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Jeff Nelson
Social Entrepreneur
Professional Background
Jeff Nelson is an exemplary leader in educational reform and social innovation, prominently known as the Co-Founder and Board Member of OneGoal. His remarkable journey in education began as a sixth-grade teacher at O’Keeffe Elementary School in Chicago, where he first entered the classroom as a Teach For America corps member. This experience ignited his passion for making education accessible and successful for all students, particularly those from underserved communities.
Under his leadership as CEO of OneGoal, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students on their path to postsecondary education, Jeff spearheaded transformative changes. From its inception as a modest initiative serving just 30 students in three high schools, OneGoal has blossomed into a prominent national institution, now serving over 13,000 students annually across 17 districts in six states. Under Jeff's vision, OneGoal’s funding skyrocketed from a budget of $200,000 with a single staff member to a staggering $25 million annual budget, supported by a dedicated team of over 170 professionals. This remarkable growth showcases his ability to scale impact and drive organizational success.
The commitment to educational equity has manifested in real outcomes, with 88% of OneGoal Fellows enrolling in postsecondary institutions and 79% persisting through their first year. The empirical validation of OneGoal’s impact by Nobel Laureate James Heckman and a team of economists underscores the effectiveness of the model, demonstrating increased college enrollment and persistence by upwards of 20 percentage points. Such achievements have positioned OneGoal as a leading advocate and resource in the field of postsecondary education.
Earning recognition at various levels, Jeff's leadership journey has been featured in Paul Tough's bestselling book, "How Children Succeed," which dives into the pivotal roles that social and emotional skills play in a child's success. Furthermore, his impactful work caught the attention of former President Obama, who highlighted OneGoal's mission and the necessity for scaling similar initiatives during his closing remarks at the College Opportunity Summit.
Education and Achievements
Jeff Nelson's foundation in education is complemented by his impressive academic credentials. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors, demonstrating his dedication to academic excellence from an early stage. Following this, he pursued a Master of Arts in Teaching at Dominican University, equipping himself with the pedagogical skills to effectively inspire and engage students.
To further enhance his leadership capabilities in the realm of business and innovation, Jeff obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Entrepreneurship from the prestigious Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. This diverse educational background fuels his strategic planning and operational expertise, critical for growing non-profit organizations.
Jeff's significant contributions to the field have resulted in a myriad of accolades. He has been awarded the Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellowship Award, a recognition celebrating those who embody the spirit of innovation in social change. Additionally, he was honored with the Community Renewal Society’s 35 Under 35 Award and Teach For America’s Distinguished Alumni Award, highlighting his impactful legacy as an educator and a leader. More recently, his dedication to making a difference in the philanthropic world earned him spots in both Crain’s Chicago’s "40 Under 40" and Town & Country’s "Top 50 Philanthropists in the US."
Community Engagement
In addition to his role at OneGoal, Jeff is engaged in various thought leadership initiatives aimed at improving educational outcomes and fostering social innovation. He has served as a Beck Visiting Social Innovator at Harvard Kennedy School, where he has shared his insights and experiences with emerging leaders and innovators in public policy and education.
His previous roles also include serving as an advisor at Opportunity Labs and a Senior Advisor at New Profit, where his guidance and experience have contributed to efforts aimed at creating impactful social change. Jeff’s extensive background in education and social entrepreneurship, combined with his hands-on experience running a successful nonprofit organization, has positioned him as a sought-after mentor and guide in the sector.
Personal Life
Residing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jeff leads a fulfilling personal life with his wife, Betsy, and their four children: Emma, Henry, Maddie, and Theo. His family serves as a source of motivation as he continues to advocate for educational equity and access for all students, ensuring they have the tools necessary to succeed in their educational journeys. By balancing his personal and professional commitments, Jeff exemplifies the values of dedication and resilience well beyond the classroom.
In conclusion, Jeff Nelson is a prominent figure in education reform whose commitment to improving postsecondary access for underrepresented students has been both impactful and transformative. His journey from a dedicated teacher to a national leader provides a compelling narrative of innovation, leadership, and advocacy for those aspiring to create change in the education field.
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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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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- 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.
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.