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NXT-ID, Louisville, KY: Chia-Lin Simmons, CEO

Company: NXT-ID, Louisville, KY
Company Description: NXT-ID was founded as a bed of innovation–focused on cutting-edge technology. With the purchase of LogicMark, it found success in the health wearables space. NXT-ID's current mission is to develop innovative tech to enable care-at-home and the confidence to age in place. Personal emergency response systems and health communications devices with smart caregiving technology allow it to give back.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Maverick of the Year - Consumer Products
2022 Stevie Winner Nomination Title: Chia-Lin Simmons

  1. Which will you provide for your nomination in this category, an essay of up to 650 words describing the achievements of the nominated management team, group, or individual since January 1 2020, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length describing the same? CHOOSE ONE:
    An essay of up to 650 words
  2. If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video:
     
  3. If you are providing an essay of up to 650 words, place it in this space:

    Total 647 words used.

    Youth-centered technologies for entertainment and pleasure are growing by leaps and bounds, while care technology for the elderly has stagnated. Chia-Lin Simmons, our maverick nominee, is changing that. She took over the reins of a struggling company–one with the right technology but mired in litigation after losing its leadership. Based on her gutsy entry into this space and the positive changes she’s been able to enact in only seven months, we would like to nominate Simmons for Maverick of the Year.

    Simmons joined NXT-ID as CEO in mid-June 2021. Through its subsidiary LogicMark, NXT-ID was producing innovative, non-monitored Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS). Aging adults could use it to call 911 or a close family member, giving them the confidence and safety to live independently. Because it was non-monitored, seniors on fixed incomes were not required to pay a monthly subscription fee. Additionally, veterans could receive a free device through their local Veterans Administration healthcare provider. 

    NXT-ID had a team of dedicated employees and an impressive technology portfolio, but when Simmons joined it was facing litigation due to the actions of its prior leadership, who had since left the company. 

    In only her second month with NXT-ID (July 2021), Simmons was able to secure a U.S. General Services Administration contract. GSA contracts enable government partnerships through purchasing agreements with federal, state, and local entities. This allowed NXT-ID to open its distribution channels beyond the Veterans Affairs Administration, to serve more aging adults and their caretakers. 

    [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]

    Simmons has big plans for the future of care technologies. Herself a member of “the sandwich generation”–people who care for both their children and their parents--Simmons saw the need for innovation as well as value in the products that comprise the care economy, and in the heart of those developing them. The AARP’s National Alliance for Caregiving 2020 Report says that 53 million adults in the U.S. today are caregivers, and 61% of caregivers are also working. In addition, the 2020 AARP Research Report Caregiving in the U.S. says that only 53 percent of caregivers report using “software or technological tools” to help them. 

    Today, many aging adults depend on PERS devices to call for help in critical care situations, but many PERS technologies face a serious need for improvement to meet and exceed the needs of aging adults. It sounds straightforward--a button designed to alert first-responders or a close family member. Unfortunately we must consider the real-world experience of people who rely on these devices. PERS devices are often difficult for the elderly to use due to complicated interfaces. Others require a monthly subscription fee. Some only work in WiFi range, and some rely on 3G, which is sunsetting this year. Inaccurate fall detection is another shortcoming of current personal emergency response technology leading to intrusive calls and/or loud alarms at the wrong times.

    Leveraging her background in artificial intelligence (including her own startup LookyLoo for AI retail) and her work with other connected services (connected cars, Audible, GooglePlay and Harman International) Simmons is now working with NXT-ID to create novel consumer devices for our aging population, combining modern technological efficiencies with the devices necessary for compassionate caregiving.

    Simmons' vision cannot be realized soon enough; the United States is undergoing a demographic shift with the number of older adults predicted to double over the next several decades, representing 23% of the population by 2050. More people in the U.S. want to live at home as they age--90% according to a 2021 Capital Caring Health survey. 

    Simmons joined a company whose future was not promised, and in a matter of months, she has gained the confidence of employees, investors, and the U.S. government to set NXT-ID (and the care economy) on a winning trajectory. We're proud to nominate her for Maverick of the Year.

  4. In bullet-list form, provide a brief summary of up to ten (10) of the chief accomplishments of the nominee(s) since January 1 2020. This is required whether you are submitting a video or an essay:
    1. In July 2021, under the new leadership of Chia-Lin Simmons and after a rigorous application process, NXT-ID was granted a US General Services (GSA) Contract. NXT-ID was able to broaden its access to federal, state, and local buyers to provide PERS devices at no charge to veterans.

    2. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] Simmons joined the company in June 2021. In August 2021, she and leadership closed on $4M in a private funding round and an additional public market offering of $12.5M in September 2021 to help the company grow its new innovation pipeline.

    3. In November 2021, Simmons and her team launched a campaign using email and snail mail to notify their existing customers in advance of the upcoming sunsetting of 3G networks, which would render a number of the older LogicMark PERS devices unusable. To date, they have been able to replace 1,175 devices at no cost to those they serve.

    4. In December of 2021, Simmons continued her work in the field of AI/ML by filing two new provisional patents in the area of fall detection for the PERS category.

    5. As a CEO and a woman of color, in June 2021, Simmons joined a statistic of only 4% of C Suite leaders in the United States (McKinsey, Women in the Workplace 2021). 

    6. In December 2020, Simmons was an honoree for Remodista’s Women2Watch list for women who are solving complex challenges and are forward-thinking in the direct-to-consumer global business. Her thought provoking article, the Remodista annual insights for 2018 on Serendity and AI for retail, and her work in developing AI intelligence for retail helped her earn the nomination for the well-respected organization.  

    7. In July 2020, Chia-Lin Simmons was nominated for the second annual Women in AI awards for “AI Entrepreneur”. Her innovative work at LookyLoo, a B2C and B2B AI mobile application, inspired her nomination for this award. A product created to help women achieve “Look Confidence”–not just the right “fit”, to reduce the billions of tons of waste, and to reduce billions in revenue lost related to clothing returns–empowering women of all shapes, sizes, shades, and styles while assisting the fashion industry in its mission to become more sustainable.

Attachments/Videos/Links:
Chia-Lin Simmons
URL GSA Press Release Dec 15, 2021
URL Awarepreneurs Podcast with Chia-Lin Simmons Dec. 7, 2021 229 | Compassionate Technology to Improve Sandwich Generation Lives with Chai-Lin Simmons
URL Awarepreneurs Podcast with Chia-Lin Simmons Dec. 7, 2021 [Transcript]
URL NXTD Nxt-ID 8-KGSA Schedule Contract Awarded to NXT-ID Filed: 17 Aug 21, 9:01am
URL REMODISTA'S 2020-21 WOMEN2WATCH IN BUSINESS DISRUPTION - THE LIST Dec 11, 2020
URL VentureBeat’s 2020 Women in AI Awards AI Entrepreneur Nominees July 15, 2020