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Balto First to Introduce Real-Time Guidance in Spanish for the Contact Center

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Spanish-speaking agents now have access to bilingual conversation excellence features to drive conversions, maintain compliance, and improve customer experiences

ST. LOUIS, July 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Balto, the #1 real-time guidance platform for contact centers with over 140 million guided conversations worldwide, announced today that its flagship product, Real-Time Guidance, is now available in Spanish — making it first in the market to offer conversation excellence at scale to U.S. Spanish-speaking contact centers and their customers.

Balto recognized the vital need to connect with this massive market and create quality customer experiences.

“Balto’s mission is to power a new era of knowledge work in the contact center, where the modern worker collaborates with artificial intelligence to make informed, real-time decisions,” said Balto COO Chris Kontes. “Balto in Spanish is an important next step to further that mission, unlocking real-time guidance for millions of Spanish-speaking and multilingual contact center workers, and enabling them to better serve customers.”

According to Pew Research, there are roughly 40 million Spanish-speaking Hispanics in the U.S., making Spanish the second most spoken language in the U.S. By 2050, the Latino population is projected to be 132.8 million, or 30.2% of the total projected U.S. population. Balto recognized the vital need to connect with this massive market and create quality customer experiences that English-speaking customers have come to expect.

Most contact centers route Spanish-speaking customers to a handful of bilingual agents (i.e., “Press 2 for Spanish”) who are far too often ill-prepared for the breadth of sales, customer support, and compliance information they must manage for Spanish-triaged customers. Those agents face the same challenges as any agent without Balto: they don’t have proper guidance on calls to win deals and provide positive customer experiences while staying compliant.

Balto in Spanish solves these issues by riding along the call with bilingual agents and guiding them using established playbooks to say the right things for the best possible outcome, no matter the use case. Spanish-speaking customers receive the same exceptional experience as their English-speaking counterparts.

Sondra Ford, senior compliance officer at Trusted Senior Specialists, LLC, a Balto customer, is enthusiastic about the product launch for Spanish speakers, saying, “The ability to use compliant and measurable diverse languages as we resolve the needs of others is a great reward for everyone! Thank you Balto for initiating progress.”

Balto in Spanish includes top features that Real-Time Guidance customers depend on to optimize their calls, including:

Real-Time Guidance for Spanish-speaking agentsSmart Checklists and Dynamic Prompts in SpanishFull access to reporting and English playbooks

Currently, Balto in Spanish is geared towards North American contact centers with Spanish-speaking teams and English-speaking managers. For more information about Balto in Spanish, tune in to the webinar, Managing Bilingual Contact Center Agents for Peak Performance, August 9, 2022 at 1pm CDT (register here), or visit balto.ai/spanish.

About Balto‍

Balto guides agents to say the right thing on every call. Top-performing contact centers trust Balto’s AI-powered Real-Time Guidance, Real-Time Coaching, and Real-Time QA to increase sales conversions, prevent costly compliance mistakes, and improve customer experience. Founded in 2017 and based in St. Louis, Missouri, Balto has transformed contact center operations and guided over 140 million conversations worldwide. Balto.ai

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Virtuous Welcomes Renowned Nonprofit Thought Leader, Technologist and Author Nathan Chappell as Chief AI Officer

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Chappell’s two decades of nonprofit leadership will help Virtuous deliver industry-leading AI solutions that transform the future of fundraising

PHOENIX, April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Virtuous, the leading responsive fundraising platform, today announced that accomplished nonprofit veteran Nathan Chappell has joined the company as Chief AI Officer. Chappell joins the company’s executive team and will lead its initiatives focused on building AI tools for nonprofit fundraising teams and empowering the nonprofit sector with data intelligence best practices.

“We’re on a mission to create $10B in net-new generosity in the world, and I can’t think of a better leader to partner with on this next phase of AI innovation and to help accelerate our journey,” said Virtuous CEO Gabe Cooper. “Nathan is a true AI visionary who also shares my passion for generosity. Virtuous is already well on its way to achieving our mission by helping nonprofits build better donor relationships and grow giving. Given the scale of the opportunity ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome a leader with Nathan’s skills and experience to help us guide the AI conversation in the industry and drive more giving for our incredible customers.”

Chappell’s fundraising experience spans more than two decades where he has led large-scale nonprofit organizations and multi-billion dollar fundraising campaigns; more recently, he was the Head of AI for Donor Search and is the founder of Fundraising.ai, a global think tank with more than 10,000 members responsible for publishing the world’s first Framework for Responsible and Beneficial AI for Fundraising. Chappell is also the co-author of the award-winning book The Generosity Crisis: The Case for Radical Connection to Solve Humanity’s Greatest Challenges and the recently released Nonprofit AI: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementing Artificial Intelligence for Social Good.

