Tag: Chazz Clevinger

And the hits just keep on coming.

A few months back, we shared the news about CiviClick being featured on three prominent news websites, including USA Today, roughly a year after we’d been founded. Well, we recently got notice that our founder, Chazz Clevinger, has also been chosen for the 2024 Marquis Who’s Who, an annual biographical compendium of the top movers and shakers in fields ranging from business to entertainment to politics.

For 125 years, Marquis’ directories have been sharing profiles of people selected for extraordinary contributions to their fields, which, in Chazz’s case, includes both advocacy and public affairs. Among the factors considered are accomplishments, career progression, position, visibility and prominence.  

“I am honored and humbled to be included in the Marquis Who’s Who, which, for more than a century, has focused on people who not only excel at their jobs but strive to serve their communities,” Chazz says. “Recognized in this way, just as CiviClick is hitting its stride—well, it’s more than words can express.”

Maybe, but we’ll try.

What is Who’s Who?

First, a word about Marquis Who’s Who. While many have heard the term “who’s who,” and perhaps even used it without thinking— e.g., “a veritable who’s who of…”—it’s been around so long, not many know its origin story.

The Who’s Who concept kicked off in London, England, back in 1849, when a handbook simply listing the names of high-society folks was distributed to help social circles keep up with whom it was wise to know while hobnobbing. Over time, the format was changed to include people in business and politics—and not just their names, but biographical information as well.

In 1899, the Ohio-born, Chicago-based Albert Nelson Marquis, founder of the publishing house A.N. Marquis and Company, debuted a stateside version, calling it Who’s Who in America. Featuring more than 8,600 entries, it was edited by Marquis, who established strict standards for inclusion. The honorees, he insisted, had to be cream-of-the-crop professionals, and the annual publication was eventually regarded as the authoritative work of contemporary biography. By the early 21st century, it included more than 100,000 entries.

Today, Marquis Who’s Who puts out multiple publications covering various industries and parts of the world. “Marquis’ products and services,” its website states, “have become dependable resources for in-depth biographical information. Professionals from fields such as law, medicine, academia, and science rely on Marquis’ customized services and comprehensive data in its print and online publications in order to obtain accurate industry information, foster important connections, and share their accomplishments with the world.”

And, now, Chazz Clevinger is one of those professionals.

Why Chazz?

While many know Chazz as the founder and CEO of CiviClick, a super-innovative digital advocacy and public affairs tech company based in D.C., there’s much more to his story. Born and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, he’s also CEO of Superior Campaign Solutions, a provider of case acquisition services for mass torts law firms, and a partner of Advocators, an influencer-marketing platform focused on campaigns.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he double-majored in political science and ancient history, Chazz honed his expertise in grassroots advocacy and communications management. Among his early-career employers were CQ Roll Call, Prison Fellowship Ministries and The White House, where he served in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.

Always looking for new challenges while helping organizations advocate for change, Chazz then moved on to business development, marketing and campaign services, which led him to the civic technology space, his focus for the past 15 years. He’s been an executive at four public affairs and government relations tech companies, among them Phone2Action and One Click Politics.

Chazz has also consulted on more than 100 local, state, federal and international campaigns of all kinds, including digital advocacy, for a variety of companies and associations. Among them: DraftKings, Reynolds American, FreedomWorks, Yamaha, the American Pharmacists Association and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

As an expert in his fields, Chazz has authored such works as “How Strategic Planning Can Help You Win” and “Machiavelli, Livy, and the Political Uses of Religion.” As mentioned above, his accomplishments have led not only to inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who but also to articles on his work with CiviClick in the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Caller and USA Today.

Looking Forward

Chazz’s multiple experiences led him to found CiviClick in February of 2023, kickstarting a new era in advocacy and public affairs. His goal: disrupt traditional, often ineffective advocacy methods by leveraging AI-powered technological tools. CiviClick provides a wide range of clients, from companies to nonprofits, with a platform featuring state-of-the-art technology, which revs up connections with decision-makers, influences policy and improves communities faster and more effectively than ever.

As Chazz told USA Today, “I wanted to do something different that focused on not only the most innovative and creative ways that technology can impact public policy discussions, but also had a distinctly universal focus on being supportive of everyone’s voice.” 

CiviClick does just that. Its incredibly talented team of campaign, tech and public affairs experts offer its clientele an incredible range of solutions, including digital advocacy, performance marketing, campaign management and lobbyist referrals.

Chazz, who’s received numerous awards, including the “40 Under 40 Award” in 2022 from the American Association of Political Consultants, says that he’s not satisfied just to sit back on his and the team’s laurels. “I founded CiviClick,” he told the Daily Caller, “because I wanted to do something different that wasn’t just purely mechanical. I focused on the most innovative and creative ways that technology can impact public policy dialogue, as well as the distinctly universal goal of being supportive of everyone’s right to free speech.”

With that in mind, he’s truly appreciative to be included in Marquis Who’s Who. It’s a signifier of what he’s achieved thus far and what he hopes to accomplish down the road.

“Being in Who’s Who is humbling,” he says. “These are people at the top of their game, and they got there because they’re never satisfied—there’s always another mountain to conquer, another solution to a problem, another campaign to help improve the way we all live. So I’m inspired to be included.”

It’s been about a year since we “opened our doors,” making CiviClick’s unmatched advocacy campaign expertise and avant-garde technology available to clients. And what a year it’s been. Utilizing the latest in AI-driven technology; we’ve helped companies, nonprofits, trade associations and advocates achieve and, in many cases, exceed their goals.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. Over the last couple of months, the story of CiviClick’s founding and its unparalleled services have been shared on a few high-profile websites: the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Caller and USA Today.     

