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Ali Cooper
Learning and Development at The Trade Desk
Professional Background
Ali Cooper is a seasoned professional in the domains of sport marketing, organizational development, and internal communications. With a solid foundation built through her Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Marketing and Management from Indiana University Bloomington, Ali has carved a niche for herself in the competitive world of corporate training and development, communication strategies, and event management.
Throughout her career, Ali has consistently demonstrated her expertise in cultivating organizational cultures that thrive on learning, communication, and employee engagement. Currently, she serves in the Learning and Development department at The Trade Desk, where she is committed to enhancing employee skills and fostering an environment conducive to professional growth and innovation.
Prior to her role at The Trade Desk, Ali honed her skills in various capacities at AppFolio, Inc., where she started as the internal communications specialist and quickly ascended to the position of Learning and Development Manager. Her contributions at AppFolio were instrumental in driving internal programs aimed at bolstering employee performance and enhancing workplace culture. Prior to that, she served as the Manager of Organizational Development at Sonos, Inc., where she focused on aligning employee development initiatives with the company's strategic goals.
Ali’s early career highlights her diverse experience within event management and marketing. She spent several formative years at Red Frog Events, a vibrant player in the event production industry, serving in various roles including Director of Marketing, Director of Employee Development and Culture, Event Coordinator, and Event Operations Director. Her multifaceted roles at Red Frog Events allowed her to gain invaluable experience in not just marketing and organizational culture, but also in executing successful large-scale events.
Education and Achievements
Ali Cooper earned her Bachelor of Science in Sport Marketing and Management from Indiana University Bloomington, a prestigious institution known for its rigorous programs and robust reputation within the sports management arena. This academic background provided her with the essential grounding in marketing principles, management techniques, and sport industry knowledge that she has applied throughout her career.
In her role at The Trade Desk, Ali has had the opportunity to innovate learning experiences, implementing programs that engage employees at all levels. Her focus on continuous improvement has enabled her to lead initiatives that resonate deeply with team members, fostering greater collaboration and productivity.
Throughout her time at AppFolio, Ali implemented a variety of successful learning programs that increased employee retention rates and elevated the company’s internal culture. Her initiatives helped bridge communication gaps and cultivate a culture of transparency and engagement, proving her understanding of the interdependence between effective communication and employee development.
At Sonos, Ali's strategic oversight in organizational development was pivotal in aligning HR operations with the overall business strategy. She was key in driving an inclusive work culture that enriched employee experiences while simultaneously enhancing productivity.
Achievements
- Innovative Learning and Development: Ali has pioneered numerous learning initiatives at The Trade Desk, which have significantly improved employee satisfaction and skills enhancement.
- Strategic Internal Communications: At AppFolio, she transformed internal communications processes that improved information flow and morale among employees, creating a more cohesive workforce.
- Successful Organizational Development: At Sonos, Ali's leadership in organizational development resulted in measurable improvements in employee retention and engagement metrics.
- Versatile Event Management Expertise: During her years at Red Frog Events, Ali successfully managed various aspects of large-scale events, demonstrating her exceptional organizational skills and ability to thrive under pressure. Her innovative marketing strategies significantly increased attendance and brand visibility for the events, leaving a lasting impact on the company’s reputation in the industry.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.