Alexa Clay Explained

Alexa Clay (born March 21, 1984, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American writer, public speaker and researcher with a focus on subculture, informal economy, and new economic thinking.[1]

Biography

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.[2] Clay received her BA from Brown University and an MSc in economic history from Oxford University.[3]

In 2013, Clay started performing as "the Amish Futurist", an alter ego she developed to bring more existential reflection into the tech scene.[4] [5] The Amish Futurist has performed at SXSW, re:publica, Tech Open Air Berlin, and the DEAF Biennale.[6]

Clay led work focused on scaling social innovation at Ashoka[7] and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a network focused on scaling the movement of social intrapreneurship.[8] 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.[9]

Clay is the co-author of The Misfit Economy, a book published by Simon & Schuster[10] in 2015, that examines the role of creative thinking and ingenuity among society's "misfits".[11] The Economist called the book "a paean to the quirkier members of society."[12] The book was named a top business book to read by The Telegraph[13] and the World Economic Forum.[14] The Misfit Economy has also been reviewed by the Financial Times,[15] Salon.com,[16] the New Statesman, and the BBC.[17] Clay has appeared in Dazed Digital,[18] Vice,[19] on public radio's Marketplace,[20] The Takeaway,[21] Australia's morning show Weekend Sunrise[22] and the Laura Flanders Show. The Misfit Economy loosely inspired the NatGeo show Underworld Inc, for which Clay was a consulting producer.[23]

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.[24] Clay has been active in the fields of social business, technology studies, and social change.[25] [26] 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.[27]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 8.01.15 Icons and Infamy. 1 August 2017.
  2. Web site: Aeon - a world of ideas. Aeon. 1 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512001959/http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/childhood-and-adolescence/wasnt-i-special-enough-to-be-abducted-by-aliens/. 2015-05-12. dead.
  3. Web site: Speakers - World Affairs Council. www.worldaffairs.org. 1 August 2017.
  4. Web site: Sinnfrage: Performance-Künstlerin greift Technologie-Kult an. Zeit Online. 1 August 2017.
  5. "Can Monasteries be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good," The Nation (August 27, 2014)
  6. https://re-publica.de/en/session/amish-futurist-and-power-buttermilk Amish futurist and power buttermilk
  7. "Open Innovation: A Muse for Scaling," Stanford Social Innovation Review (Fall 2012).
  8. Web site: The Rise Of The Intrapreneur. 18 May 2015. 1 August 2017.
  9. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063940/http://www.echoinggreen.org/sites/default/files/The_Social_Intrapreneurs.pdf . 2016-03-05 . dead .
  10. Book: The Misfit Economy. 9781451688832. 25 October 2016. Clay. Alexa. Phillips. Kyra Maya.
  11. "What Criminals Can Teach us About Creativity". Time (June 18, 2015).
  12. News: In praise of misfits. The Economist. 1 August 2017.
  13. Elizabeth Anderson (January 15, 2015). "Top Business Books to Read in 2015". The Telegraph.
  14. Adam Grant (January 7, 2015). "15 New Books All Leaders Should Read". World Economic Forum
  15. Emma Jacobs (May 17, 2015). "Review: The Misfit Economy". Financial Times.
  16. Web site: Violence is contagious: Stopping its transmission became the mission of the man who'd fought TB and cholera in Somalia. Alexa. Clay. Kyra Maya. Phillips. Salon.com. 28 June 2015. 1 August 2017.
  17. Web site: Life lessons from villains, crooks and gangsters. Renuka. Rayasam. BBC . 1 August 2017.
  18. Web site: What we can learn from hackers, pirates and drug dealers. Dazed. 24 January 2014. 1 August 2017.
  19. Web site: I Drank Moonshine and Camel Milk with Black Market Legends . 2015-11-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151117030029/http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/i-drank-moonshine-and-camel-milk-with-black-market-legends . 2015-11-17 . dead . Vice.
  20. Web site: Marketplace Tech for Monday, July 6, 2015. Marketplace. 1 August 2017.
  21. Web site: People - Alexa Clay. www.thetakeaway.org. 1 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014916/http://www.thetakeaway.org/people/alexa-clay/. 17 November 2015. dead.
  22. Web site: Lessons in creativity from crooks and criminals. 1 August 2017.
  23. Web site: Alexa Clay. IMDb. 1 August 2017.
  24. Web site: RSA US team. The RSA. 26 March 2023.
  25. Web site: Why business needs misfits. www.newstatesman.com. 30 July 2015. 1 August 2017.
  26. Web site: Hacking our way to a better world. kernelmag.dailydot.com. 1 August 2017.
  27. Why using ex-convicts could give start-ups an edge. Kyra Maya. Phillips. Wired UK. 1 August 2017.

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