This is the third year that CE Pro has run the Women to Watch feature, recognizing the women that are making an impact and changing the future of this unique industry.
I remember exactly when this idea was brainstormed: at a company retreat a few years ago when the then CE Pro editorial team sat down and chatted over a few drinks. We began talking about the diversity—or lack thereof—in this industry, and decided that we wanted to call attention to it.
To those of you reading this at CEDIA Expo, just take a look at the gender disparity on the show floor. I do think it’s getting better, but I think it’s still an issue the industry struggles with.
Take a look at the leadership teams of some of the largest manufacturers and integration firms in this industry. Most of this information is publicly available on a company’s website. Most are disproportionately occupied by men, yet they serve households equally made up of men and women—both use and control their homes, adjust lighting, immerse themselves in TV and movies, enjoy music, and hang out in the backyard. Women make up the majority of home purchasing and home furnishing decisions in the U.S., so to only serve, market to, and design for one half of that decision-making power isn’t just a bad look—it’s leaving money on the table.
And that mismatch matters more than it might seem. This isn’t just an internal staffing issue—it’s a sales problem hiding in plain sight. Women aren’t a niche audience for this industry; they’re the primary decision-makers for the homes it sells into. An industry that’s disproportionately built, marketed, and led by men is trying to sell into a purchasing decision that women disproportionately make. That’s not just a missed opportunity—it’s a structural mismatch between who’s selling and who’s buying.
I’d like to also recognize the unofficial CE Pro Women to Watch Committee that has helped CE Pro select Women to Watch honorees for the second straight year. The committee includes Katye Bennett of KMB Communications, Maryellen Osward of Somfy, and Sarah Dresher of Luxury Integrated Technologies for once again helping to select women to honor with this distinction.
If you want to hear from some of these women, check out the Women to Watch panel on the Smart Stage at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Yvette Kelsey
Director of International Sales, Soundvision Technologies
Yvette Kelsey leads international sales for Soundvision Technologies, where she has built and sustained the company’s global distribution network. She manages relationships with international customers, distributors, and factories, coordinating closely with sales, operations, manufacturing, and logistics teams to keep communication smooth across time zones and cultures. Colleagues describe her as a calm, solutions-oriented leader whose responsiveness and follow-through have deepened trust with partners abroad and helped the company expand into new markets. Beyond the numbers she drives, Yvette is known for the relationships she builds — she travels regularly to meet distributors in person, bringing an energy and genuine care that partners consistently point to as a reason they keep doing business with the company. Internally, she is seen as a steady collaborator who bridges departments and smooths operational friction; externally, as a trusted advocate for customer success. Her combination of operational fluency, cross-cultural business experience, and hands-on relationship management positions her as an important voice in the continued growth of the global custom integration and audio industry.
Kendra Philips
Senior Vice President of Sales, Legrand | AV
Kendra Philips was named Senior Vice President of Sales at Legrand AV in April 2025, one of the most senior commercial leadership roles in the professional AV manufacturing space — and a title held by very few women in the industry. Her path there was deliberately broad rather than narrow: over 13 years at Legrand | AV, she has led Business Development, Marketing, Specification Sales, and Global Accounts, building a 360-degree view of how AV products reach the market. Earlier in her career, she worked the integration side of the business at Spinitar and in technical furniture business development at Middle Atlantic Products, giving her an instinctive understanding of what integrators actually need from a manufacturer. That cross-functional fluency now shapes how she leads sales strategy and execution across Legrand AV’s mounting, signal distribution, and infrastructure portfolio. Colleagues point to her adaptability through personal and professional transitions as a defining leadership quality — the ability to convert setbacks into growth. As one of a small number of women leading national sales organizations in professional AV, her continued rise is widely seen as opening the path further for the next generation of women in the channel.
