OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2026--
Mitel, a global leader in business communications, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has recognized seven leaders from the company’s sales, channel, and marketing teams on the prestigious Women of the Channel list for 2026.
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This annual CRN list celebrates women from vendors, distributors, solution providers and other channel-focused organizations who make a positive difference in the IT ecosystem. The CRN 2026 Women of the Channel honorees are innovative and strategic leaders committed to advancing channel excellence and supporting the success of their partners and customers.
"Strong channel partnerships don't simply happen by default," said David Petts, Chief Sales Officer at Mitel. "They're built through consistent, thoughtful, and hard work at the ground level. Each of these leaders exemplifies that approach. From global partner program development to regional go-to-market execution, their contributions have directly shaped how partners succeed with Mitel. We're proud to see their work and commitment highlighted with this well-deserved industry recognition.”
Mitel leaders named to the CRN 2026 Women of the Channel List include:
Müge Aydin, Head of Regional Sales, Türkiye and Africa – Müge is a channel and sales leader with over 20 years of experience, responsible for a diverse set of geographies spanning Türkiye and Africa. She has built a reputation for helping partners navigate the distinct challenges of each market, from product positioning to go-to-market strategy. In the past year, she has worked closely with partners as a hands-on adviser, providing the regional insight and strategic guidance needed to build channel programs that deliver long-term growth.
Fiona Hills, Director, Global Partner Program – With more than two decades of channel experience, Fiona leads key elements of Mitel’s Global Partner Program. Her expertise spans program development, management, and partner enablement. In 2025, she played a pivotal role in building a consolidated partner program, driving toolchain integration and launching an enhanced partner relationship management (PRM) experience that streamlined how partners engage with Mitel.
Ilona Masche, Marketing Director, DACH – With 23 years in the IT industry, Ilona brings deep experience working with channel partners, VARs, distributors, system integrators, and consultants, while managing marketing campaigns end-to-end from strategic planning through to implementation. In 2025, she played a central role in Mitel's post-acquisition channel transformation, taking a hands-on approach to integrating two distinct partner ecosystems and ensuring continuity for partners navigating the change.
Meloni Lemoine, Head of Partner Marketing and Communications – Meloni leads global partner marketing and Americas partner field marketing, driving how the partner ecosystem is positioned and activated across regions. With 30 years in the communications industry, she aligns strategy, messaging, and programs that enable partners to engage customers and accelerate go-to-market impact, supporting consistent storytelling and measurable growth across the partner community.
Sara Wilde, Senior Channel Marketing Manager – Sara drives enterprise lead generation through channel marketing initiatives that give partners the tools and programs to engage buyers effectively. Last year, she led an account-based marketing (ABM) program that expanded Mitel's enterprise pipeline for channel managers, supported by a series of partner events in key markets with target accounts.
Rhonda Trainor, Manager, Distribution & Mid-Market Channel Sales – Rhonda leads growth strategy and sales enablement for U.S. and Canadian distribution and SMB partners. With deep expertise in strategic planning and go-to-market execution, she is known for building trust across the channel ecosystem and translating that into results. Over the past year, she developed targeted plans that aligned partner revenue milestones with Mitel's business priorities, driving measurable outcomes across the North American channel.
Ashley Williams, Director of Hospitality – Ashley is responsible for Mitel's go-to-market strategy for hospitality solutions and directly supports two dozen hospitality-specialized partners. Her relationships with leading hospitality brands create direct visibility for Mitel's communications solutions at the property level, opening opportunities for channel partners to engage. Last year, this translated into measurable growth in Mitel's hospitality revenue.
“It’s a privilege to celebrate the remarkable achievements of these women who are driving meaningful change across the IT channel,” said Jennifer Follett, VP of U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN at The Channel Company. “Each honoree has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a commitment to bold, innovative strategies that fuel transformation, growth, and success for their organizations and the broader channel. We’re proud to recognize their impact and look forward to seeing how they continue to shape the future of our industry.”
The 2026 Women of the Channel will be featured online beginning May 4 at crn.com/wotc.
About Mitel
Mitel is a global leader in business communications, providing businesses with advanced communication, collaboration, and contact center solutions. With more than 70 million users across over 100 countries, Mitel empowers organizations to connect, communicate, and collaborate seamlessly, with the flexibility and choice they need to thrive, both now and for the future. Through proven experience and innovative solutions, Mitel delivers communications without compromise. For more information, go to www.mitel.com and follow us on LinkedIn .
Mitel is the registered trademark of Mitel Networks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About The Channel Company
The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.
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© 2026The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
Annual CRN list celebrates women from vendors, distributors, solution providers and other channel-focused organizations who make a positive difference in the IT ecosystem.
U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he’s “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal’s apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
Here's the latest:
He announced Monday that he’ll lead a bipartisan congressional delegation on a visit to China this week, when the group of five senators will be visiting tech businesses in Shanghai and Beijing and meeting Chinese officials.
The trip will come just about a week before President Trump is scheduled to visit China for the first time since he took office. It also will be the first state visit by a U.S. president since 2017.
Traveling with Daines are fellow Republican Sens. Deb Fischer, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran as well as Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.
As part of its National Defense Strategy announced in January — a sweeping document laying out a vision on everything from deterring China to defending against cyberattacks to disrupting Iran’s nuclear ambitions — the Trump administration said Europe must do more for its own defense.
While “we are and will remain engaged in Europe, we must — and will — prioritize defending the U.S. Homeland and deterring China,” it said.
Among other things, the document noted that Europe’s economic power, while shrinking in relative terms globally, remains significant, and said Germany’s economy alone “dwarfs that of Russia.”
“Fortunately, our NATO allies are substantially more powerful than Russia — it is not even close,” it said, noting a recent commitment among NATO allies to raise national defense spending to 5% of GDP in total, a push led by Trump.
The U.S. European Command, created in 1947 and known as EUCOM, is one of 11 combat commands within the Defense Department, and covers some 50 countries and territories.
In addition to more than 36,000 troops in Germany, Italy hosts more than 12,000 and there’s another 10,000 in the United Kingdom, according to Pentagon numbers from December.
The Pentagon has offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected in the drawdown announced Friday.
The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine four years ago. NATO allies like Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.
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The event in the East Room will bring together more than 130 small business owners as the president highlights his administration’s policies benefiting them.
“Our nation’s 36 million small businesses now have the confidence to hire, reinvest and expand, unleashing an historic era of sustained growth,” Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler said ahead of the event. “America is open for business again.”
The gathering is meant to mark this year’s National Small Business Week and the owners represent manufacturing, food production, defense, energy and retail businesses, among other areas, according to the White House.
European leaders on Monday said President Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
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The U.S. stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.
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Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between the Trump administration and Pope Leo over U.S. policies, particularly with Iran.
The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a devout Catholic who’s visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming Trump’s top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday.
“Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”
The trip comes as Trump has criticized Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and posting social media images likening Trump to Jesus Christ.
The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran’s claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war Feb. 28, rattling the global economy.
The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn’t say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
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President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. step off from Marine One upon their arrival on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Ocala International Airport, in Ocala Fla., Friday, May 1, 2026, after speaking at an event in The Villages, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump steps off from Marine One upon his arrival at the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
