Skoll Scholar 2010/2011
Born in Washington DC, Anima Sarah LaVoy brings a background in psychology and political organizing to high-leverage ventures in the areas of climate change and civic engagement.
Anima is the founder of Swing Semester, an organisation providing young Americans with a springboard into progressive politics during U.S. presidential election cycles. In 2008, Swing Semester participants worked at 14 campaigns and organizations in the ‘swing’ states of Ohio and Colorado, knocking on over 200,000 doors in the final weeks before the election. While working, they lived with host families and studied an original syllabus focused on understanding Left and Right political ideologies and learning to think beyond them. Participants could elect to earn academic credit, making Swing Semester comparable to a semester abroad.
Anima’s interest in political psychology stemmed from her concern for action on climate change. She holds a psychology degree from Earlham College, where she conducted award-winning original research on the relationship between moral reasoning and political ideology. Anima continued to dig deep on questions about the nature of politics and progress through her roles as apprentice to a political philosopher and enrollment manager for a series of private visioning retreats held among liberal and progressive leaders.
Anima loves to be involved early in the formation of projects, collaborating with the bright people around her to evolve an initial idea to an actionable plan and beyond. Prior to arriving at Saïd Business School, she lived in Seattle where she collaborated on Seattle Innovators, an effort dedicated to creating cross-sector collaboration around the goal of making Seattle the first carbon neutral city in the U.S., and Three Degrees Project, a multi-disciplinary think tank at University of Washington School of Law pioneering the field of climate justice. She also worked in the areas of microfinance and ‘Government 2.0’ while at Re-Vision Labs, a community engagement consulting firm.
“I am deeply grateful to have been selected as a Skoll Scholar,” says Anima. “The lens of business is essential to creating change at the scale we need in so many sectors, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside my MBA colleagues and fellow Skollars toward this new vision of what business can be.”