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Shandra Benito
Non-Profit Executive Director - focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work, disability advocacy, and gender-based violence.
Professional Background
Shandra Benito boasts a rich and diverse professional background in social work, advocacy, and community support. As the Executive Director at Art Access, she leads initiatives that empower artists with disabilities, ensuring they have access to necessary resources and platforms for their talent. Her experience as an advocate spans various roles where she has championed the rights and needs of marginalized groups, particularly women and children. Shandra's previous positions include serving as a Hospital Response Team Advocate at the Rape Recovery Center and working as a Women’s Advocate at the YWCA in Missoula. In her roles, she has consistently demonstrated a commitment to improving the lives of those facing challenges and injustices, making her a respected figure in the advocacy community.
Additionally, Shandra has contributed significantly to child advocacy through her tenure as a Deaf Summer Program Associate at Seattle Children's and as a Children's Advocate Intern at ADWAS, where she focused on supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who have experienced violence. Her hands-on experience as a BSW Practicum Student at Sound Mental Health and her early contributions as an intern at Ballard Food Bank highlight her dedication to community welfare and support.
Notably, Shandra is the founder of Reach Out Summer Camps, an initiative designed to provide enriching experiences for youth, further establishing her reputation as a leader dedicated to youth empowerment and engagement. Her multifaceted career reflects a profound commitment to social justice and community empowerment, demonstrating her belief in the potential of every individual.
Education and Achievements
Shandra's educational journey laid a solid foundation for her impactful career in social work and advocacy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Seattle University, where she majored in Social Work and minored in Philosophy. This combination of disciplines has provided her with a unique perspective on the complexities of human behavior and ethical considerations in social engagements. Shandra further advanced her expertise by attaining a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Washington, a program renowned for its emphasis on community practice and clinical skills.
Her academic pursuits have not only enriched her knowledge but have also enhanced her ability to engage effectively with clients across various settings. Throughout her education, Shandra was actively involved in community service projects, which complemented her classroom learning and prepared her for her extensive career in social change.
Achievements
Shandra Benito’s career is marked by numerous achievements that exemplify her dedication to the fields of social work and advocacy. Her role as the Executive Director at Art Access has positioned her at the forefront of disability advocacy within the arts, where she has worked to bridge the gap between artists with disabilities and the broader art community. Her initiatives at Art Access have led to increased visibility and opportunities for artists who have historically been marginalized.
In addition to her leadership roles, Shandra has played a vital part in supporting survivors of violence through her work with the Rape Recovery Center and YWCA Missoula, where she has provided critical services to empower women and promote healing. Her efforts have contributed significantly to enhancing the support system available for survivors, allowing them to reclaim their lives in the aftermath of trauma.
Through her profound commitment to child advocacy, Shandra’s experience at Seattle Children’s and her involvement with ADWAS showcase her dedication to ensuring that young people receive the support they need, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. Her founding of Reach Out Summer Camps stands as a testament to her resolve in creating safe, engaging spaces for youth, fostering their development and connection to the community.
Overall, Shandra Benito’s multifaceted career, underpinned by solid educational qualifications and a wealth of varied experience, reflects her unwavering commitment to social justice, advocacy, and community empowerment. Her path illustrates the impact one individual can have in fostering positive change and improving the lives of countless individuals through dedicated service and leadership.
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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.
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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.