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Sheri Renner
Russell Investments I Town Hall Seattle Board of Directors
Professional Background
Sheri Renner is a distinguished communications expert with a robust career spanning over 25 years in external and internal communications across regional, national, and global organizations. Her expertise lies in helping organizations articulate their narratives in a compelling manner, ensuring that their stories resonate with both internal and external stakeholders. Sheri has successfully managed a wide array of corporate communications components, blending strategic foresight with the practical execution necessary to implement them effectively.
Throughout her career, Sheri has developed notable strengths in various domains including communications strategy, executive counsel, brand stewardship, and crisis communications. Her experience also encompasses employee communications, media relations, and financial relations, demonstrating her versatility and depth in the field of corporate communications. Sheri's adeptness at balancing strategic planning with hands-on execution has been a hallmark of her professional journey, making her a sought-after communicator in the corporate landscape.
In her role as Associate Director of Internal Communications at Russell Investments, Sheri has showcased her ability to enhance organizational narrative and culture. She previously held significant positions, including Director of Investor Relations and Director of Corporate Communications at Avalara where she directed company messaging and stakeholder engagement. Her leadership experience extends to her tenure at Barclays, where she was the Head of UK Retail Banking Media Relations, as well as key roles at Washington Mutual, Inc. and Bank of America where she was instrumental in strategic public relations and brand management initiatives.
Education and Achievements
Sheri attended the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Her educational background has provided her with a strong foundation in business principles, which she has effectively translated into her communications roles throughout her career.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Sheri is actively involved in her community, serving on the executive board at Town Hall Seattle. As Co-Chair of the Development Committee, she plays a vital role in shaping the organization's strategic direction and engagement efforts. Sheri's passion for enriching the community aligns perfectly with her professional insights in storytelling and communications.
Outside of her professional commitments, Sheri is an adventurous spirit, frequently engaging in mountaineering and cycling through the picturesque backroads of the Pacific Northwest. Her love for outdoor recreation reflects her dynamic personality and dedication to maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Achievements
- Over 25 years of expertise in corporate communications
- Currently serves as Associate Director of Internal Communications at Russell Investments
- Former Director of Investor Relations at Avalara, directing key company messaging and stakeholders engagement
- Provided critical communication strategies at Barclays as Head of UK Retail Banking Media Relations
- Contributed to strategic public relations and brand management at Washington Mutual, Inc. and Bank of America
- Active engagement in community service through Town Hall Seattle and its development initiatives
- Passionate mountaineer and cyclist, engaged in physical activities that enrich her life beyond work.
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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.
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.
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