Why? Because what we’re doing in the public affairs space, and the ways in which we’re enabling clients to amplify their voices and influence policymaking, is revolutionary. So it’s news that should be shared. Which we’re more than happy to do.

‘A More Inclusive and Representative Approach’

One of our favorite quotes from the USA Today piece is one that sums up our inimitable, brand-new-way-of-thinking approach: “Launched in February 2023 by founder Chazz Clevinger, CiviClick aims to create a space for everyday individuals to connect with elected and regulatory officials at various levels, from local, state, and federal to international, influencing countless policy debates along the way.”

We’ll focus on Chazz later, but, first, we want to dig into what motivated him to start up CiviClick. Once upon a time, outfits like the Lions and Rotary clubs served as means for like-minded citizens to gather, discuss their concerns and pass them along to local change-makers. But as technology became more sophisticated, public affairs firms stepped in, leveraging what were then brand-new tools like email and the internet to influence legislators.

It didn’t take long for those tools to go stale. Citing one example, Chazz, a public affairs veteran, told USA Today, that the form-letter version of an advocacy email—where you fill in the blanks, then send it off to a legislator—falls on relatively deaf ears. “One thing that I hear when I meet with lawmakers and their staff is that they don’t particularly want to just see messages that are pre-written,” Chazz explained. “They really want to hear the unique, authentic voices of their constituents.’”

Enter CiviClick, which uses advanced AI to help clients craft highly personalized messages—via text, photos, audio and/or video, each tailored to make a specific request or share a unique viewpoint. It’s a method that “ensures a more inclusive and representative approach,” Chazz told USA Today, adding: “Lawmakers and their staff really like it because they know it’s a real person who cares about the issue and who is speaking to them in their own voice.” 

But Chazz had more than just personalized messaging up his sleeve. “I wanted to do something different that focused on not only the most innovative and creative ways that technology can impact public policy discussions,” he said, “but also had a distinctly universal focus on being supportive of everyone’s voice.” 

‘The Most Innovative and Creative Ways’

As the Daily Caller piece makes clear, CiviClick offers its clients a wide variety of AI-facilitated tools—for instance, the use of QR codes, meaning advocacy isn’t limited to web-based communications. Calls to action can be accessed via leaflets, pamphlets and billboards, spreading the message more efficiently. And with CiviClick’s tools, public affairs campaigns can cover multiple topics, anything from cancer research and police reform to regulatory initiatives and increasing government funds for foreign aid. 

We also help C-level execs and public affairs pros broadcast their messages by designing campaigns that activate advocacy via email, phone, websites and social media, providing omni-channel engagement. 

Here are a few other CiviClick services and features:

• automated and personally tailored thank you messages
• staggered communication schedules, so as not to overwhelm lawmakers and their staff
• a database featuring millions of contacts CiviClick can reach via email, texting, phone calls, field canvassing, social media and digital ads
• in-house experts who provide strategy, segmentation and campaign planning

“I founded CiviClick,” Chazz told the Daily Caller, “because I wanted to do something different that wasn’t just purely mechanical. I focused on the most innovative and creative ways that technology can impact public policy dialogue, as well as the distinctly universal goal of being supportive of everyone’s right to free speech.”

Other CiviClick innovations include: AI-generated emails that target lawmakers based on voting history, party affiliation and other factors; and gamification modules enabling advocacy clients to create fun and engaging ways to become more involved in supporting a cause.

The programmers at CiviClick employ a hybrid approach to coding, combining traditional tech with a cutting-edge SaaS platform called Bubble, which allows them to design and build new tools at three times the speed of conventional coding. This cost-effective blend enables CiviClick to offer its clients a robust set of tools at very competitive prices.

So, who’s the guy behind all this?

Meet Chazz Clevinger

Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Chazz was raised to believe in hard work, family values and community. “The beauty of youth is the belief that you can change the world,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “That belief never really left me. I think most young people suffer from a certain degree of naiveté, and I was no different. But I remember back when I was in college that I was full of hopes and dreams.”

He studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he double-majored in political science and ancient history. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa, he worked in the White House’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, conducting research for the George W. Bush administration. Chazz then went on to run political and public affairs campaigns at the local, state and national levels.

His goal was to get a law degree and eventually run for Congress. But just as he was getting ready to attend the University of Michigan Law School, the opportunity to found a brand-new kind of public affairs firm presented itself.

Making what he told the Tribune was “one of the toughest decisions of my life,” he decide to stay in advocacy technolgy, which he considers “a public good, to enable groups from the largest corporations to the smallest mom-and-pop nonprofits to make their voices heard by lawmakers.”

As head of an incredible team of public affairs experts, Chazz brings many qualifications to the table. Involved in the advocacy and civic technology space for the last decade and a half, he’s been an executive at four public affairs and government relations technology companies, among them Phone2Action and One Click Politics. He’s also earned numerous accolades, including the prestigious “40 Under 40 Award” from the American Association of Political Consultants.

As for choosing entrepreneurship over politics, Chazz doesn’t quite see it that way. CiviClick, he told the Tribune, “enables people of all races, creeds, genders and ideas to have their voice heard.” And AI-fueled tech, like civic engagement, “has the power to shape every aspect of daily life,” he added. “Our proprietary blend of human-driven content, which provides a structured learning model for AI, is keeping us on the cutting edge of our industry.”