Pankaj Monga: How family, education, and leadership shaped a successful CEO

Pankaj Monga draws from a deep well of principles.

Cultural bedrocks like family and education from his Indian heritage blend with a business savvy and an unwavering commitment to his local community fostered since he came to the United States in the 1990s to play tennis at Southwest Baptist University in Missouri.

“Family sets the foundation for my life,” said Mr. Monga, 52, the president and CEO of Hiawatha-based Channel Fusion and the 2024 recipient of the Howard Hall Excellence in Business Award from the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.

“Your family is always there through thick and thin, always,” he said. “It’s an absolute constant.”

Family for Mr. Monga includes his wife, Pari, and three children – their son Pranay, 17, a junior and stand-out golfer at Xavier High School; Pranav, 24, who lives in Washington, D.C.; and Pranavi, 28, who lives in India.

More than 20 years ago, Mr. Monga’s parents, Dr. Ram Monga and Kamal Monga, came to the United States and now live with the family at their home in Marion.

“My dad is 86, and is a retired professor of physics from a large university in northern India,” Mr. Monga said. “Mom is 81 and has been a homemaker all her life.”

“I think the role of family is such a cultural thing for us, and it’s the reason our parents are with us,” he said. “When we were younger, we were taught, ‘Don’t forget to hold the finger of the guys who are holding your fingers now.’ And so that’s embedded in all of us. I think it’s important to have that wisdom, and, by God, they bring so much wisdom to situations. It’s such a phenomenal thing to have them here, and we’re very lucky.”

Indian culture puts a strong emphasis on education, Mr. Monga points out.

“I think it’s not as much by choice as driven by survivalist instincts when you have that many people,” he said of the population in his home country. “Education exposes kids to the possibilities, wherein lies the opportunity. Education makes you think. When you think, you can start to break barriers.”

From one small town to another

Mr. Monga has described his hometown of Chandigarh, India as a “small town” of 2.5 million people. Adjusting to college in a rural Missouri community was a “huge change.”

“You are coming from a lot of energy to almost like slow motion,” he said.

All six of his teammates on the school’s highly ranked tennis team were from other countries – Egypt, Holland, Australia, the Philippines, Colombia – “and that bonded us together.”

“The town was so welcoming. People were so nice, they were curious. They were generous beyond belief with their resources,” he said. “The teachers were fantastic, the town was fantastic.”

“I couldn’t tell you a single negative story about being an immigrant,” he said. And that has extended to his life in Iowa.

“It’s been nothing but awesome,” he said.

In his remarks accepting the Howard Hall Excellence in Business Award on January 28, Mr. Monga noted, “As I reflect on what this honor represents, I am reminded of the responsibility it carries. It is a call to not only focus on doing things right, but more importantly doing the right things. To continue to strive for excellence, and to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Core values drive business

Channel Fusion, founded by Mr. Monga in 2011, provides channel marketing solutions and support services for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including John Deere, Pella Windows & Doors, Michelin and Sea-Doo. In addition to its headquarters in Hiawatha, there are offices in Chandigarh, India, and Mexico. The business that began in a corner of the building at 1365 N. Center Point Road has expanded to about 16,000 square feet. The ground floor is occupied by Midwest Janitorial Service Inc., which owns the building.

Mr. Monga is an enthusiastic tour guide as he shows a visitor through a labyrinth of various office spaces, hued in Channel Fusion’s signature colors of bright blue and green.

“Inspire. Be Inspired. Do Inspiring Work.” Those words headline a busy work board in one of Channel Fusion’s conference rooms. A small gym with exercise equipment for employees to use reflects Mr. Monga’s support for staff wellness, as does a “hangout” room with a stocked bar, a popcorn machine and a stack of board games. The room, open to the Channel Fusion team on Wednesday afternoons, is a place for “Fusers” to relax, swap work stories and even come up with solutions to issues they’re dealing with.

“The energy is really palpable in here,” he said. “It’s so amazing how many ideas and conversations you can hear.”

Channel Fusion’s core values promote outstanding service, striving to be the most respected and admired company in the community and industry, and fairness and caring in every action, among other goals.

The numbers on the company website tell of Channel Fusion’s success. It manages more than $1 billion in client trade promotion funds, serves a network of over 100,000 dealers and distributors, and manages global channel marketing programs with portals localized in 15 languages. Eighty percent of its business comes from client referrals.

In an interview, Mr. Monga often takes the spotlight off himself to talk about the Channel Fusion team.

“You know the age-old things that have been proven – we don’t have to reinvent them – is (that) people who are happy, who are fulfilled, who are motivated, who are ambitious, tend to do better,” he said. “And that’s not a new concept that we’re discovering; it’s how do we adapt to those things as we move forward. … As you adapt, the core principles still remain the same that you can build on … compassion, giving, caring.”

“I always talk to my team about love and accountability; they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

Caring about the community

Mr. Monga is continually struck by the regional leadership here and the care that citizens show for their communities.

“One of the things I am very fascinated by with our country is how well-run our local communities are,” he said. “I think the local communities are the cells of the body. They really make this country run – local mayors and council members, school board members and the governors of the states.”

Looking back at the 31 of his 52 years as an Iowa resident, Mr. Monga is philosophical.

“I think life takes you so many different places, like how that river is going to get to the sea eventually,” he muses. “The path is what makes it so interesting.”

“As we’ve gotten older, my wife loves it here, and I’ve grown to love it here because our priorities have shifted,” he said. “Now instead of the energy and the hustle-bustle, we are seeking peace, and a quality of life.”

“It’s 10 minutes to everywhere, we have great neighbors, a great community of different friends of different ages and professions, such welcoming people.”

“This is my home, and so that’s what it feels like,” he said. “It’s very ironic when we go back to Chandigarh, and that is quite a bit, when we land in Cedar Rapids, we almost always say, ‘So happy to be home’. This is our home, and we feel like this was meant to be.”