“When I first met Gabe nearly a decade ago, I found we were deeply aligned on the power of generosity to transform the world and the impact that technology can have when it comes to helping nonprofits better connect with and inspire their donors,” said Chappell. “Now, with Virtuous widely recognized as the leading and fastest-growing nonprofit fundraising platform in the market, and with AI at the forefront of innovation, I couldn’t imagine a better opportunity to bring those two things together to revolutionize the future of fundraising. I’m beyond excited and honored to join the team.”

As a sought-after public speaker, podcast guest, and editorial contributor, Chappell is regularly featured in journals such as the Chronicle of Philanthropy, AFP Advance, AHP, DMAW, Citibank Global, and Forbes, among others. His podcast, Fundraising AI is one of the top nonprofit technology podcasts globally.

“I truly can’t think of a more perfect partnership than Nathan and Virtuous,” said Andrew Olsen, EVP of Fundraising Solutions for nonprofit consulting firm DickersonBakker. “This is truly going to catalyze the industry’s ability to leverage AI to bring more efficiency and scale not only to its fundraising efforts, but to its overall ability to build a more sustainable business and deliver on its mission. I’m thrilled for them–but I’m also thrilled for us and for the industry as a whole as we now have a clearly defined leader in the race to help nonprofits better leverage AI in their efforts to grow generosity.”

Virtuous and Nathan Chappell AFP ICON | Seattle, April 27-29

In the coming week, Nathan will be joining Virtuous at the AFP ICON conference in Seattle, alongside thousands of nonprofit leaders and fundraising professionals from around the globe. He’ll be signing copies of his new book, attending a VIP happy hour co-hosted by Virtuous and Microsoft, and meeting with fellow attendees at the Virtuous booth (#1113) in the conference exhibit hall.

Virtuous CEO Gabe Cooper will also be presenting two sessions the event:

The Innovation Playbook for Nonprofits: Using Data & Automation to Drive Giving (Sunday, April 27th, at 3:15pm in the Tech Zone)The 7 Metrics That Matter: Benchmarking Success in Fundraising (Monday, April 28th, at 12:40pm in the Tech Zone)

Virtuous & Microsoft Mix and Mingle Happy Hour

Day/Time: Sunday, April 27, at 6pm PTLocation: Ben Paris – 130 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101Register here (limited to first 50 to register)

About Virtuous
Virtuous is the leading provider of Responsive Fundraising software dedicated to empower nonprofits with innovative tools purpose-built to create more personal connections with donors, save staff time, and grow giving s. Thousands of leading nonprofit professionals use Virtuous Automation, CRM, Giving and Marketing, and Analytics solutions to drive increased generosity. Nonprofits using Virtuous software have seen significant increases in donor retention and average gift size while reducing administrative expenses. Virtuous has made the Inc. 5000 list for three years in a row, has been recognized as a Leader in the G2 Nonprofit CRM grid, and has been named one of Inc. Magazine’s 2023 Best Places to Work. For more information, visit virtuous.org.

Media Contact:
Scott Salkin, CMO
scott.salkin@virtuous.org
602.881.1718

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SOURCE Virtuous

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Consumers Energy Debuts All-Electric Bucket Truck, Serving Customers with Zero-Emissions Vehicle

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Showing that electric vehicles come in all shapes and sizes to meet people’s needs, Consumers Energy is now serving customers with the company’s first all-electric bucket truck.

The truck will perform work in Grand Rapids to provide customers with reliable energy, and it represents yet another step in Consumers Energy’s commitment to powering Michigan’s EV transformation.

“We continue to see more EVs take to the road in Michigan, and it’s interesting to see how they arrive in different forms, from heavy-duty vehicles to school buses, to meet all sorts of needs,” said Lauren Snyder, Consumers Energy’s vice president of customer experience. “We want to provide an example to our customers who are making their own choices about buying EVs.”

VIDEO: See Consumers Energy’s all-electric bucket truck

The new bucket truck will soon be hitting the road in Grand Rapids and will be staffed by a specially trained team. Built by International Motors and equipped with an Altec boom, the truck is powered by a fast charger at Consumers Energy’s Grand Rapids service center and can travel up to 135 miles when fully charged.

Chris Laird, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations, said he’s excited to see the bucket truck improve electric service to customers. The company’s Reliability Roadmap is a plan to reduce the number and length of power outages.

