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Ted Graf
Head of School, Headwaters School
Professional Background
Ted Graf is an accomplished educator and an inspirational leader in the educational community, known for his unwavering commitment to cultivating creativity, critical thinking, and advocacy among students from preschool through high school. With a rich experience spanning over several prestigious institutions, Ted has made significant contributions that foster a culture of peace and thoughtfulness in learning environments.
Currently serving as the Head of School at Headwaters School, Ted has dedicated his career to guiding students, educators, and the broader school community towards becoming Peacemakers, Advocates, Creators, and Thinkers. His vision encourages a collaborative atmosphere where every participant is valued, making a lasting impact on the lives of over 532 students and their families.
Before his current role, Ted held various leadership positions, including Upper School Head at the Watkinson School, where he played a pivotal role in enhancing academic programs and student engagement strategies. Ted also made significant contributions as the Upper School Director at The Latin School of Chicago, where he was instrumental in curriculum development and cultivating a dynamic educational environment that encouraged student growth and discovery.
In addition to his responsibilities in school administration, Ted has served as a board member at several esteemed organizations, including The Schoolhouse and the Coalition of Essential Schools, contributing his insights and expertise to foster educational excellence and reform. His extensive background in education is complemented by his experience as a teacher at both Heathwood Hall Episcopal School and The Chinquapin School, where he demonstrated his passion for teaching and mentorship.
Throughout his career, Ted's commitment to education has been enriched by his unique approaches as a Course Instructor at Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, where he influenced students outside the traditional classroom setting, imparting leadership skills and resilience through experiential learning. Ted's initiatives showcase his belief in a holistic educational experience that prepares students for the challenges of the modern world.
Education and Achievements
Ted Graf's educational journey laid a strong foundation for his career as an eminent educator and leader. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the esteemed University of Vermont, where he honed his analytical and communication skills, essential for his future leadership role in education. His academic pursuit continued at Brown University, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in English/Writing. This rigorous program not only polished his writing capabilities but also inspired him to blend creativity with educational practices, enriching the narratives of his students.
Ted's notable achievements in education reflect his dedication and effectiveness as an educator and leader. His multifaceted roles in various prominent educational institutions enabled him to shape the lives of countless students. By advocating for student-centered approaches and empowering teachers, he has created dynamic learning environments conducive to thoughtful exploration and creative expression.
Ted's outstanding leadership qualities have garnered him respect among peers and educators, leading to active participation in influential educational networks, such as the Coalition of Essential Schools, which promotes equitable and effective teaching practices. His contributions resonate beyond the boundaries of traditional education, impacting the community at large.
Achievements
Ted Graf's professional journey is marked by numerous achievements that speak to his influence and commitment to the field of education. As Head of School at Headwaters School, he has successfully spearheaded initiatives that emphasize collaborative learning, innovation, and advocacy for the creative arts. His leadership styles encourage open dialogues among students, parents, and educators, creating a nurturing atmosphere where each individual plays a crucial role in the educational experience.
His tenure at The Latin School of Chicago as Upper School Director showcased his capability in implementing impactful curriculum changes and fostering a culture of resilience and inquiry. Ted's emphasis on preparing students for leadership roles has left a lasting imprint on the institution, evident in the achievements of his students.
Through his work at Watkinson School and Gailer School, Ted has demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion, building programs that address the needs of all students and ensure equitable access to education. His role in these organizations exemplifies his dedication to fostering environments where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential.
In addition to his roles in administration and teaching, Ted has enriched the educational community through mentorship and collaboration. His involvement with various boards and committees reflects his strategic thinking and dedication to advancing educational practices nationwide.
In conclusion, Ted Graf is a passionate educator whose commitment to nurturing students as Peacemakers, Advocates, Creators, and Thinkers redefines the role of education in the modern world. With a blend of academic prowess, innovative leadership, and community engagement, Ted continues to inspire and shape future generations. His work resonates deeply in the educational community, making him a notable figure in the landscape of American education.
Location
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Mutual Connections
Clay is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Clay centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
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
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- 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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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.
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.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
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.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
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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