Kendall Clark
Senior Director of Sales & Marketing, One Firefly
Kendall Clark has helped transform One Firefly’s web division into one of the company’s most successful, revenue-generating departments. Over her career there, she has personally built an estimated 200 to 300 industry websites and has led teams responsible for more than 1,000 more, while playing a central role in launching award-winning offerings like Mercury Pro websites, Video Pioneer, and Amplify People. Under her sales and marketing leadership, One Firefly has earned Inc. 5000 recognition in consecutive years and a 2025 GrowFL award. Kendall has also become a respected educator, leading a significant expansion of One Firefly’s webinar and event programming — including 12 webinars in 2025 that drew more than 2,000 registrations — and speaking at events like CEDIA Expo, Total Tech Summit, and Lightapalooza. Inside the company, she leads weekly sales training and spearheads a public speaking cohort for emerging leaders, and works directly with the CEO on company strategy as part of the executive leadership team. Her blend of product innovation, revenue leadership, and mentorship has made her a trusted advisor to integrators navigating marketing, hiring, and growth challenges across the industry.
Amy Hansen
Vice President of North American Sales, Nordost
Amy Hansen is Vice President of North American Sales for Nordost, the specialty cabling company, in a corner of the residential AV market that remains heavily male-dominated. She is one of just four women in a leadership position at Nordost, and her rise to the VP title is regularly cited by colleagues as proof that a love of high-performance audio isn’t the province of any one gender. Amy has built her career on relationship-driven sales leadership, bringing a positive, engaged presence to an industry segment where women in senior commercial roles are still uncommon. Peers who have spoken with her describe her enthusiasm for the home audio market and her candor about the opportunities — and obstacles — that exist for women in the CE industry. Her visibility in the category matters beyond her own results: as one of a small number of women in senior AV sales leadership, she offers a concrete, current example for others considering a career in high-performance audio. Colleagues say they would put their money on her ability to bring any international distributor to the table, a reflection of the trust and credibility she has built industry-wide.
Jennine Filipi
Director of Partner Development, OneVision Resources
Jennine Filipi joined OneVision Resources in September 2024, bringing 25 years of customer success expertise to an industry that has historically treated post-sale support as a transactional, break/fix function. She leads a ten-person Partner Development team responsible for onboarding and ongoing success across OneVision’s growing network of integrator partners, and under her leadership the team has nearly tripled its partner count to almost 300 while maintaining a 95% retention rate. She led the adoption of an AI-forward customer success platform and built a multi-dimensional partner segmentation model that replaced a one-size-fits-all approach with a tiered strategy based on partner needs and growth potential. Rather than solving problems for her team, Jennine coaches them through hard situations so they build their own judgment — a style colleagues credit with making the team both more confident and more capable at scale. She spent her first two quarters working dual roles on the front line before leading from above, and remains active in the Customer Success Collective, bringing outside best practices back into the industry. Her team, and the roughly 300 small businesses they support, are proof of what happens when customer success expertise is applied seriously in custom integration.
Katrina Hughes
Vice President & COO, Smart Systems
Katrina Hughes is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Smart Systems, where she oversees commercial and government business development and client relations. Under her leadership, the company increased annual revenue by 196% from 2023 through 2025 and is on pace to achieve nearly 400% growth by the end of 2026. She has helped Smart Systems become a formidable competitor for local government and library technology contracts and was instrumental in helping Smart Systems win its first CE Pro 100 award. Katrina is frequently the only woman at government and library RFP site walks, and her colleagues say that is when she does her best work. She makes strong first impressions and asks sharper technical questions than anyone else, even when some of her peers won’t make eye contact with her. The results speak for themselves: with her team’s support, Smart Systems has won 80% of the government and library RFP opportunities for which she attended the site walk. Outside Smart Systems, Katrina served seven years on the board of the Center for Relationship Education, including two years as President, and volunteered with the Colorado Technology Association for five years. She brings that relationship-first philosophy to Smart Systems, giving the company a competitive edge.
Wendy Griffiths
Senior Vice President, Membership & Global Development, CEDIA
Wendy Griffiths has spent 25 years building CEDIA into the global organization it is today, progressing from a marketing and events role with CEDIA UK through Operations Manager, Operations Director, Executive Director of EMEA, and Vice President of Member Engagement, to her current role on CEDIA’s Executive Leadership Team. Along the way she helped establish CEDIA’s UK office, supported the founding and growth of ISE — now the world’s leading AV systems integration trade show — and led global alignment efforts through multiple leadership transitions, including the integration of CEDIA EMEA with the global organization. She has also helped grow CEDIA’s presence in key markets, working with regional consultants to expand education and engagement. Today, she oversees initiatives supporting CEDIA’s 30,000 members across more than 80 countries. Having spent her formative years in Taiwan and South Africa and now based in the UK, Wendy brings an international perspective built through extensive relationship-building across diverse markets. Her recognitions include an Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award and a spot among Dealerscope’s Powerful Women in Consumer Technology — honors that reflect a career spent, in her own words, prioritizing collaboration and inclusivity across a still male-dominated field.
