanvey, Senior Manager, Global Channel Program
Misty Hanvey is the senior manager of Mitel’s Global Partner Program team. With 20 years of global channel experience, she excels in developing and managing channel programs, tools, and partner experiences. Her long tenure in the channel has afforded her extensive experience managing global partner programs and benefits, including marketing funds, performance rebates, onboarding, partner experience, partner portal, retail commissions, deal registration, exclusivity, and more.
Last year, Misty worked cross-functionally to create an LMS onboarding video course to provide our new partners with a clear roadmap to ramp up and drive revenue quickly. Additionally, she continued driving revenue through managing various Global Partner Program benefits and promoting clarity in processes, tools, and reporting.
Over the next year, Misty aims to support channel business by ensuring partner experience is a top priority as Mitel develops a consolidated Global Partner Program and associated benefits strategy. As Global Partner Program benefits are enhanced, she aims to drive mutual revenue growth by enabling Mitel partners to nurture and support customers regardless of where they are in their communications journey.
Cheers to this star lineup!
We’re grateful to have an incredible team of capable and dedicated leaders who continuously enhance our organization, partner relationships, and customer experiences. We’re especially proud to recognize the achievements of six outstanding women whose talent and commitment make a difference every day.
Find the full 2025 CRN Women of the Channel list here.
