In this Meraki Unboxed podcast, we’re getting schooled. Tune in to learn about the E-Rate program, a vital federal resource helping K-12 schools secure funding for internet connectivity. Join our host Sammy and guests Cedric Lockhart and Janell Tennyson as they discuss sales leadership strategies, Cisco’s competitive edge, the significance of the five-year funding cycle, and common misconceptions about E-Rate funding. Class is now in session!

Host

Sammy Brenner, Virtual Sales Leader, Cisco Meraki

Guests

Cedric Lockhart, Senior Director, Cisco Networking Sales for Public Sector

Cedric Lockhart has a passion for connecting with people and developing winning teams. While serving as Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, he learned that the best leaders focus on the people, set a positive tone, develop plans that overachieve the objectives, and think BIG! He has carried those same core beliefs into his sales leadership career.

Cedric currently leads the $3.5B Public Sector Networking Business. During his 15-year Cisco-career, Cedric has held a number of sales and sales leadership roles, including leading the Cisco Meraki Americas business, Enterprise and Service Provider business for Cisco AppDynamics, Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader for Enterprise, and other roles in corporate tech sales.

Janell Tennyson, Sales Business Development, E-Rate Lead

Janell Tennyson is E-Rate Lead for the Cisco Public Funding Team. Janell is an experienced grant writer with over 16 years working in the telecommunications industry. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing the entire E-Rate process and educating the field, partners, and customers to better understand and effectively utilize and maintain compliance with E-Rate rules and regulations.

In this Meraki Unboxed episode, we discuss something that’s very near and dear to our host Tanner’s heart (and team)—the new Meraki vMX! This virtual security and SD-WAN powerhouse unifies on-premises and cloud networks, tackles modern security challenges, and streamlines management with automation and a unified dashboard. Tune in to hear Tanner and his team discuss the latest features, cloud integrations, and how vMX is reshaping distributed networking for hybrid and multicloud environments.

• https://meraki.cisco.com/product/hybrid-cloud/vmx/vmx-small/
• https://meraki.cisco.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/vMX-datasheet-20230421-english.pdf
• https://meraki.cisco.com/form/trial/

Host

Tanner Yehlik, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Meraki

Guests

Simarbir Singh, Product Manager, vMX, Cisco Meraki

John Shea, Technical Solutions Architect, Enterprise Networking, Cisco