Kristi Schon, chief marketing officer at Channel, has spent five years defining Channel’s brand around consistency, generosity and commitment to the partners and industries it serves.

For her, marketing is a discipline, not a campaign function. Sharing knowledge openly builds more trust than any advertisement could. Two members of her team recently presented at an industry conference on specialized topics, a moment she describes as more meaningful than any presentation of her own.

“Influence compounds when you give it away,” Schon says. “The goal is to help put the right people in front of the room and let them do their thing. That’s where real impact lives.”

Active on the NEFA board of directors and multiple association committees, Schon measures Channel’s success by the depth of its relationships and the impact it leaves behind.