“We’re excited to see this vehicle help our customers who count on us for reliable, dependable energy,” Laird said. “Our traditional mission to serve customers isn’t changing, but we are changing the way we do that work. In this case, that means powering a durable vehicle with zero-emissions energy.”

Consumers Energy provides solutions that support Michigan’s EV drivers, including rebates for home and public charging through its PowerMIDrive program and a companion program, PowerMIFleet, that helps businesses electrify their fleets.

Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com.

Check out Consumers Energy on Social Media 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/consumersenergy
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/consumersenergy  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consumersenergy 

 

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HelloSky Announces $5.5M Oversubscribed Seed Round, Crosses $1M ARR and Expands Executive Team

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GREENWICH, Conn., April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HelloSky (formerly Skyminyr), the only talent intelligence platform purpose-built for the executive search industry, today announced the close of a $5.5 million oversubscribed seed round.

The raise includes participation from Caldwell Partners, Karmel Capital, True Capital Partners, Hunt Scanlon Ventures and prominent angel investors from Google and Cisco Systems. The proceeds of the funding will be invested primarily into engineering and go-to-market efforts.

HelloSky has surpassed $1 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and expanded its management team to add executives in sales and marketing. Hugh Burnham has joined the company as EVP, Sales and Marketing, and Mike Kelch has joined as VP of Sales.

“As competition for executive talent escalates, organizations will increasingly turn to recruiting partners leveraging AI-driven platforms to gain a strategic edge,” said Scott A. Scanlon, CEO and co-founder of Hunt Scanlon Ventures. “They will lean on recruiters who can tap into precision talent platforms like HelloSky to integrate candidate identification, behavioral analytics, sector mapping, and human capital intelligence all in one place,” he said. “For executive recruiters this means shorter cycle times, more mandates, and unprecedented growth opportunities.”

Purpose-Built for Executive Search

While many AI recruiting platforms have added executive search features as an afterthought, HelloSky was engineered from the ground up with AI and data science tailored specifically for high-stakes executive placements. The platform delivers unmatched precision in identifying candidates with exact-fit experience and qualifications for leadership roles.

Unlike platforms designed for staff-level recruiting, HelloSky offers advanced executive competency smart tags, relationship intelligence and connection pathing, revealing actionable routes to top talent based on deep employment, investment, and education graphs, not just superficial LinkedIn ties.

HelloSky consolidates human capital, company, talent, and investor data into a single AI-powered platform. “With dynamic market mapping, real-time tracking, and its newly launched SmartRank™ technology, HelloSky is changing the game for how executive talent is sourced and evaluated, eliminating the need for multiple disparate costly subscriptions,” said Alex Bates, CEO of HelloSky.

Strong Early Adoption and Industry Recognition

Several of the fastest-growing executive search firms have already adopted HelloSky, including enterprise deployments at Bespoke Partners, Caldwell Partners, Eastward Partners, NU Advisory Partners, and On Partners. Venture capital and private equity firms are also turning to HelloSky to power talent decisions across their portfolios.

“This is a watershed moment for executive search,” said Mr. Bates. “AI is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s a competitive advantage today. Firms that embrace our platform are the fastest growing firms in executive search, achieving better outcomes with higher candidate precision and placement success.”

HelloSky was recently named to the High Performer Quadrant in G2’s ranking of top Talent Intelligence Software.

HelloSky expects to reach profitability by Q4 2025.

To book a demo with HelloSky, please click here.

About HelloSky
HelloSky is a next-generation precision talent intelligence platform purpose-built for executive search. Leveraging cutting-edge AI, data science, and proprietary talent graphs, HelloSky empowers organizations to connect with the right leaders faster and with greater precision than ever possible. For more information, please visit www.hellosky.ai

About Hunt Scanlon
Hunt Scanlon Media has been informing the executive recruiting and senior talent management sector for over 35 years. Our global news and market intelligence data comes in many forms, including daily newswires, talent leadership reports, newsletter briefings, rankings, global executive leadership conferences, and social media alerts.

Contact: Walker Manning
Vice President, Creative Content
walker@huntscanlon.com

Hunt Scanlon Ventures offers a full range of critical M&A solutions to guide founders and management teams to successful transitions and exits. Our advisory team has a singular focus on the human capital markets, assisting clients in M&A strategy development, valuation analysis, sourcing, growth strategy, transition services, and exit planning.

Contact: Drew Seaman
Managing Director
drew@huntscanlon.com

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SOURCE Hunt Scanlon Media

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