Alexa Clay

Alexa Clay at the World Affairs Council, San Francisco, 2015

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 NPR'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]

Clay has been active in the fields of social business, technology studies, and social change.^{[16] [17]} 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.^[18]

Formerly, Clay led work focused on scaling social innovation at Ashoka^[19] and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a network focused on scaling the movement of social intrapreneurship.^[20] 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.^[21]

In 2013, Clay started performing as "the Amish Futurist," an alter ego she developed to bring more existential reflection into the tech scene.^[22] The Amish Futurist has performed at SXSW, re:publica, Tech Open Air Berlin, and the DEAF Biennale.^[23]

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.^[24] Clay received her BA from Brown University and an MSc. in Economic History from Oxford University.^[25]

References