Alexa Clay

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Alexa Clay in 2019

Alexa Clay (born March 21, 1984 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is a writer, public speaker and researcher with a focus on subculture, informal economy, and new economic thinking.[1] Clay is the co-author of The Misfit Economy, a book published by Simon & Schuster[2] in 2015, that examines the role of creative thinking and ingenuity among society's "misfits".[3] The Economist called the book "a paean to the quirkier members of society."[4] The book was named a top business book to read by The Telegraph[5] and the World Economic Forum.[6] The Misfit Economy has also been reviewed by the Financial Times,[7] Salon.com,[8] the New Statesman, and the BBC.[9] Clay has appeared in Dazed Digital,[10] Vice,[11] on public radio's Marketplace,[12] The Takeaway,[13] Australia's morning show Weekend Sunrise[14] and the Laura Flanders Show. The Misfit Economy loosely inspired the NatGeo show Underworld Inc, for which Clay was a consulting producer.[15]

Currently, Clay leads the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in the U.S. working on topics like universal basic income, inclusive growth, and creativity in education.[16] Clay has been active in the fields of social business, technology studies, and social change.[17][18] She has been an advocate for "inclusive innovation", examining the ways in which entrepreneurs in the black market and informal economy are given access to economic opportunity.[19]

Formerly, Clay led work focused on scaling social innovation at Ashoka[20] and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a network focused on scaling the movement of social intrapreneurship.[21] Along with John Elkington and Maggie de Pree she was the co-author of The Social Intrapreneur: A Field Guide for Corporate Changemakers, a report sponsored by the Skoll Foundation.[22]

In 2013, Clay started performing as "the Amish Futurist", an alter ego she developed to bring more existential reflection into the tech scene.[23][24] The Amish Futurist has performed at SXSW, re:publica, Tech Open Air Berlin, and the DEAF Biennale.[25]

Clay grew up the daughter of two anthropologists. She has written about her experience growing up with psychiatrist and alien abduction research Dr. John E. Mack for Aeon magazine.[26] Clay received her BA from Brown University and an MSc in economic history from Oxford University.[27]

References[]

  1. ^ "8.01.15 Icons and Infamy". Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Misfit-Economy/Alexa-Clay/9781451688825
  3. ^ "What Criminals Can Teach us About Creativity". Time (June 18, 2015).
  4. ^ "In praise of misfits". The Economist. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. ^ Elizabeth Anderson (January 15, 2015). "Top Business Books to Read in 2015". The Telegraph.
  6. ^ Adam Grant (January 7, 2015). "15 New Books All Leaders Should Read". World Economic Forum
  7. ^ Emma Jacobs (May 17, 2015). "Review: The Misfit Economy". Financial Times.
  8. ^ Clay, Alexa; Phillips, Kyra Maya. "Violence is contagious: Stopping its transmission became the mission of the man who'd fought TB and cholera in Somalia". Salon.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ^ Rayasam, Renuka. "Life lessons from villains, crooks and gangsters". BBC. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. ^ "What we can learn from hackers, pirates and drug dealers". Dazed. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  11. ^ "I Drank Moonshine and Camel Milk with Black Market Legends". Vice. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  12. ^ "Marketplace Tech for Monday, July 6, 2015". Marketplace. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  13. ^ "People - Alexa Clay". www.thetakeaway.org. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Lessons in creativity from crooks and criminals". Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Alexa Clay". IMDb. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  16. ^ "RSA US Team".
  17. ^ "Why business needs misfits". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Hacking our way to a better world". kernelmag.dailydot.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  19. ^ Phillips, Kyra Maya. "Why using ex-convicts could give start-ups an edge". Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Open Innovation: A Muse for Scaling," Stanford Social Innovation Review (Fall 2012).
  21. ^ "The Rise Of The Intrapreneur". 18 May 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-11-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. ^ "Sinnfrage: Performance-Künstlerin greift Technologie-Kult an". Zeit Online. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Can Monasteries be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good," The Nation (August 27, 2014)
  25. ^ https://re-publica.de/en/session/amish-futurist-and-power-buttermilk
  26. ^ "Aeon - a world of ideas". Aeon. Archived from the original on 2015-05-12. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  27. ^ "Speakers - World Affairs Council". www.worldaffairs.org. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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