Skollar 2008/09
Prior to attending the Saïd Business School, Jessica Lax co-founded and directed The Otesha Project – an organisation that trains cycling theatre troupes to spread the message of conscious consumption to young people. The organisation has won multiple awards for its work, released 6,000 copies of The Otesha Book: From Junk to Funk, visited nearly 450 Canadian communities, expanded to the UK and Australia, logged some 37,000 kilometres and delivered more than 2,000 performances to over 80,000 people.
Recently, Jessica transitioned the organisation from a grant-based funding model to a hybrid enterprise model, successfully raising more than 50 per cent of the organisation's budget from new sources in one year. She was awarded the YouthActionNet Fellowship, chosen by Chatelaine as one of Canada's "80 women to watch", and nominated for Canada's 2008 Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award.
Jessica decided to do an MBA to gain a deeper understanding of production and consumption patterns and their relationship to social change. She will use the knowledge she gains to start new ventures to reverse the negative impacts of these patterns including: environmental degradation, toxic threats, and human rights abuses. She chose to study at the University of Oxford because of its international reputation, and the quality of mentorship and support offered to Skoll Scholars.