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We need EA people working for non-EA orgs
2 min read
This forum—and the EA community surrounding it—is a bit of an echo chamber. We need people who care about EA values in the rest of the world for several reasons: influence and evangelism, cross-pollination, reality checks, and pragmatism.
The only way for EA to grow is to expose non-EAs to EA concepts. We need people working in all sectors and organizations who can be EA evangelists and ambassadors.
This is especially important in roles like government policy and oversight where decisions have outsized influence.
As much as non-EAs can learn from us, we can also learn from them. The more we understand how “the real world” works, the better we will be at honing our strategies for getting the world to focus on the important, tractable, and neglected areas. And it helps develop empathy for people who aren't living by EA principles.
It’s a simple fact that there are far more non-EA jobs out there than EA ones. We don't have enough jobs for everyone who wants to work for an EA org. And that’s ok. We want to be highly selective about the people we hire in EA orgs, which requires many more people to apply who will not get the job.
People who are EA-aligned but working in “normie” jobs are the core of implementing all of the points mentioned above. But beyond that, there’s still “earning to give” (E2G).
I feel like E2G fell out of favor after the FTX implosion. And while I understand people wanted to distance themselves from to biggest scandal to rock this community, it’s still an important and viable option for many people. In an ideal world, E2Gs would be the most common contributors to the cause. EA initiatives need smart people who can get things done, but they also need a lot of capital to make things happen fast and at scale.
I got into effective giving over 20 years ago because my company offered a $12k/year donation match. Many tech and finance companies offer a $10k match: Amazon, Google, Intel, Cisco, Meta, Pfizer, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte… On the high end, Microsoft, Aabot, Biogen, and Aflac (among others) offer $15k. None of these companies are considered EA, but they can generate meaningful money for the cause we care about.
If your employer offers one, you should be maxing out their charitable contribution match; it literally doubles your impact in the world. If you can’t comfortably give the full amount, please post a comment here. We can connect EA donors without this benefit to EA matchers who have this benefit to maximize contributions to EA causes.
I've long thought one of the most impactful ways to drive money toward EA causes is to train grantmakers and get them working at private foundations that are not EA affiliated. Program officers have a lot of influence! Even just having grantmakers that are exposed to EA ideas around cost effectiveness could have a massive positive impact on the world (even if they aren't going to EA orgs).
Hey Kyle! I get the impression you've thought and perhaps talked to people about this a bunch, so I wonder if you'd be open to sharing your sense of how program officers tend to get hired at non-EA foundations? Informal PM is fine!