Meg Dolan
Director, Comcast
Meg Dolan has spent 20 years at Comcast and was part of the original team that built the CXI program, created to close a gap in coordinated support for shared customers. In her current role leading the team known as Spec Ops, she continues to drive the program’s growth, recently overseeing the launch of a new CXI portal that lets integrators easily submit requests and connects them directly to Comcast’s highest tier of support. Colleagues describe her as a hands-on leader who is actively involved in every aspect of her team’s work rather than managing from a distance, and someone who leads by example rather than through authority alone. She is a graduate of WICT’s Rising Leaders program and remains an active mentor through WICT and Comcast’s Global Reliability mentorship program, consistently advocating for the growth of the women she works alongside. Team members describe feeling genuinely supported by her, both professionally and personally, and say she puts real emphasis on work-life balance while still pushing the CXI community to grow. As the program continues expanding its integrator base, Meg’s continued leadership is expected to keep raising the ceiling on what CXI can deliver.
Kathleen Thomas
Head of Custom Install, Sony Electronics
Kathleen Thomas leads custom integration sales strategy for Sony Electronics, overseeing the company’s relationships with integrators, dealers, rep firms, and distribution partners across the United States. After joining Sony in 2021 and serving in regional and national leadership positions within the Custom Integration channel, she was appointed Head of Custom Integration Sales in 2025. Drawing on a career that includes leadership roles at AudioQuest, Bowers & Wilkins, and other respected industry brands, Kathleen brings a deep understanding of both manufacturer and dealer perspectives to her role so the company’s programs reflect real-world installation demands.
Emily Jones
Senior Director of Product Management, ADI Global Distribution
Emily Jones leads Product Management for ADI Global Distribution’s Digital Infrastructure and Dealer Platforms business units, covering networking, power, and OvrC-related categories. Her responsibility spans the full lifecycle of product strategy — from spotting market opportunities to delivering scalable solutions that drive real value for dealers and customers. Across her tenure, she has shown a rare versatility, successfully leading categories ranging from foundational hardware like racks and mounts to highly strategic areas like power management, where her leadership helped build WattBox into a market-leading brand recognized with a CEDIA Hall of Fame induction. Colleagues describe her as a leader who builds clarity where there’s ambiguity, coaching her team to think strategically and prioritize customer outcomes rather than simply executing tasks. She is a visible voice in the industry, frequently sought out to represent her company and products in trade press, and is deeply engaged with Women in Engineering and other industry groups. As the smart home category continues converging hardware, software, and services, Emily’s ability to learn quickly and translate complex problems into practical solutions positions her as a leader who will keep shaping where the industry goes next.
JoAnn Arcenal
Director, Customer Experience Centers, Crestron Electronics
JoAnn Arcenal has built a career closing the gap between the technology channel and the design-build community. As Director of Customer Experience Centers at Crestron Electronics, she leads the strategic vision and global operations of the company’s Experience Centers and showrooms across the U.S., turning physical showroom environments into high-conversion assets that connect technology to the architects, designers, and specifiers who influence its adoption. She joined Crestron in 2018 as a Market Development Manager and has been promoted three times since, most recently into her current director role in 2025 — a trajectory built entirely on results. Before Crestron, she cut her teeth at McCann Systems, one of the Northeast’s largest AV design-build firms, giving her a ground-level view of both integrator priorities and design-world expectations. She holds certifications from AVIXA, the Digital Signage Federation, and the NAHB, and is an active Women in Consumer Technology member and Women in Construction Ambassador in both New York and Chicago. She was named to Commercial Integrator’s “40 Influencers Under 40” and was recognized as a Woman to Watch by Women in Consumer Technology at CES back in 2023 — a sign of the trajectory that continues today.
