Management Team
Members of the Zones management team were selected for their experience, strategic thinking and planning skills, and their ability to effectively produce results in the IT products and solutions marketplace.
Firoz Lalji
Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer
Zones CEO since 1998 and Director since 1990, Lalji is also the owner of Fana Capital Corp., an investment holding company operating in the United States and Canada. Prior to Zones, Inc., he was the founder, President and CEO of Kits Cameras, Inc., which he built into a 145 store chain located in seven western states. He sold Kits Cameras in 1997 and joined Zones management team. Lalji was born in Uganda and obtained his BSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics in 1969. He attended Harvard Business School from 1991 to 1993. He also serves on the Board of Directors of US Bank of Washington and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Ronald McFadden
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
McFadden has been part of the senior team since 1998, leading corporate finance and administration divisions. He brings more than 20 years of financial and business management and oversight experience from high-growth, high-volume retailing and manufacturing organizations to the company, and was an audit manager with Ernst & Young. McFadden earned an undergraduate accounting degree from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the University of Washington. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive) and a member of the AICPA.
Anwar Jiwani
Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Jiwani joined Zones in April 1999 after 23 years of IT leadership with The Royal Bank of Canada. Jiwani led an IT architectural turnaround, resulting in more than 50 percent savings in Zones voice telecomm costs, consolidating numerous IT services supplier contracts, and putting into place IT tools that are designed to support the service, e–commerce, and communication needs of the company. Jiwani attended Simon Fraser University, and has had extensive experience in adapting IT integrations which specifically support business strategies.
Tom Ducatelli
EVP of Sales and Business Development
Ducatelli joined the Zones executive team in October 2006. Previously, Ducatelli served as Senior Vice President, U.S. Sales, at Tech Data Corporation, a $20 billion multi-national distributor of IT products. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Dallas-based CompuCom Systems Inc., a $1.7 billion IT reseller and solution provider he joined in 1994. Prior to CompuCom, Ducatelli spent six years as a national sales executive with mid-range computer manufacturer Digital Equipment Corp. His background also includes serving as a business development analyst with J.C. Penney. Ducatelli holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Southern Connecticut State University.
Robert McGowen
Senior Vice President, SMB Sales
McGowen was named Senior Vice President, SMB Sales, in January 2008. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Zones Vice President, SMB Sales, since April 2004. From February 2003 to April 2004, McGowen was a Global Account Manager for Dell Computers. From September 2000 to February 2003, McGowen served as General Manager of Zones, providing onsite leadership for sales and operations for a major Fortune 100 customer. McGowen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University in Organizational Communication.
P. Sean Hobday
Senior Vice President, International & Strategic Accounts
Hobday was named Senior Vice President in January 2012 to lead the expansion of the company's global reach through the Zones (UK) Ltd. London office. He will also develop new business opportunities in India, China and Canada. Hobday began his career at Zones in 1999 as a Corporate Account Executive, and then moved on to serve as Director of Client Development, Vice President of Enterprise Sales and President of Zones Corporate Solutions. From 1996 to 1998, Hobday served as Managing Director of Blue Ice Leisure in Sydney, Australia, an Austral-Asian division of First Team Sports.
Asif Hudani
enior Vice President, IT Services
Hudani joined Zones in 2009 with more than 25 years of experience in the technology services industry. Prior to joining Zones Hudani was Executive Vice President with SIGMAnet, a VAR based in Southern California. From 1993 through 1999, he was President of NovaQuest InfoSystems, a West Coast- based VAR with more than $250 million in revenues. When the company merged with Sarcom in 1999, forming a national company with more than 2,400 employees and more than $1 billion in revenues, Hudani assumed the role of Executive Vice President. From 1988 to 1993, Hudani was a partner in a ComputerLand franchise - along with his partners the company grew to be the largest franchisee in the U.S. by 1991. Hudani holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Southern California.
Linda Marbena
Senior Vice President, Purchasing and Logistics
Marbena joined Zones in 2002 and was promoted to Vice President in 2006. During this time, she streamlined our procurement processes. Marbena played a crucial role in developing and expanding our supply chain management, as well as building out our logistics capabilities. This included expanding integration services to 24 hours a day and developing in-house ITAD (IT asset disposition) and reverse logistics capabilities.
Lori Stewart
Vice President of Human Resources
Stewart joined Zones as Vice President of Human Resources in September 2010. She has more than two decades of HR leadership experience, in the technology, biotech and financial services industries. Prior to joining Zones, Stewart was Human Resources Director for investment manager BlackRock’s West Coast operations, and before that, was Director of Human Resources at Gilead Sciences. At Gilead, she led the post-acquisition HR integration of Seattle-based Corus Pharma and Gilead’s Corporate Learning and Development department. Earlier, she held HR leadership roles at Baltimore Technologies and Fidelity Investments. Stewart holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in Management from Hartwick College. She is an active member of the YWCA of King and Snohomish County’s Human Resources Advisory Board.
Mark Nehring
Senior Vice President, Partner and Product Marketing (PPM)
Nehring joined Zones in September of 2011 after a 12-year career at Hewlett-Packard (HP), most recently as Vice President of National Partner Sales. Nehring leads the product and partner strategy focusing on growth in key solution categories. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Northeastern Illinois University.
Jim Grass
Vice President of Public Sector Sales
Grass joined Zones as Vice President of Public Sector Sales in May 2012. He has more than 19 years of successful experience driving revenue and building world-class sales and technical teams. Prior to Zones, he had a 17-year career at CDW, where he held roles as Vice President of State and Local Government Sales, Senior Director of Technology Development, and Director of Corporate Software Sales. Grass has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Paul Kerwin
Vice President of Sales Planning
Kerwin has been Zones Vice President of Sales Planning since March 2011. He joined Zones in May 1996 as Director of Treasury and Planning, a role he held for 15 years. Prior to Zones, Kerwin worked 10 years at the Hillhaven Corporation in various financial positions, including Senior Financial Analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Accounting from Washington State University, and is a Certified Public Accountant in Washington state.