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Dana M.
CyberSecurity, Risk and Privacy Leader - CISO - CTO - Storyteller
Professional Background
Dana M. is an accomplished technology and cybersecurity leader with a proven track record of guiding organizations through significant challenges to achieve outstanding results. With extensive experience across various sectors, Dana is recognized for building diverse teams and developing intricate systems that not only fulfill organizational objectives but also align with security, risk, and privacy standards. As a passionate advocate for innovation, Dana has served as a subject matter expert in researching and testing cutting-edge technologies, ensuring they harmonize with corporate strategies and goals.
Dana's career journey is a testament to commitment and excellence, having held pivotal roles in esteemed organizations. Presently, Dana is serving as a Strategic Compliance Evangelist at Laika, where a commitment to security and compliance is at the forefront of the company’s mission. Prior to this role, Dana was instrumental as the Head of CyberSecurity and Risk, functioning as the Chief Information Security Officer at Laika, where efforts were concentrated on fortifying the organization’s cybersecurity posture.
Before Dana's impactful tenure at Laika, there was significant leadership experience at TransSynaptic, LLC, where Dana contributed as the President of Information Technology and Security. This role was essential in shaping the overall IT infrastructure and security strategies. A notable chapter of Dana’s career was spent at Thesys Technologies, LLC, as the Head of Security and Risk in the Office of the CTO, where Dana’s expertise as a CISO was leveraged to mitigate risks effectively.
The journey into the impact of cybersecurity continued at Microsoft, where Dana held various significant roles, including Senior Manager Security Assurance in the IEB/XBOX Security division, and Senior Manager for Information Security in OSD Risk Management. Each position played a crucial role in enhancing Microsoft's security framework and fortifying its service offerings.
Dana’s extensive experience also encompasses work at Citi as Senior Vice President of Risk Management and Information Security within Global Equities, where the focus was on risk assessment and security management for financial services. Dana's previous roles at Washington Mutual as Vice President of Technical Security Assurance Solutions and Guardent, Inc. as a Senior Network Security Consultant further solidified the diverse skill set and industry knowledge that Dana brings to the table.
Education and Achievements
Dana M. began shaping a professional journey towards cybersecurity and technological innovation at Century College, an educational institution renowned for developing skillful professionals in technology and cybersecurity domains. This foundational education enabled Dana to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that subsequently propelled a successful career in one of the most challenging and fast-paced sectors.
In addition to a robust educational foundation, Dana M. boasts numerous achievements throughout professional endeavors, including the successful implementation of strategic security, risk, and privacy programs across multiple industries and products. By fostering a culture of security and compliance, Dana has significantly influenced organizations to prioritize protective measures that ultimately lead to better business outcomes.
Achievements
Dana's career showcases several notable achievements that highlight both leadership and innovation. Some of the remarkable contributions include:
- Leadership in Cybersecurity Initiatives: Successfully leading teams at organizations like Laika and Microsoft to develop security frameworks and achieve critical compliance standards, directly influencing the organizations' operational and strategic priorities.
- Cross-Industry Expertise: Dana's unique ability to adapt and implement security and compliance programs across diverse industries builds a robust foundation for organizations looking to navigate complex challenges in today's digital landscape.
- Team Building and Consensus Building: Renowned for assembling diverse, high-performing teams that foster collaboration, creativity, and resilience against evolving threats, Dana effectively bridges technical gaps between stakeholders to ensure cohesive cooperation.
- Innovative Solutions for Complex Problems: A reputation for driving innovation in organizations, Dana continually researches and tests new technologies that align with overarching corporate strategies, enabling businesses to remain ahead in an ever-evolving technological landscape.
In summary, Dana M. exemplifies the ideal combination of technical expertise and business acumen necessary for cybersecurity leadership in today's intricate corporate environment. Through an array of influential roles and accomplishments, Dana has richly contributed to the fields of technology and cybersecurity, driving meaningful innovation while ensuring that organizational goals are met with an uncompromising commitment to security, risk management, and corporate governance.
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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.
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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.