Avaya Celebrates Female Executives Named 2023 CRN Women of the Channel

Companies with inclusive workplaces for women in tech not only provide equal access to job opportunities and resources, but develop initiatives such as mentorship programs, scholarships, and other support systems helping them build successful careers. Many choose to pay it forward serving as role models and mentors for future generations of women entering the tech industry. 

As Avaya turns the page on the next phase of its journey forward, becoming a Destination Place to Work— a culture providing employees with a supportive and empowering work environment—continues to be one of our top priorities. While there’s still work to be done in bridging the gap with women in the tech industry, we’re committed to creating a more inclusive workforce. We acknowledge all the women who are an integral part of the fabric of what our company represents today. Recently, five Avaya executives were named 2023 CRN Women of the Channel: Alison Barney, Director, Avaya Edge Program; Lisa Frederick, Regional Vice President of US Channel West; Deborah “Deb” Keeney, Channel Leader; Susan Leveritt, Senior Director, North America TSD Channel; and Florence “Flo” Sollo, Director, US Channel.

Every year, CRN – a brand of The Channel Company – honors female channel executives who are making an impact on the technology industry with their creativity, strategic thinking, and leadership. Alison, Lisa, Deb, Susan, and Flo were selected from hundreds of applicants this year based on their expertise, vision, and accomplishments. Their many decades of combined channel experience have resulted in significant contributions to Avaya while supporting our partners and their customers as they innovate without disruption.  

Join us in celebrating all five of these women who earned this coveted designation as Women of the Channel.  

Alison Barney

Alison’s journey in the communications technology industry began at a Boston-based startup where she worked closely with channel partners and distributors in all facets of partner enablement. She’s held a variety of roles at several organizations within the partner program development and partner enablement realm. She’s passionate about working with channel partners, as well as the network of internal teams and team members, collaborating to drive partner success.

“My top goal is to ensure Avaya partners have the right tools and programs they need to be successful and continue developing and delivering ongoing value to customers wherever they are on their cloud journey,” said Barney.

Fun fact: She serves as Vice President on the board of directors for an innovative children’s theater in New Hampshire called Andy’s Summer Playhouse. Over the past three years, through grants and other funding, they’ve successfully made the program’s tuition-free and accessible to all kids.  

Lisa Frederick

Lisa’s experience spans roles in sales leadership, business development, strategic partnerships, merger integration, and program creation. As the Regional Vice President of US Channel West at Avaya, she has a proven record of coaching and inspiring sales teams to focus on partner experience and end-user customer requirements that drive partner success to meet and exceed our organization's goals. 

“The channel team’s primary objective is enablement, which translates to building a pipeline and continuing revenue growth,” said Frederick. “I coach my team about recognizing the unique solutions Avaya offers so they are able to align them with each partner’s unique strengths and exceed their customers’ expectations.” 

Fun fact: Lisa admires national parks and landmarks. Having visited 64 of them to date, she acknowledges each one possesses its own special beauty and significance.  

Deb Keeney

Deb’s experience spans roles in sales leadership, business development, marketing, and program creation. She prides herself on leading with a servant mentality with a primary focus on driving positive outcomes for customers, partners, and shareholders. Deb has been lucky to work in the tech industry her whole career despite its vast changes.  

“I am passionate about providing the best-in-class enablement for cloud transformation with a high-performing channel team,” said Keeney. “We saw tremendous success migrating customers from perpetual to subscription and prem solutions to cloud models, which assisted customers with a more modern solution.”

Fun fact: Outside of work life, Deb spends her time mentoring and working with women. Over more than a decade, she has volunteered thousands of hours assisting hundreds of women in her community.     

Susan Leveritt

With a servant leadership foundation at the core, Susan’s focus has been to drive positive business outcomes for shareholders, customers, and channel partners. She considers herself fortunate to have spent her entire sales career in technology.  

“The personal fulfillment I get from leading others to reach higher levels of excellence is what drives me and has helped me throughout my career,” said Leveritt. “Understanding how to use ‘significance,’ one of my top strengths on the Gallup Strengthsfinder (now CliftonStrengths) scale, to help not only people under my leadership, but anyone I come in contact with, has had a lasting, positive effect on my career growth over the years.”

Fun fact: Most people are unaware that she sings in a church choir. 

Flo Sollo

Flo’s background encompasses sales, marketing, and not only supporting the channel, but working for a channel partner. The learnings and skills she acquired as a channel partner enabled her to springboard into a channel leader role at Avaya where she’s forged meaningful partner relationships while developing a strong channel team.  

“Our goal is to help partners expand out of their comfort zone to a space where they are comfortable layering new capabilities like AI, workflow automation, and digital automation,” said Sollo.

Fun fact: Flo is passionate about cooking and baking for family and friends. “Every year, I cook a traditional Christmas Eve meal, my biggest meal of the year, for 25 family members with virtually every seafood imaginable.”

Committed, results-oriented women like Alison, Lisa, Deb, Susan, and Flo set the bar higher for their teams who enable their partners and customers for success and growth in the channel while they innovate without disruption. Congratulations to these women and the other honorees this year!