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Margot Isman
Deputy Director at Crime and Justice Institute
Professional Background
Margot Isman is an accomplished professional with a rich background in history, political science, and international negotiation. Her extensive career has been dedicated to the improvement of criminal justice systems and conflict resolution strategies both in the United States and globally. Currently serving as the Deputy Director at the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI), Margot is at the forefront of policy development aimed at enhancing public safety and social justice. Her role involves strategic leadership and collaboration with various stakeholders to implement effective criminal justice reforms in accordance with best practices.
Prior to her current position, Margot served as a Senior Policy Specialist at CJI, where she focused on an array of initiatives that address justice system challenges. Her hard work and insights during her tenure as an Associate at the Crime and Justice Institute has significantly shaped policy assessments and reforms in criminal outreach and support services. In addition to her roles at CJI, Margot's experience as a Managing Director at Vera Solutions enriched her skills in program management and evaluation, ensuring that organizational missions align with the community's needs.
Beyond her roles in criminal justice reform, Margot's work as a Teaching Assistant at Tufts University reflects her passion for education and mentorship. Her involvement in academia has allowed her to influence future leaders in political science and conflict resolution.
Education and Achievements
Margot Isman’s educational journey showcases her unwavering dedication to understanding complex political and social issues. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University, majoring in History and Political Science. This foundational education provided her with analytical skills and a deep understanding of historical patterns influencing contemporary political landscapes—a perspective that would later be invaluable in her professional endeavors.
She further enhanced her expertise by obtaining a Master of Arts in International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. This degree equipped Margot with vital negotiation skills and a deeper insight into human security issues, contributing significantly to her capacity as a policy maker in the realm of criminal justice. Margot's advanced education also reflects her commitment to understanding the root causes of conflict and developing effective strategies for resolution.
Notable Contributions and Achievements
Margot's career is characterized by her dedication to public service and effective policy implementation. Her time as Legislative Aide for State Representative Kate Hogan provided her with hands-on experience in the legislative process, giving her unique insights into the mechanics of public policy and governance.
Margot began her career in the social sector as a Monitoring and Evaluation Intern with Search for Common Ground. This experience laid the groundwork for her understanding of program evaluation—an essential skill in her subsequent positions at Vera Solutions and CJI where data-driven analysis supports crucial decision-making processes.
As Deputy Director at CJI, she continues to champion initiatives that promote equity and reform within the criminal justice system. Her ongoing research and participation in advocacy efforts signal her commitment to social justice and a more equitable legal system for all individuals. Through her leadership, CJI has made strides in various projects aimed at reducing recidivism and supporting rehabilitation efforts, demonstrating her long-term impact in the 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.
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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 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 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.
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