VIENNA, Va. – Apr. 8, 2021 – The Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) will honor Toni Townes-Whitley, Microsoft’s president for US Regulated Industries, as the recipient of its 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award. Townes-Whitley’s contributions and legacy to the sales community will be celebrated at the IES 2021 Sales Excellence Award Event on June 3.
Townes-Whitley is one of the principal women leaders at Microsoft and in the technology industry, with a track record for accelerating and sustaining profitable business and building high-performance teams. She currently leads the company’s US sales strategy for driving digital transformation across customers and partners within the public sector and commercial regulated industries—education, financial services, government and health & life sciences.
In addition to managing a 4,900-plus sales organization and ~$15B P&L across the United States, Townes-Whitley is very involved in Microsoft’s corporate commitments and efforts to help tackle big societal issues like inclusion, sustainability, fundamental rights and trust, and with the company’s investments aimed at responsible AI, digital skilling and broadband access. She is also helping steer the company’s work to address systemic racial injustice.
She serves on the boards of the PNC Financial Services Group, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Partnership for Public Service, the United Way Worldwide, and the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative. She is also an advisor to the Women’s Center of Northern Virginia, and a past president and board chair of Women in Technology. Townes-Whitley continues to support the U.S. Peace Corps, for which she volunteered as a village teacher in Central Africa.
“Toni Townes-Whitley and her team have achieved monumental success both within the sales arena and through creating a positive societal and global impact,” said Fred Diamond, Cofounder and President of the Institute for Excellence in Sales. “In addition to a record of building high-performance teams and driving digital transformation across national industries, her contributions to social causes is something all leaders should aspire to reflect.”
The IES Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a visionary leader and world-class executioner of sales excellence. Annual recipients are recognized for their substantial careers in sales leadership at the highest levels of major organizations, a legacy of protégé success and a demonstrated commitment to the sales profession. The annual Lifetime Achievement recipient is chosen by a panel of industry-leading peers and former recipients of the prestigious award.
“As the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, it’s my honor to congratulate Toni Townes-Whitley on her receipt of the 2021 Award,” said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. “Toni’s leadership is helping Microsoft’s government customers benefit from the scale and services available in the cloud to meet their mission goals. We commend her on this and applaud her for being recognized by the IES.”
“Toni Townes-Whitley is an inspirational leader and valued strategic partner in our industry,” said Mark Testoni, CEO of SAP NS2. “Her commitment to driving innovative customer digital transformation and creating positive societal impact are second to none. Toni is a well-deserving recipient of the 2021 IES Lifetime Achievement Award.”
“As a valued partner to the government and Dell Technologies, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Toni,” said Steve Harris, SVP & GM, Dell Technologies Public Sector. “She exemplifies the best of our industry—a caring and passionate leader making a demonstrable societal impact that reaches across the technology community. Toni could not be more deserving of this honor from the IES.”
The 2021 Sales Excellence Award Event will broadcast on June 3, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EST, and will also feature Women in Sales Leadership Award Recipient Courtney Bromley, Member of the Year John Asher, the Jay Nussbaum Rising Sales Star and Speaker of the Year Award Recipients. To sponsor this year’s event, click here and follow along on social media at #IESAwards.
About the Institute for Excellence in Sales:
The IES provides a wealth of services to sales leaders and their teams at companies large and small throughout the U.S and across the globe. It is an unbiased and trusted partner for the delivery of sales programs, speakers, training, services and products. The IES also produces the award-winning Sales Game Changers Podcast and runs the IES Women in Sales Leadership Forum. Contact the IES at www.i4esbd.com. A complete list of upcoming IES programs can be found here.
