Alexa Clay
{{short description|American writer}}
File:Alexa Clay 2019 (square cropped).jpg
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.wnyc.org/story/a88120e58a3f5aabbfa38e6a/|title=8.01.15 Icons and Infamy|publisher=|accessdate=1 August 2017}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/childhood-and-adolescence/wasnt-i-special-enough-to-be-abducted-by-aliens/|title=Aeon - a world of ideas|website=Aeon|accessdate=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512001959/http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/childhood-and-adolescence/wasnt-i-special-enough-to-be-abducted-by-aliens/|archive-date=2015-05-12|url-status=dead}} Clay received her BA from Brown University and an MSc in economic history from Oxford University.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/speaker-directory/alexa-clay|title=Speakers - World Affairs Council|website=www.worldaffairs.org|accessdate=1 August 2017}}
In 2013, Clay started performing as "the Amish Futurist", an alter ego she developed to bring more existential reflection into the tech scene.{{cite web|url=http://www.zeit.de/video/2014-07/3704253580001/sinnfrage-performance-kuenstlerin-greift-technologie-kult-an|title=Sinnfrage: Performance-Künstlerin greift Technologie-Kult an|website=Zeit Online|accessdate=1 August 2017}}"Can Monasteries be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good," The Nation (August 27, 2014) The Amish Futurist has performed at SXSW, re:publica, Tech Open Air Berlin, and the DEAF Biennale.[https://re-publica.de/en/session/amish-futurist-and-power-buttermilk Amish futurist and power buttermilk]
Clay led work focused on scaling social innovation at Ashoka"Open Innovation: A Muse for Scaling," Stanford Social Innovation Review (Fall 2012). and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a network focused on scaling the movement of social intrapreneurship.{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3046231/the-new-rules-of-work/the-rise-of-the-intrapreneur|title=The Rise Of The Intrapreneur|date=18 May 2015|publisher=|accessdate=1 August 2017}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.echoinggreen.org/sites/default/files/The_Social_Intrapreneurs.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063940/http://www.echoinggreen.org/sites/default/files/The_Social_Intrapreneurs.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=dead }}
Clay is the co-author of The Misfit Economy, a book published by Simon & Schuster{{Cite book|url=http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Misfit-Economy/Alexa-Clay/9781451688825|isbn = 9781451688832|title = The Misfit Economy|date = 25 October 2016|last1 = Clay|first1 = Alexa|last2 = Phillips|first2 = Kyra Maya}} in 2015, that examines the role of creative thinking and ingenuity among society's "misfits"."What Criminals Can Teach us About Creativity". Time (June 18, 2015). The Economist called the book "a paean to the quirkier members of society."{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/business-books-quarterly/21656630-paean-quirkier-members-society-praise-misfits|title=In praise of misfits|newspaper=The Economist|accessdate=1 August 2017}} The book was named a top business book to read by The TelegraphElizabeth Anderson (January 15, 2015). "Top Business Books to Read in 2015". The Telegraph. and the World Economic Forum.Adam Grant (January 7, 2015). "15 New Books All Leaders Should Read". World Economic Forum The Misfit Economy has also been reviewed by the Financial Times,Emma Jacobs (May 17, 2015). "Review: The Misfit Economy". Financial Times. Salon.com,{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/06/27/violence_is_contagious_stopping_its_transmission_became_the_mission_of_the_man_whod_fought_tb_and_cholera_in_somalia/ |title=Violence is contagious: Stopping its transmission became the mission of the man who'd fought TB and cholera in Somalia|first1=Alexa|last1=Clay|first2=Kyra Maya|last2=Phillips|work=Salon.com|date=28 June 2015|accessdate=1 August 2017}} the New Statesman, and the BBC.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20150814-lessons-from-villains|title=Life lessons from villains, crooks and gangsters|first=Renuka|last=Rayasam|publisher=BBC |accessdate=1 August 2017}} Clay has appeared in Dazed Digital,{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/18636/1/what-we-can-learn-from-hackers-pirates-drug-dealers-misfit-economy|title=What we can learn from hackers, pirates and drug dealers|work=Dazed|date=24 January 2014|publisher=|accessdate=1 August 2017}} Vice,{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-drank-moonshine-and-camel-milk-with-black-market-legends/ |title=I Drank Moonshine and Camel Milk with Black Market Legends |access-date=2015-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117030029/http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/i-drank-moonshine-and-camel-milk-with-black-market-legends |archive-date=2015-11-17 |url-status=live |work=Vice}} on public radio's Marketplace,{{cite web|url=http://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/marketplace-tech-monday-july-6-2015|title=Marketplace Tech for Monday, July 6, 2015|website=Marketplace|accessdate=1 August 2017}} The Takeaway,{{cite web|url=http://www.thetakeaway.org/people/alexa-clay/|title=People - Alexa Clay|website=www.thetakeaway.org|accessdate=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014916/http://www.thetakeaway.org/people/alexa-clay/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=dead}} Australia's morning show Weekend Sunrise{{cite web|url=https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/29574646/lessons-in-creativity-from-crooks-and-criminals/|title=Lessons in creativity from crooks and criminals|publisher=|accessdate=1 August 2017}} and the Laura Flanders Show. The Misfit Economy loosely inspired the NatGeo show Underworld Inc, for which Clay was a consulting producer.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7251125/|title=Alexa Clay|website=IMDb|accessdate=1 August 2017}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thersa.org/united-states/team|title=RSA US team|website=The RSA|accessdate=26 March 2023}} Clay has been active in the fields of social business, technology studies, and social change.{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/business/2015/07/why-business-needs-misfits|title=Why business needs misfits|website=www.newstatesman.com|date=30 July 2015|accessdate=1 August 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/13916/hacking-and-the-misfit-economy/|title=Hacking our way to a better world|website=kernelmag.dailydot.com|accessdate=1 August 2017}} 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.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2015/08/ideas-bank/startups-and-ex-cons|title=Why using ex-convicts could give start-ups an edge|first=Kyra Maya|last=Phillips|magazine=Wired UK|publisher=|accessdate=1 August 2017}}
References
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Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts