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James DeVaney
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at University of Michigan
Professional Background
James Devaney serves as the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan (U-M), alongside holding the role of the Founding Executive Director at the Center for Academic Innovation. In this influential position, he operates at a critical intersection of strategy, design, policy, and technology, steering multiple university-wide programs aimed at amplifying U-M's academic excellence while promoting its broader public mission. His work is pivotal in fostering equity and inclusivity within higher education, and he actively participates in a variety of multi-institutional initiatives and advisory councils. Through these efforts, he is dedicated to building a sustainable global network dedicated to academic innovation.
Before taking on his role at U-M, James amassed extensive experience in providing strategic counsel to over 60 universities across more than 15 countries, including regions such as the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America. His focus lies in transforming access to education and developing effective, sustainable models for innovation within the higher educational landscape. This globally informed perspective not only showcases his ability to adapt to diverse educational systems but also his commitment to advancing global educational standards.
Career Path and Consulting Experience
James’s career trajectory includes notable leadership positions such as Senior Director at Huron Consulting Group, where he co-founded the firm’s globally recognized education and digital education practices. His journey also includes establishing Huron's presence in the MENA region while serving as a Director of Global Education and Advisory Services. His consulting endeavors extend to a series of entities like startup colleges, international branch campuses, educational policy-makers, and K-12 focused nonprofits. By guiding these various organizations, James has played a transformative role in enabling educational innovations that reach underserved populations.
Education and Achievements
James's educational journey is as robust as his professional experience, having pursued higher education at the University of Michigan, where he studied diverse subjects that laid a strong foundation for his career in education policy and innovation. His academic credentials include a Master of Public Policy (MPP) with a concentration in Education Policy and Nonprofit Management from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Additionally, James earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategy and Organizational Behavior, as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with a focus on Strategy and Computer Information Systems from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Notable Achievements
James is not only a leader but also a highly sought-after speaker in his field. His thought leadership is further exemplified through his memberships in prestigious advisory groups, including the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) Advisory Committee, the Coursera Council, and the edX Policy Committee. He also actively contributes to FutureLearn's Partner Advisory Group and sits on the IMS Global Executive Strategic Council, indicating his influence and commitment to shaping the future of education through technology and policy.
Furthermore, James occasionally lends his expertise as a consultant for various universities, educational organizations, and governmental bodies. His specialized experience in digital strategy, global engagement, and organizational design remains invaluable across these endeavors, ensuring that educational institutions can navigate the complexities of modern education landscapes effectively.
In summary, James Devaney represents a dynamic force in the domain of academic innovation, characterized by his extensive experience, a solid educational foundation, and a passionate commitment to inclusivity and strategic growth within higher education. His leadership at the University of Michigan not only highlights his dedication to enhancing educational quality but also positions him as a pivotal figure in the global movement toward transformative educational practices.
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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.
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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 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.