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Joanne Ford
Chief Financial Officer at Mycolivia Group Pty Ltd
Professional Background
Joanne Ford is a seasoned finance professional with a wealth of experience spanning over two decades in various leadership roles across diverse industries, particularly in the education and consumer goods sectors. Joanne has made significant contributions to organizations by leveraging her expertise in financial management, governance, and operational strategies. Currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer at Mycolivia Group Pty Ltd, she drives financial excellence while ensuring the organization adheres to its strategic objectives and delivers value to stakeholders.
Throughout her illustrious career, Joanne's roles have encompassed non-executive directorships at notable organizations, allowing her to influence corporate governance and strategic direction profoundly. She has served on the boards of CEnet Limited, Deka Australia Management One Pty Ltd, Deka Australia Management Two Pty Ltd, and the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM), where her insights have helped shape policy and organizational frameworks. Her experience in these roles showcases her commitment to enhancing governance practices and driving financial accountability.
Joanne also has a strong background in university operations. She spent a significant part of her career at the Australian College of Applied Psychology, serving in multiple capacities, including Director of Operations, Director of Finance, and Project Management roles. In her tenure, she played a key role in strategic planning and operational excellence, helping the institution navigate financial landscapes while enhancing educational outcomes for students.
Earlier in her career, Joanne held several pivotal positions within Nestlé and Nespresso in the USA and Australia, where she honed her skills in financial management and business excellence. As the Head of Decision Support at Nestlé, she was instrumental in developing data-driven strategies that improved operational efficiency and profitability. Her time at Nespresso included leadership roles in finance and control, where she championed initiatives that optimized financial operations and supported growth strategies.
Education and Achievements
Joanne Ford's educational background is as impressive as her professional journey. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree in Accounting and Statistics from the prestigious University of South Africa. This foundational knowledge in commerce has equipped her with the analytical skills and financial acumen necessary to excel in high-stakes environments.
In addition to her undergraduate degree, Joanne has pursued further education in governance and company directors' courses. She studied the Susan Oliver Syndicate at WOBSX and completed the Company Directors Course (GAICD) at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, which underscores her commitment to leadership excellence and good governance practices. Moreover, she earned the ACMA and CGMA designations in Finance from CIMA, highlighting her advanced understanding of management accounting and financial strategy.
Joanne's pursuit of education reflects her belief in continuous professional development and her dedication to enhancing her skills to meet the evolving demands of the business world. This commitment is evident in her achievements and influence within the organizations she has served.
Achievements
Joanne Ford's career is adorned with numerous achievements that illustrate her capability as a finance leader and director. Her role as CFO at Mycolivia Group Pty Ltd has been marked by improved financial stewardship, strategic planning, and operational efficiencies. She has successfully overseen financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting processes, ensuring that the organization meets its financial objectives and maintains compliance with relevant regulations.
During her tenure at the Australian College of Applied Psychology, Joanne's leadership in various capacities has led to streamlined financial operations and enhanced decision-making processes. She played a critical role in budgeting and financial strategy, contributing to the institution's growth and stability in the competitive education sector.
Joanne's experience as a non-executive director has also been significant, where she provided strategic oversight that improved governance frameworks, risk management, and overall organizational effectiveness. Her influence has helped ensure that the organizations remained focused on their strategic goals while adhering to best practices in governance.
Her achievements at Nestlé and Nespresso also reflect her ability to drive business excellence through meticulous financial strategy and operational oversight. At Nespresso USA Inc., she was instrumental in implementing financial controls that led to sustained growth and profitability.
Joanne's career is characterized by her proactive approach to challenges and her ability to foster collaboration among cross-functional teams, ensuring that financial and operational goals align with broader organizational objectives.
In summary, Joanne Ford is a dynamic and accomplished finance professional whose extensive background, strong educational foundation, and commitment to excellence make her a significant asset in any organization. Her leadership and strategic insights continue to drive success in her current role and beyond.
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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.
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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.