I am proud to announce that Afiniti has become a corporate sponsor of Ignite Worldwide, a global nonprofit committed to helping young women and non-binary students pursue a future in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM).
Background
My history with Ignite spans 3 years, during which I’ve witnessed how their initiatives have made a tangible difference in students’ investment in technical topics.
My Afiniti colleagues and I saw this firsthand a few weeks ago when we hosted [a virtual field trip and Q&A session](/news/detail/ignite-worldwide) with sixteen high school students from Seattle.
New Sponsorship
With Afiniti’s corporate sponsorship, our collaboration expands to include leadership roles and regular educational events. I am delighted to share that our Chief Customer Officer, Orlando Hampton, and I have joined Ignite’s Executive Advisory Board. Together, we will help shape and support the organization’s sustainability and scalability strategies.
Ignite’s mission to make it easier for girls to build careers in STEM fields is dear to me personally. It’s also important to Afiniti, which continues to prioritize closing the gender gap among its employees, last year adding 110% more women to its global team. By hosting events like virtual field trips, workshops, and panels, we look forward to sparking the interest of girls and non-binary youth from underserved communities in future science and technology careers.
Looking Ahead
One notable upcoming event is Ignite Worldwide’s annual Virtual Spring Gala, running from May 3-9, 2021. Afiniti is an “Innovator” sponsor of this week-long event, and everyone from Afiniti and beyond is invited to attend. The gala will feature talks, career sessions with senior executives, auctions, and more to help raise awareness about Ignite’s work and build resources for its development and sustainability.
We hope to see you there! Stay tuned for future educational events when the fall school semester begins.
Lindsay Hua is the VP of Global Deployment at Afiniti.
On February 10th, we hosted a virtual field trip and Q&A session with Ignite Worldwide, a global nonprofit that has supported the STEM education of over 80,000 girls and non-binary youth from underserved communities.
Sixteen high school students from Eastlake High School in Seattle attended the event, which kicked off with a presentation of Afiniti’s work and a virtual tour of Afiniti’s international offices through photos and stories.
Some of us then shared personal stories of our career paths leading to Afiniti. This was followed by a Q&A session where the students learned more about our careers and backgrounds, and what life is like at a technology company. They asked many thoughtful questions, even more than time allowed to answer.
The final part of the event was a breakout session where we went through interactive AI exercises to further explain how machine learning works, including beating Afiniti’s AI at rock paper scissors!
We were thrilled to learn that after attending this event, 100% of the students indicated they were interested in STEM based on a survey by Ignite Worldwide. One student reflected: “The women at Afiniti really empowered me to believe that I do have a place in STEM and I can do whatever I want to do. I loved hearing their opinions and stories and they inspired me to pursue STEM even more.”
It has been a privilege to be part of this meaningful cause. Kudos to my colleagues Lindsay Hua, Holly Jones, Priya Sangameswaran, Rida Shah, and Caroline Mehta for making this a success.
We look forward to participating in future opportunities to reach out to those who can benefit from our stories and knowledge.
by Caroline Dollman, Director of Business Development & Events
We are thrilled to welcome Alicia Richart as our new General Manager of Iberia, whereby she will lead the company strategy and operations in Spain and Portugal.
Previously, Alicia served as the founder and CEO of DigitalES, a nonprofit start-up that promotes digital transformation, and advocates for the telecommunications and technology industries in Spain.
Alicia will be taking over the position of General Manager of Iberia from Alonso Aznar. As the new GM, she will be responsible for driving growth, managing client relationships, and leading Afiniti’s strategy and operations in Spain and Portugal. Alonso now is part of Afiniti’s management team as SVP & Head of Growth, where he oversees the delivery and acceleration of revenue, including operational management and expansion of Afiniti’s client base across 22 countries.
With Industrial Engineering MSc and BS degrees from Instituto Químico de Sarria, and an MBA from ESADE Business School, Alicia’s career spans Total, Accenture, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and Cellnex Telecom.
Alicia brings Afiniti a strong command of the Iberian business ecosystem. Under her leadership, the Afiniti team in Spain will keep on soaring in parallel with Afiniti’s growing international clientele and evolving regional operations.
What do customers expect from the brands they engage with?
With the rapid growth of communication tools in the last decade, customer expectations have also changed. Today, customers interact with a brand four additional times before making a purchase than they did in 2005. Customers also demand effortless, personalized services increasingly on digital channels like email and messaging apps. While this poses a challenge for businesses in utilizing and managing new mediums, it also provides an opportunity to innovate and increase customer loyalty by interacting with customers where, when, and how often they want.
To reap the rewards of successful customer engagement, it is important to understand preferences and build a customer-facing strategy using the right frequency and channels depending on individual customer needs. Research shows that businesses that personalize their customer communications can reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50% and increase revenues by 5 to 15%.
Explore communication preferences of today’s customers in our infographic below:
At Afiniti, we help businesses utilize data to improve customer interactions by pairing better.
Afiniti is proud to welcome Consuelo Remmert as its General Manager of France.
Previously, Consuelo worked at the CEO’s Office of Palantir Technologies for five years, where she led business development efforts globally, and participated in investor relations and strategic internal missions.
Before Palantir, Consuelo was an Aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, first as Multilateral Affairs Adviser at the French Presidency’s Diplomatic Unit, and then as Head of International Affairs in the President’s private office.
Consuelo started her career in the United Nations Department of Public Information after graduating from Columbia College in the city of New York with the honors of Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. She later held positions in strategic communications at WPP and the Brunswick Group.
Consuelo will be taking over the General Manager position in France from Jérôme de Castries. As the new French GM, she will be responsible for the continued success of Afiniti’s third-largest global market. Jérôme will join Afiniti’s Senior Leadership Team as SVP & Head of Growth, where he will lead engagement with a global portfolio of clients as well as oversee Afiniti’s expansion in the insurance industry.
The changes reflect Afiniti’s continued global expansion. Over the past few months, Afiniti has added a number of key executives and hundreds of new team members to help meet the demands of its growing global client base.