RESTON, Va., May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced that CRN®—a brand of The Channel Company—has selected eight company leaders for inclusion on the prestigious 2026 CRN® Channel Chiefs list. This annual recognition celebrates IT vendor and distribution executives who are shaping channel strategy and driving innovation and partnership across the industry.
Chris Clarke, Sales Director: In 2025, Chris and his team successfully onboarded 15 new partner relationships, implementing sales, marketing, partner recruiting, renewal and contract management and FedRAMP compliance contributions that led to significant year-over-year growth for those partners. Chris was also deeply involved in creating and executing successful marketing plans, supporting more than 400 marketing activities that resulted in 6,500+ new prospects for Carahsoft’s channel partners.
Terry Drinkwine, Vice President of Sales: With more than 20 years at Carahsoft, Terry has contributed to the rapid expansion of Carahsoft’s vendor ecosystem and the company’s impressive year-over-year growth. Through the introduction of a strategic MDF program supporting emerging Public Sector partners, Terry helped remove barriers to entry and created new routes to market in 2025, reinforcing the channel’s ability to deliver high-value solutions aligned to mission-critical Government needs.
Maryam Emdadi, Vice President of Sales: Maryam’s leadership in 2025 strengthened Carahsoft’s position as Dell Technology’s largest Federal distributor and data storage partner, earning multiple industry recognitions, including consecutive Federal Partner of the Year awards from Dell. Over the past year, she welcomed more than 100 new datacenter channel partners, expanded her sales team to 120 members and drove consistent year-over-year growth across both new and existing relationships.
Michael Shrader, Vice President of Sales: Michael leads Carahsoft’s intelligence portfolio, bringing innovative and emerging technologies to market. In 2025, He spearheaded the development of an accelerator program for VC-funded startups, streamlining the onboarding process for In-Q-Tel portfolio companies and strengthening connections between emerging vendors and specialized channel partners.
Brian Snell, Sales Director: Brian leads a team of 150 sales, sales ops, sales management, channel management, and post-sales engineers and manages one of the company’s largest annual books of business. In 2025 he increased investments in certifications and white-glove partner alignment, driving deeper engagement and attracting new strategic partners to the ecosystem. He also led efforts to integrate Carahsoft’s technical capabilities with its partners.
Cortney Steiner, Vice President of Sales: Cortney has played a pivotal role in advancing Carahsoft’s small business and partner ecosystem through comprehensive training, education and enablement initiatives. By enhancing onboarding resources, launching proactive enablement campaigns and expanding her team with additional support specialists, Cortney has strengthened pipeline development, deepened partner engagement and reinforced Carahsoft’s role as a trusted bridge between innovative technology providers and the Public Sector.
Joe Tabatabaian, Sales Director: Joe has played a key role in expanding Carahsoft’s Public Sector ecosystem by strengthening strategic alliances and accelerating partner enablement. In 2025, Joe launched a monthly partner training program, expanded certification and managed services support, and advanced “Better Together” solution development to help partners deliver mission-focused offerings to Government customers.
Alex Whitworth, Sales Director: Alex has expanded Carahsoft’s channel impact this year by onboarding more than 35 new vendors and building the infrastructure needed to accelerate their success in the Public Sector. Through his team’s “Power Blitz” go-to-market program, Alex has driven targeted sales engagement, strengthened reseller relationships and accelerated pipeline growth, reinforcing Carahsoft’s role as a key enabler across the cybersecurity channel.
“Carahsoft is honored to have eight company executives named to this prominent list,” said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. “This recognition from CRN underscores the strength of our leadership team and their unwavering commitment to the success of our vendor and reseller partners. Our executives continuously work to advance innovative channel strategies, foster meaningful collaboration and deliver impactful IT solutions that support our Government customers. We are proud of their dedication to empowering our partners and driving shared success across the Public Sector.”
The annual CRN Channel Chiefs list spotlights the most influential leaders across the IT channel, celebrating those who champion collaboration, drive innovation and empower their partners and customers to achieve shared success.
“Leaders recognized as CRN Channel Chiefs this year have demonstrated unwavering commitment to their partners and the broader IT channel. Their vision, passion and drive for innovation continue to shape the future of our industry. We are proud to celebrate their achievements and the positive impact they make every day,” said Jennifer Follett, Vice President, U.S. Content, Executive Editor, CRN.
CRN’s 2026 Channel Chiefs list is featured on CRN.com at http://www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs
About Carahsoft
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Artificial Intelligence, Customer Experience and Engagement, Open Source and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at http://www.carahsoft.com.
Contact
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