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Edward Mermelstein
Board Member | NYC Commissioner for International Affairs
Professional Background
Edward Mermelstein has made significant strides in his career, marked by both legal expertise and a strong commitment to international relations. As the newly appointed Commissioner of International Affairs in the Adams administration, Mermelstein plays a pivotal role in navigating the complex web of diplomatic engagements and international partnerships for New York City. His extensive experience as an attorney and investment advisor for a diverse range of family offices and international clients significantly informs his work in this position. Fluent in both English and Russian, Edward has an inherent understanding of the cultural nuances that accompany international negotiations and diplomacy.
The Commissioner of International Affairs oversees multiple responsibilities integral to fostering relationships between New York City and global counterparties. This vital office works diligently to facilitate municipal services for international dignitaries, manage Sister City relationships, and support educational exchanges that broaden cultural horizons for students. Edward’s leadership in this office ensures that the city not only represents itself on the world stage but also creates an inclusive environment for international delegates visiting the Big Apple.
Mermelstein’s outstanding career has been enriched by varied leadership roles in numerous organizations. Before his current role, he notably served as the NYC Commissioner for International Affairs, where he was instrumental in hosting around 200 international delegations annually. His expertise has allowed him to coordinate effectively with other governmental and non-governmental organizations, enhancing the city’s image as a vibrant and welcoming global hub.
Education and Achievements
Edward Mermelstein’s academic credentials lay a strong foundation for his esteemed career. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from New York University, a prestigious institution known for its rigorous academic standards and influential alumni. Following his undergraduate studies, Edward pursued further education at Cooley Law School, where he achieved his Juris Doctor (J.D.), equipping him with robust legal knowledge essential for his career in law and advisory roles.
His educational background, combined with his experience, has helped him develop a nuanced understanding of the intersection between law, psychology, and international relations, significantly contributing to his effectiveness in negotiations and diplomacy.
Community Involvement
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Edward Mermelstein is deeply committed to philanthropy and community service. He has actively participated in various charitable organizations that reinforce cultural, political, and educational initiatives both locally and nationally. Edward’s role as a board member at the United Nations Development Corporation exemplifies his dedication to global development and humanitarian efforts. His involvement in organizations focused on education and the arts further underscores his commitment to fostering positive change in various communities.
Charitable Organizations
Mermelstein has held numerous leadership positions in influential organizations. He has served as the President of the Israel Magen Fund, where he worked to support Jewish and humanitarian causes. Additionally, his past role as President at Zaka International Rescue and Recovery highlights his commitment to global emergency response initiatives.
His tenure as a board member at the JDC (The Joint), a vital organization in Jewish communal service, further illustrates his dedication to community and cultural preservation within the Jewish diaspora. In the field of early childhood education and cultural empowerment, he has made valuable contributions as Chair of the Board of Directors at COJECO, an organization dedicated to nurturing the Jewish community in New York through education and cultural programs.
Edward Mermelstein's vast experience offers him profound insights into the interplay of politics, arts, and international relations, with his fluency in languages adding an extra layer of communication capacity that enriches his engagements with diverse groups and individuals.
Mermelstein's previous roles as CEO at One & Only Realty and Managing Member at One and Only Holdings LLC showcase his capability in both the private sector and his aptitude for managing complex business interests. His time as CFO at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, alongside serving as Director, USA at Link of Times, emphasizes his passion for the arts as well as his ability to navigate multifaceted organizational structures effectively.
Conclusion
In summary, Edward Mermelstein’s journey from a refugee emigrating to the United States in 1976 to an influential figure in the Mayor's Office underscores his resilience, commitment to public service, and dedication to international affairs. With a rich educational background from esteemed institutions, extensive legal expertise, and a robust portfolio of leadership in both public and charitable organizations, Edward is well-equipped to fulfill the responsibilities of the Commissioner of International Affairs and to represent New York City on the international stage.
His approach to collaboration, advocacy for education, and strong engagement in cultural dialogue highlight his role as a vital conduit between New York City and the wider global community. As Edward Mermelstein continues to foster positive international relationships, he exemplifies the spirit of service, compassion, and diplomacy, making him a commendable asset to the City of New York and its diverse populace.
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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:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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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.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
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.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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.