Alexa Clay in 2019

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]

References