Cloud Girls and the Alliance of Channel Women both work to support and inspire women in roles across tech. Learn more about their work and 2025 milestones.
Written by: Victoria Durgin, Channel Insider
March is widely celebrated as a month to honor the contributions of women worldwide in and out of their careers. Channel Insider caught up with the current leaders and founders of two organizations who have committed themselves to supporting women to join and remain in tech and channel roles.
ACW and Cloud Girls leaders reflect on success and chart the path forward
The Alliance of Channel Women (ACW) was founded in 2010 to bring together women across channel businesses. The group sponsors a variety of events and panels at leading conferences in addition to providing several ways for women to learn from and support one another virtually and in-person.
Cloud Girls is also a nonprofit organization focused on empowering women at all stages in their tech journeys. The organization leverages partnerships to provide networking and professional development opportunities to everyone from young girls to seasoned professionals.
Both groups have watched countless examples of progress and pain unfold over the past decade. GrantThornton’s research shows men still far outpace women in leadership across technology, and women still make up only about a quarter of the total technology workforce according to recent reports.
ACW hits 15-year anniversary, sets sights on the work ahead
The ACW celebrates its 15-year anniversary in 2025, a testament to the power of its founding leadership and also to the desire for women across the channel to come together in supporting gender equity and career growth.
“There were many times when our group was outpacing the world around us,” said Nancy Ridge, the co-founder and former president of ACW. Ridge also runs her own consulting firm and spent years in channel sales leadership positions.
Rosales-Peterson began her term as president in 2024 and continued the work she had supported as a board member of the organization. She sees ACW as an opportunity for women to be their full, authentic selves in a space still dominated by men and often lacking equity.
“All the things that the guys always seem to talk about on the golf course, we were and still are talking about in conference rooms and meetings,” Rosales-Peterson said. “I’m really, really passionate about supporting women in the channel.”
For Rosales-Peterson, part of that role also includes being an example and role model for other women of color, and young girls of color, to see themselves represented in tech and channel leadership.
“I feel like I have to take that responsibility on myself so the women behind me can look up to me and see success. I don’t know that there’s ever been a Black women channel chief, and there aren’t many of us for me to look to, but I want to be that for others,” Rosales-Peterson said.
Ridge said she hopes to see the organization continue to grow as the next 15 years unfolds, with a vision for regional chapters anchoring communities through in-person events not necessarily tied to large conferences everyone must travel to. Plus, the organization will continue to provide workshops, open forums, and other programming to further drive the channel towards equity across all roles.
Ridge outlines the founding principles of the organization in three pillars, including:
- Encourage collaboration to grow businesses
- Provide ways for women to support one another in all avenues of professional and personal life
- Build mentorship opportunities for women at every level of their career
“I hope the organization maintains its commitment to those values over time, and in another 15 years whoever is in leadership is just as passionate about this as we were in the beginning,” Ridge said.
“I hope that 15 years from now we are in a much better spot as women in the channel. I hope the challenges we face today are not what women see fifteen years from now in their experiences,” Rosales-Peterson said.