Sarah Atkinson
Senior Manager, Professional Partnerships, Sonos
Sarah Atkinson has spent just over six years at Sonos building relationships across the custom integration channel, joining originally as a business development manager tasked with sharpening the company’s trade strategy. Before Sonos, her career centered on trade materials and building awareness among builders, designers, and architects, giving her a natural feel for the relationship-driven side of the business. She collaborated early on with an outside agency to generate audience and market insights that shaped Sonos’s trades website, still a foundational resource for the channel today. More recently, Sarah has been a key contributor behind the updated Search API, which gives integrators greater control between Sonos and its Works with Sonos control partners, and she has helped forge new manufacturer partnerships that let integrators build bigger, more complex systems. She also shapes how Sonos shows up at major industry events like CEDIA Expo and InfoComm, proactively driving the creative vision and coordinating teams onsite. A member of Sonos’s internal Professional Steering Committee, Sarah has earned multiple Golden Records and, most recently, a Platinum Record for her commitment to the business.
Danielle Kantack
VP of Sales Excellence, AVPro Global Holdings
Danielle Kantack built her early career in finance, developing a foundation in administration, organization, and leadership before bringing those skills into the AV industry nine years ago at AVPro Edge and Murideo. Since then, she has played a pivotal role in AVPro’s growth from a single-brand business into a multi-brand powerhouse, helping guide the company as it quadrupled in size and added Bullet Train, AudioControl, RTI, ProControl and ThenAudio to its portfolio. Along the way, she has led and restructured critical departments including customer service, administration, and technical support. In 2025, Danielle launched AVPro Design Services, one of the company’s newest initiatives, giving integrators free consultations and expert-designed system layouts tailored to their projects. Since her nomination, she has been promoted to VP of Sales Excellence, where she continues to grow the ADS team, educate teams across the organization, and lead the initiatives that keep AVPro moving forward. She has mentored and uplifted her female colleagues while leading by example. Her work has already been recognized with the Dealerscope Most Powerful Women on the Rise Award in 2020 – and her leadership, pride, and drive have become central to the company’s continued success.
Megan Campbell
Lead Account Manager, D-Tools Cloud
Megan Campbell has become a standout on the D-Tools Cloud team, known for building customer success through empathy, strategic insight, and consistent professionalism. Her approach was shaped earlier in her career as Client Services Manager at ForeFront Innovation, a former smart home professional company in Texas, where she developed the customer-first instincts she brings to D-Tools today. In her current role, she blends genuine personal connection with a sharp focus on performance, championing collaboration across teams while keeping customer satisfaction at the center of every interaction. Colleagues point to her poise under pressure and her evident passion for the people she supports as qualities that make her an indispensable part of the D-Tools team. As the company continues to grow its Cloud platform and expand its base of integrator customers, Megan’s ability to combine relationship-building with operational rigor positions her as someone whose influence within the client services function — and the broader industry’s approach to customer success — is very much on the rise.
Jessica Taylor
VP Operations, Home Technology Solutions
Jessica Taylor brought a distinctive perspective into the custom integration industry, having built her early career in hospitality before joining Home Technology Solutions (HTS). In just five years, she has become an integral part of the company’s operations, balancing responsibility across multiple divisions including Custom Integration, Security, and Electrical. Jessica’s leadership has been especially valuable during HTS’s expansion to Charlotte, where she played a pivotal role. Throughout her career at HTS, her approach has been rooted in exceptional service, cultivating strong client and industry partnerships, and creating a positive environment where employees can grow and succeed. Jessica has a natural ability to mentor others while fostering a culture of accountability, teamwork, and growth. Her hospitality background and people-first philosophy and commitment to delivering outstanding client experiences has helped shape both her own success and the continued growth of HTS. As the company has expanded, Jessica has remained focused on building lasting relationships and strengthening the culture that supports sustainable success, making her a rising leader worth watching in the CI channel.
Rose Doose
Onboarding Coach and Trainer, iPoint, LLC
Rose Doose has been a steady, trusted presence in the custom integration software space for years, starting her career with Echo Systems before its transition to Denizen and continuing on with iPoint, LLC. In her current role as Onboarding Coach and Trainer, she has become, in her colleagues’ words, the voice of iPoint — personally guiding hundreds of CI companies through onboarding and helping them get up and running on the platform with confidence. That hands-on, high-volume experience has given her an unusually deep understanding of where integrators struggle most when adopting new business software, and she uses that insight to make onboarding smoother for every new community member. Rose is also set to play an instrumental role in launching iPoint’s newest venture, Smackdab, bringing her onboarding expertise to a fresh audience as the company expands its offerings. Her sustained commitment to the integrators she supports, and her willingness to keep showing up for new initiatives, make her a quiet but essential part of how the CI software community grows and succeeds.
