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Matt Schaffer
Managing Director, External Affairs at City Year
Professional Background
Matt Schaffer is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in strategic planning, external affairs, and educational administration. With a robust career at City Year, an organization dedicated to providing support to students in underserved communities, Matt has served in various capacities, culminating in his role as Managing Director of External Affairs. In this pivotal position, he oversees initiatives that engage communities and cultivate partnerships to enhance educational opportunities and outcomes for young people. Matt's leadership has been instrumental in establishing City Year as a leader in educational support, making significant strides in fostering student success across multiple urban locations.
Prior to his current role, Matt held key positions at City Year that reflect his strategic foresight and commitment to community engagement. As the Managing Director of Strategic Planning, he developed and implemented frameworks that guided the organization's long-term goals and operational effectiveness. His earlier roles, including Director of Government and Foundation Relations and Senior Manager of Grants, highlighted his expertise in securing funding and managing relationships that are critical to the success of nonprofit organizations. His depth of knowledge in grant writing, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement has proven invaluable in advancing City Year’s mission.
In addition to his significant contributions to City Year, Matt has shared his expertise in the academic arena as an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and at Polytechnic University. Through these roles, he has inspired future leaders in public service and education, imparting valuable insights from his extensive career in nonprofit management and strategic initiatives.
Education and Achievements
Matt Schaffer’s academic achievements underpin his impressive career trajectory. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Virginia, where he graduated with High Honors. This foundational education has equipped him with critical thinking skills and a deep understanding of ethical considerations essential in the nonprofit sector.
Furthering his intellectual pursuit, Matt studied Philosophy and Logic at Boston University, where he completed the coursework necessary for his Doctorate, solidifying his analytical capabilities and reinforcing the importance of logical reasoning in strategic planning and decision-making. Additionally, his studies in Integrated Liberal Studies with a focus on Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison broadened his perspective on education, ethics, and civic engagement, which subsequently shaped his professional philosophy.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Matt Schaffer has achieved notable recognition for his work and contributions to the nonprofit sector. He has successfully transitioned City Year into a more impactful organization through strategic planning and community engagement initiatives. His ability to secure funding from a diverse range of government and foundation sources has significantly enhanced the capacity of City Year to serve youth in need. Moreover, his roles as a grant writer have led to the successful acquisition of substantial funding that has been vital to program development and execution.
Matt’s commitment to education also reflects through his teaching roles at esteemed universities, where he has not only guided students in understanding the complexities of public service but also emphasized the need for strategic thinking and ethical leadership in addressing societal challenges. His academic background combined with practical experience creates a unique opportunity for students to learn from a professional who blends theory with robust real-world applications.
In summary, Matt Schaffer is a distinguished figure within the realms of nonprofit management and education, embodying the spirit of community service and academic excellence. His contributions at City Year and as an educator have made a lasting impact, influencing both the organizational landscape of educational outreach and the next generation of public service professionals.
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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:
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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 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. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
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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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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.