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Saskia Thompson
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Professional Background
Saskia Thompson boasts an impressive and diverse professional background, marked by her commitment to advancing educational policies and practices. Currently, she serves as the Program Director for New Designs to Advance Learning at Carnegie Corporation of New York, a prestigious role that enables her to influence educational innovation and support initiatives aimed at improving learning outcomes for all students. With a solid foundation in educational research and policy analysis, her career is characterized by strategic leadership positions that have driven systemic improvements in New York City's education landscape.
Before her current role, Saskia made significant contributions as Deputy Director at The Research Alliance for New York City Schools, where her work was instrumental in evaluating educational programs and providing actionable insights to policymakers. In her earlier capacities within the NYC Department of Education, she not only served as the Deputy Chancellor for the Division of Portfolio Planning but also held multiple advisory roles to the Chancellor. Her tenure in these positions reflects her deep understanding of the intricacies of the education system and her dedication to fostering effective educational environments.
Saskia's career is notable for her unwavering focus on enhancing educational outcomes through strategic program development and rigorous research. This is further exemplified by her previous roles including CEO of the Office of School Support, where she championed initiatives to improve school performance, and as Deputy Chief Schools Officer, where she managed critical aspects of educational administration to ensure high standards across the board. Each of these positions has enriched her expertise, positioning her as a formidable leader in educational reform.
Education and Achievements
Saskia commenced her educational journey at Hunter College High School, one of New York City's most prestigious secondary schools, renowned for its academic rigor. Following her high school education, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science and Government at New York University. Her academic experiences not only equipped her with a profound understanding of political and governmental structures but also inspired her to drive meaningful changes within education policy.
Throughout her career, Saskia has been recognized for her leadership and innovative approach to addressing critical challenges in education. Her roles in various educational organizations showcase her versatility and ability to adapt to the evolving needs of students and educational institutions. Saskia has also worked closely with organizations such as MDRC, where she held both Senior Associate and Visiting Fellow positions, contributing to vital research on education efficacy and policy implementation.
Notable Achievements
Saskia Thompson's commitment to education is manifested in numerous achievements across her roles in various organizations.
- As Program Director at Carnegie Corporation of New York, she has been at the forefront of initiatives aimed at redesigning educational practices to better serve diverse learners, leveraging research to inform her approach.
- Her ability to influence policy at the highest levels is evident from her time as Deputy Chancellor and Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education, where she played a pivotal role in strategic decision-making and educational reform efforts.
- Saskia's leadership at the Urban Assembly, where she served as Executive Director, resulted in enhanced programming aimed at equipping students with essential skills for the 21st century, showcasing her forward-thinking approach to educational excellence.
- Furthermore, her role as Project Director at the Municipal Art Society of New York highlights her interdisciplinary approach, recognizing the significance of the arts in education and community engagement.
With a proven track record of successfully managing educational programs and a robust understanding of policy, Saskia Thompson continues to be a driving force in the quest for equitable and effective education, impacting the lives of countless students by ensuring they have access to quality learning experiences.
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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.