The Alliance of Channel Women: Empowering Women In Tech

*This blog post is a guest contribution by Ostra’s founder Michael Kennedy, originally published on the Alliance of Channel Women (ACW) blog.

As someone who’s worked in IT and cybersecurity circles for 20+ years, I know the gender gap persists in all areas of tech — especially cybersecurity. Why is that, exactly?

No, I don’t think the “cyber-sarcasm” vibe is scaring women off. The female contingent in our office regularly humbles me. They are tough and intelligent, and I don’t want to think about the shape our company would be in without their formidable presence.

Yet a 2023 report by Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) revealed women face two times more exclusion than men in the workplace. Debating whether this exclusion is accidental or on purpose is not the point. This problem needs to be confronted and remedied as soon as possible, and that’s one of the reasons why being a sponsor of the Alliance of Channel Women (ACW) is so important to me as a leader.

Why ACW?

Being an ACW sponsor is one tangible way to help create more opportunities for our female employees. At Ostra, we strive to be a place that proactively recruits, retains and advances opportunities for women in our field. We are passionate about doing our part to close the gender gap by building a strong and gender-diverse workforce in the cybersecurity industry. But we can’t do it alone.

Recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion isn’t just “the right thing to do.” At Ostra, we have also found it to drive our innovation and success. We’re focused on actively recruiting and retaining women in the IT channel because their contributions make us stronger.

ACW plays a crucial role by serving as a platform for networking, mentorship and advocacy for the women on our team. Collaborating with ACW enables us to build a more inclusive workplace and secure Ostra’s future in the channel. The culture at ACW also aligns closely with Ostra’s approach to building authentic relationships with potential channel partners and strategic vendors (as opposed to using aggressive sales tactics).

The Minnesota Connection

Ostra’s involvement with ACW began in 2023 after a few of our women joined. As a Minnesota-based company, there was no local chapter for Minnesota. In April 2023, Mel Kolinski (Channel Development Director) and Stacey Kusnier (Marketing Director) decided to change that and started the ACW Minnesota Chapter.

As co-moderators, Mel and Stacey have grown the ACW Minnesota Chapter over the past year and put together many valuable events focused on networking, collaboration and thought leadership. These events are designed to support women in the tech industry in overcoming obstacles—such as the recent Bring Your Ally panel, which has inspired other chapters to do similar events.

Starting the ACW Minnesota Chapter has been a game-changer for Ostra. It’s given us a local platform for our female employees to connect, collaborate, and support each other. After seeing the success and the value our women were getting from ACW, becoming a sponsor in 2024 was a no-brainer.

I encourage my industry colleagues to support ACW in any way they can. Help inspire others as a member, attend an event, become a sponsor, or find ways to hire or recommend the women from this incredible network.

About Michael Kennedy

Michael Kennedy is recognized as a cybersecurity industry trailblazer. He founded Ostra Cybersecurity, a company that provides holistic, multi-layered, fully managed Security as a Service to protect businesses of all sizes. Previously, Kennedy led, built and scaled security platforms for Fortune 5 companies before setting out on a mission to protect SMBs.

The idea for Ostra came from his insights gained during 20+ years of working for the world’s largest healthcare provider. Michael was responsible for integrating complex data systems and protecting private data during business acquisitions. He oversaw over 75 acquisitions and supported over 350,000 global employees, protecting sensitive health data and business functionality at each integration.