Women in the Channel Continues Membership Expansion
By Sonya Meline
Spring is around the corner and the Mentorship Committee of Women in the Channel continues to blossom. As Julie Dzubay steps down as chair of this committee, we reflect on the great accomplishments made during her tenure and welcome new committee chair, Kristy Lakich and co-chair, Sonya Meline. Both women have extensive channel backgrounds and have consistently stepped up to provide assistance to multiple WiC committees.
Julie is the Vice President of Sales Operations for WTG, a Master Agent. She signed up for WiC in 2014 and immediately joined the Mentoring Committee, which at the time consisted of three members. Earlier that year, the WiC Board identified an addressable gap in the organization. There were no resources that would help new members become integrated into the world of WiC! Thus, the WiC Angel Program was born.
Past Committee Chairs Laura Bernstein and Amy Humphrys quickly assisted with the formation and rollout of the program. Once appointed chair of the committee, Julie helped form the initial team and on-boarded additional committee members. As of result of these fantastic efforts, the Angel Program now works in direct partnership with the Membership Committee to welcome new members to WiC. This program gives members an “angel’s hand” to hold during their first membership year.
When asked about her direct impact, Julie said she felt, “blessed and honored to have chaired the Mentoring Committee during such a pivotal time in WiC history.” She continued, “I have served as part of a magnificent team of women and look forward to remaining on the committee as a past chair. I’ll offer my full support to both the Mentoring and Angel Programs, which offer so much to the WiC organization.”
Now, Kristi Lakich, National Channel Manager for Mitel, will take her place as chair of the WiC Mentoring Committee. Kristi has made great progress in streamlining the Angel Program for new WiC members. This ensures new members are connected to an Angel as soon as possible. As new committee chair, Kristi intends to recruit additional members that will bring fresh and innovative ideas to the committee. She is honored to take on the new role and grateful to work with amazing women.
Stepping into Kristi’s role as co-chair, is Sonya Meline, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Effortless Office, a national cloud provider and network security firm. Sonya is a member of both the Mentorship and Membership Committees and often hosts local networking events for women in her community. Most recently, she organized a Techie-Toy Drive for girls in the foster and adoptive systems.
Amazingly, Sonya is also co-chair for IAMCP’s Women in Technology in the San Diego community. She looks forward to continued involvement on a national level with WiC and similar organizations. She also “had a feeling” that she would want to get involved on a deeper level when she found out about the group’s mission. When asked why she joined WiC she said, “I’ve always enjoyed working with women and all people really, to help them be the best they can be.”
Sonya formally mentored veterans who were returning to civilian life after military service. Soon, she began organizing San Diego’s largest breast health and cancer-prevention event and helped organize support groups for women who were fighting cancer (and women who had beat it). Sonya continued, “When I learned about Women in the Channel, I was hooked. They were helping so many women reach their dreams in the channel community, and I knew I had to be a part of it.”
She joined the Mentorship Committee first, and she gained wisdom from women who had already carved a path in the organization. After being matched with a great mentor, Aelea Christofferson, she knew she had to continue the mission of founding members. Sonya feels that she has gained “immense support and experience from Women in the Channel” since joining, which is why she encourages other women to join.
“The committee is not just about mentorship, it’s also about helping women feel a sense of support and belonging.”
WiC salutes the strides that have been made under the leadership of Julie Dzubay and look forward to the positive growth under the leadership of both Kristi Lakich and Sonya Meline. WiC is proud to offer so many programs that engage and encourage women leaders from enterprise companies, telecom, and IT organizations. We hope that with continued expansion of our organization as a whole, we will inspire and engage the new generation of women in technology and women in the channel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sonya Meline, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Effortless Office, a national cloud provider and network security firm. Sonya is a member of both the Mentorship and Membership Committees and often hosts local networking events for women in her community. Most recently, she organized a Techie-Toy Drive for girls in the foster and adoptive systems.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Shaquille Fontenot is the Director of Marketing at Converged Network Services Group, the premier Master Distributor for Cloud, Connectivity, and Cloud Enablement. Shaquille manages the CNSG Marketing Team and assists with the planning, development, and implementation of all CNSG marketing strategies. She joined WiC in 2016 and is a member of the Event Planning and PR Committees.