Jeanette Aguilar
Technical Support Manager, URC
For the past 12 years, Jeanette Aguilar has been a driving force behind URC’s commitment to exceptional dealer support. Rising through the organization to become Technical Support Manager, she has demonstrated a unique ability to combine technical expertise, operational leadership, and outstanding customer service. Jeanette leads and mentors technical support professionals, resolves complex challenges for dealers and plays a key role in advancing the quality and effectiveness of URC’s support organization.
Known for her collaborative leadership style, patience, and dedication to continuous learning, Jeanette has earned the respect, the trust of colleagues, customers, and industry partners throughout her tenure. Her 12 years of service, coupled with her passion for empowering others and fostering excellence, have made her an influential leader within URC & with people in contact with URC, and a standout example of women’s leadership in the custom integration industry.
Lynne Stambouly
Lighting Designer, The Light Lady
Lynne Stambouly (The Light Lady) brings nearly four decades of client-facing expertise and has held virtually every role in the lighting industry, including sales, design, product procurement, and project management. She has also owned a lighting showroom, spent 10 years as a manufacturer’s representative in the lighting category, and served as a national trainer for Kichler landscape lighting.
With more than 35 years in the field, Lynne is recognized for delivering lighting designs that balance artistic vision with functional performance, grounded in installation-focused solutions that work in the real world. As co-founder and CEO of Illuminated Lighting Design, she and her team are passionate lighting “geeks” committed to continual education, cross-trade collaboration, and elevating the experience for clients, designers, architects, and builders alike.
In 2025, Lynne was honored as Associate of the Year by the Collier Building Industry Association (CBIA). She currently serves on the boards of CBIA and the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA), and is also a founding member of the CEDIA Foundation. Lynne’s lifelong mission is to bring the trades together, creating the glue that strengthens communication, trust, and project success across the industry. Her work has been featured in CE Pro, Technology Designer, Home & Design, and Residential Systems, and she is currently developing a Lighting Experience Center, set to open in Spring 2026.
Jessica Weiss
Director of Customer Experience & Buying Groups, Nice
Jessica graduated summa cum laude from Temple University with a degree in Public Relations. She brings a dynamic background spanning sales, business development, marketing, operations, and customer experience, with a career that has taken her across industries as varied as hospitality, renewable energy, and custom integration at globally recognized companies including Crowne Plaza Hotels, Lutron Electronics, Sonnen, One Firefly, and now Nice North America.
Since joining Nice North America, Jessica has focused on several key areas of the business, including elevating the customer experience and strengthening collaboration with national buying group partners. Most recently, her focus has turned to managing Nice’s rep agency partnerships across both the control and security channels, where she drives channel strategy, deepens partner relationships, and delivers the insights and support that fuel growth across the territories they serve.
If there is one thread that runs through Jessica’s diverse background, it is her passion for people, for helping her teammates grow, helping businesses thrive, and advancing the adoption of smart technology. Outside of work, she enjoys cycling, live music, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Tabi Quick
National Sales Manager, CI, Draper at Home
With many years of experience in the custom integration (CI) industry, Tabitha Quick has built a reputation as a trusted leader in the motorized shading category. Her deep product knowledge, strong channel relationships, and passion for helping integrators grow their businesses have made her a respected voice within the residential technology community.
In April 2024, Tabitha was promoted to the newly created role of National Manager, Custom Integration for Draper At Home. Recognized for her industry expertise and relationship-focused approach, Tabi leads Draper At Home’s strategic partnerships with national independent manufacturers’ representative firms and represents the company within CEDIA buying groups across North America.
Tabi has strengthened Draper At Home’s presence in the CI channel by cultivating deeper relationships with rep firms, integrators, and buying groups. Her collaborative leadership has expanded brand awareness, increased market share, and positioned Draper At Home as a trusted partner. Through her commitment to education, partnership development, and customer success, Tabi continues to drive meaningful business growth for both Draper At Home and its partners.
