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Sarah Lightner
State Representative 65th
Professional Background
Sarah Lightner is a dedicated public servant who has made a significant impact in Michigan's political landscape since her election to the Michigan State House of Representatives in November 2018. Elected to represent the 65th district, her work has focused on various key issues affecting her constituents, demonstrating a commitment to their needs and interests. Prior to her state-level role, Sarah served as a Jackson County Commissioner from 2013 to 2018, a position she was elected to in the fall elections of 2012. In this capacity, she represented multiple townships, including Springport, Tompkins, Rives, Sandstone, and Parma.
During her tenure as a County Commissioner, Sarah showcased her dedication to fiscal responsibility and governance. She was actively involved in numerous boards and committees, such as the Fair Board, Michigan Works Southeast Consortium, and the Jackson Traffic Safety Committee. Moreover, she was a passionate member of the MSU Extension Advisory Board and the Jackson College Agricultural Advisory Council, where she contributed to a variety of initiatives that benefitted local communities. Additionally, Sarah's service extended beyond county borders; she was appointed by the Governor to the Criminal Justice Policy Commission, serving as a representative who focused on vital issues within the criminal justice system.
In her current role as a State Representative, Sarah is the Chair of the Michigan Association of County's Judiciary & Public Safety Committee, where she works closely with other professionals and stakeholders to ensure the enhancement and efficiency of judicial and public safety operations across Michigan. Her contributions to the National Association of Counties, specifically through her participation in the Judiciary & Public Safety steering committee, further illustrate her dedication to powerful advocacy on a national scale.
Education and Achievements
Sarah Lightner's educational path laid the groundwork for her extensive career in public service and the legal field. She earned an Associate's degree in Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Lansing Community College, which allowed her to develop skills that would be fundamental throughout her professional journey. With almost eleven years of experience as a Criminal Defense Paralegal at Wm Burt Burleson, PLLC, Sarah gained valuable insights into the intricacies of the legal system and its connection to various community issues, particularly those related to criminal justice and mental health.
Her formal education in law has been a pivotal advantage in her roles within public service, enabling her to approach legislative challenges with a refined perspective and a wealth of knowledge regarding legal matters. Sarah's work as a paralegal and her subsequent roles in public office reflect her deep-seated commitment to advocating for her constituents and ensuring equitable access to justice and mental health services.
Achievements
Throughout her career, Sarah Lightner has achieved numerous milestones that underscore her commitment to community service and governance. Her work as a County Commissioner provided her with opportunities to introduce innovative measures focused on public safety and community development. In her tenure at the Michigan State House of Representatives, she continues to advocate for policies that enhance the lives of Michigan residents, demonstrating her dedication to addressing the pressing issues facing her district.
Moreover, Sarah's involvement in various community boards and committees not only showcases her leadership skills but also her ability to collaborate with other stakeholders. Her participation in the Criminal Justice Policy Commission and associations focused on public safety illustrates her proactive approach to critical issues, including the intersection of criminal justice and mental health, which affects many Michiganders.
In summary, Sarah Lightner's educational background and extensive career as a public servant reflect her unwavering dedication to the community. Through her work in the Michigan State House and her previous role as a County Commissioner, she has showcased her passion for public service, legal advocacy, and community engagement. With a clear understanding of the legal system and its implications on the public, Sarah continues to be a champion for policies that benefit her constituents and strengthens the state of Michigan.
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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:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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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 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.
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 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.
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