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Rachel Simas
Secondary Occasional Teacher at Toronto District School Board
Professional Background
Rachel Simas is a dynamic educator and advocate for social justice, recently graduating from the Master of Teaching program at the esteemed Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She is licensed by the Ontario College of Teachers to teach Intermediate/Senior Geography and Social Sciences. Her educational journey and professional experiences underscore her commitment to transforming the classroom into a space that promotes equity and inclusivity.
As a Secondary Occasional Teacher with the Toronto District School Board, Rachel actively engages with students at various levels, where she utilizes her expertise to implement culturally sustaining pedagogies. With a particular focus on disrupting systemic inequities rooted in anti-Indigeneity, anti-Blackness, and other forms of discrimination, Rachel shapes her teaching philosophy around fostering an inclusive environment where all students feel valued and respected.
In addition to her current teaching role, Rachel has garnered diverse experience through her previous positions. Her work as a Community Shelter Worker at Homes First reflects her dedication to social equity and her deep understanding of the challenges faced by marginalized communities. This background enriches her classroom practices, as she is well-equipped to address the nuances of students’ lived experiences.
Furthermore, Rachel's early career as a Camp Instructor at the University of Toronto and as the Head Instructor at Little Kickers Group highlights her ability to connect with students of various ages, nurturing their development while encouraging curiosity and a love for learning.
Education and Achievements
Educated at the University of Toronto, Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Human Geography and minors in Environmental Studies and Sociology. This interdisciplinary training underpins her approach to education, allowing her to integrate principles of environmental sustainability and social equity into her curriculum.
Rachel's Master of Teaching program has not only solidified her pedagogical skills but has also sparked a profound passion for social justice in education. During her studies, Rachel focused on the implementation of anti-discriminatory pedagogies, which empower students to engage critically with their learning environment and challenge societal injustices. Her commitment to fostering equity in education is evident in her continual professional development, where she seeks to deepen her understanding of the historical and contemporary effects of colonialism and capitalism in Canada.
Achievements
- Licensed Educator: Rachel has successfully obtained licensing from the Ontario College of Teachers, allowing her to teach at the Intermediate/Senior levels in Geography and Social Sciences, which sets her up for a meaningful career in education.
- Community Engagement: Through her prior role as a Community Shelter Worker, Rachel has developed heightened awareness related to housing and social issues affecting vulnerable populations, enabling her to lead informed discussions in the classroom.
- Passionate Advocate: Rachel is a staunch proponent of anti-oppressive education practices and continues to inspire others through her commitment to adopting and implementing practices that challenge systemic inequalities.
- Diverse Instructional Experience: Her history as an instructor across various settings showcases her versatility and dedication to student engagement, indicating a well-rounded teaching approach that resonates with learners from multiple backgrounds.
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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.
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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.
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 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.