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Mo Kelly
Vice President, Alumni Relations, Marketing and Communications and Annual Giving at UConn Foundation
Professional Background
Mo Cotton Kelly, affectionately known as Mo, is a dynamic leader within the realm of higher education alumni relations and marketing communications. Since joining the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 2014, Mo has made remarkable strides in connecting and engaging more than 289,000 UConn alumni worldwide. As a vital member of the UConn Foundation Senior Management team, she is tasked with the critical role of enhancing alumni involvement and fostering a supportive and connected community among graduates.
With over 24 years of extensive experience in university advancement, Mo has cultivated a national reputation for her exemplary leadership skills and ability to forge meaningful relationships. She continually demonstrates her commitment to inclusivity by actively supporting women and people of color within the higher education advancement field, influenced by the mentorship and sponsorship she has received throughout her career.
Mo's pivotal contributions at UConn involve providing strategic leadership and vision for both alumni relations and marketing communications, all while directing the efforts of alumni and volunteers. She places a strong emphasis on cultivating development opportunities for the University, ensuring that alumni feel valued and engaged.
Before her impactful role at UConn, Mo served as the Executive Director of the Bowling Green State University Alumni Association, where she honed her skills in alumni engagement and fundraising initiatives. Her foundational experience at Bowling Green State University also included her position as an Admissions Counselor, where she played a critical role in attracting prospective students and guiding them through the admissions process.
Education and Achievements
Mo’s academic journey began at Bowling Green State University, where she pursued a Bachelor of Science degree with a dual focus on Magazine Journalism and Psychology. This broad educational background provided her with the necessary skills to excel in communications and understand human behaviors, which are crucial in her current role. She later continued her studies at the same institution, earning her Master’s degree in Education with a focus on Travel, Tourism, and Counseling. This advanced education underscores her commitment to personal and professional growth, as well as her understanding of the broader implications of educational advancement.
Throughout her career, Mo has taken active leadership roles in various organizations that signify her dedication to the field of alumni relations. She is a committed member of the Council for Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) and currently holds the chair position on the CASE District 1 Cabinet. Her leadership not only supports her immediate community at UConn but also contributes to the professional landscape of alumni relations across the nation. The experiences she has gained from these roles further enhance her capabilities in advocacy and strategic development within the higher education sector.
Notable Achievements
Mo’s extensive career at prestigious institutions has been decorated with numerous achievements that highlight her dedication to alumni engagement and university advancement. Her leadership in the UConn Foundation has led to the successful execution of several initiatives aimed at increasing alumni participation and fostering lifelong connections to their alma mater. Mo’s efforts have been instrumental in adapting the alumni relations strategy to meet the evolving needs of graduates, ensuring that UConn remains a beacon of support and community regardless of alumni’s geographical locations.
In her role as Executive Director at Bowling Green State University, she not only managed alumni communications but also actively engaged them in programs that enhanced their connection to the university. Her experience and leadership have played a pivotal role in steering both institutions towards increased success, heightened visibility, and a stronger sense of community among alumni.
Through her unwavering commitment to developing skills such as public speaking, marketing, budgeting, and recruitment, Mo exemplifies the qualities of a transformative leader in the higher education advancement world. Her ability to integrate strategic thinking with practical implementation has fostered a culture of innovation and collaborative spirit within her teams.
In conclusion, Mo Cotton Kelly is a devoted leader in alumni relations, whose comprehensive background in education and higher learning advancement propels her efforts to connect, engage, and support the vast community of UConn alumni. With her leadership at the forefront, UConn’s alumni network continues to thrive, benefiting from her dedication, expertise, and passion for fostering meaningful connections between the university and its graduates.
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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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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.
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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.
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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.