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Faye Penn
Driving Equitable Growth in Emerging and Expanding NYC Industries
Professional Background
Faye Penn is a dynamic leader with a rich history of driving transformative change in the realms of innovation and equitable economic development. Currently, she holds two pivotal roles as the Executive Director of women.nyc and the head of Initiatives at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). Through her work at women.nyc, Faye is dedicated to enhancing the economic landscape for women and advocating for gender equity in business, all while promoting diverse voices and opportunities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In her capacity at NYCEDC, she spearheads various initiatives aimed at fostering an inclusive economy. Faye's blend of innovation and practicality ensures that the programs she develops revolutionize traditional approaches to economic growth, enhancing accessibility for a broader demographic.
Faye's extensive career spans across various sectors including media, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Having worked in high-impact editorial roles and strategic initiatives, she has cultivated a unique skill set that merges creativity with business acumen. Her previous roles include serving as the Executive Vice President of Lifetime Editorial at A&E Television, and holding editorial leadership positions at prestigious publications like InStyle, New York Observer, New York Magazine, and the New York Post. Each of these positions has honed her ability to lead diverse teams and manage high-stakes projects that inform, engage, and inspire.
Education and Achievements
Faye's educational path laid a strong foundation for her professional journey. She studied Liberal Arts at the esteemed Smith College, where the ethos of social justice and progressive thought thrived, shaping her commitments to equity and empowerment. She further expanded her academic repertoire with a focus on Politics and Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz, reinforcing her ability to communicate effectively and strategically navigate complex societal issues.
Beyond her educational credentials, Faye has also shared her expertise as an Adjunct Faculty member at the NYU School of Professional Studies, imparting knowledge on topics of innovation, media, and gender dynamics in the workplace. Her commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders demonstrates her dedication to lifelong learning and mentorship.
In addition to her leadership and teaching roles, Faye is recognized for her achievements in the media landscape. As the founder of Brokelyn, a platform that provides crucial local guides and community resources, she has championed small businesses and individuals alike, promoting a sense of belonging within New York City. Her editorial success can also be measured by her tenure in key editorial roles where she shaped influential narratives and led teams that produced award-winning content.
Achievements
Faye Penn's career is marked by several noteworthy achievements that underscore her influence and legacy. As the Executive Director of women.nyc, she has played a vital role in launching programs that connect women entrepreneurs with resources, mentorship, and funding opportunities, thereby empowering women in business.
At NYCEDC, her initiatives are often at the forefront of advocating for policies that support small and medium-sized businesses, particularly those spearheaded by women and underrepresented entrepreneurs. By ensuring equitable access to economic participation, Faye's work has set a new standard for civic engagement and corporate responsibility.
Faye's editorial contributions have also profoundly shaped media landscapes, fostering diverse and inclusive conversations on various platforms. Her time as Executive Editor at InStyle and New York Observer has helped to elevate critical storytelling and deepened societal dialogues on gender, culture, and identity.
In the New York media realm, she has not only led high-profile editorial projects but has also actively mentored many journalists and creatives, driving a culture of inclusivity and innovation. Faye's commitment to intersectional issues in media and development underlines her important role as a visionary leader who bridges the gap between creative expression and civic engagement.
Through her unique blend of business leadership, media experience, and educational contributions, Faye Penn continues to effectuate positive change, ensuring a more equitable and inclusive environment for future generations.
tags':['women entrepreneurship','New York City Economic Development','media leadership','gender equity initiatives','editorial leadership','innovation in economic development','Smith College alumni','UC Santa Cruz graduate','NYU faculty','local community engagement'],
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Mesh 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.
Mesh 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
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- 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
Mesh 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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Mesh 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. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh 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.
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Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh 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. Mesh 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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Mesh 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. Mesh 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, Mesh 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.
Mesh 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.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh 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. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh 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 Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh 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, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh 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. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh 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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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh 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.
Mesh'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. Mesh 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 Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh'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, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh 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 Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.