DavidNash
Bio
Community Organiser for EA UK- https://www.effectivealtruism.uk
Monthly Overload of EA - https://moea.substack.com/
How others can help me
I'm always happy talking to anyone, don't hesitate to reach out. Specific things we may want to chat about include;
- What are the good and potentially not so good things your group is doing?
- How fast/slow and where should EA grow as a movement?
- What lessons can we learn from other communities?
- How much should we focus on people in the core of EA vs on the fringe?
- Do you have a new idea for a cause or project related to EA?
Topics I enjoy discussing (not exclusively);
- Community building & strategy
- Meta EA
- Networks/connections
- New cause areas/interventions
How I can help others
If you're thinking about being a community organiser or are currently organising an EA related group then I'd be happy to share ideas on strategy and community building.
I've been an organiser with EA UK since 2015, working part time since 2017 and full time since 2019. I've also had conversations with people setting up groups around the world and also career, cause, interest and workplace related groups.
I have also had quite a few career 1-1s with people in the UK and could be a good sounding board if you had career/project questions.
Posts 63
Comments212
Topic Contributions1
Thanks for doing this, that's great to see the real data. Would be good to see if this has changed in the last couple of years.
I'm maybe 70% on that claim, I do think founders effects play a big part in most movements and that early success has led people to overweight current strategies.
I think with a more professional focused model there wouldn't be asks for people to switch professions, but for there to be larger career networks that can support EA by shifting directly into impactful roles using the skills they've already got.
There are also lots of experienced people who have heard of EA over the last decade but haven't got more involved as there has been less outreach directed towards them and ways for them to engage.
I thought that was more to do with being a country that allowed them to operate at all rather than tax reasons.
It would be easier, and with much quicker returns, to create more ways for people who are already on the edge of EA to be more connected to others interested in EA.
There are maybe a few hundred people working in EA bubbles, but there are probably thousands of people who have been following along with EA for 3+ years who would be very happy to share their knowledge or get more involved with EA directly.
One person has already commented saying they will change how they act.
I think just writing a post can lead to some of the changes you want to see.
One example being the "It's really really hard to get hired by an EA organisation". Having that exist and be spread amongst people was able to start changing expectations that people had.
I also think even if most people already agree, there are some people haven't thought about the subject of this post and may change their behaviour after having read it. I have seen a few examples of this on Twitter and in person before.
I think it helps that the journalist had been aware of EA since 2013 and taken the GWWC pledge in 2014 even if they hadn't been involved in the community that much.
It may be more about how much of the conversation space is taken up with different topics rather than the funding amounts (relative or absolute).
I think even if there had been a larger animal funder keepings the percentages the same, but no change in topics, people will still sense a shift.
Is there a reason why organising an AI Alignment conference is not on the list? It seems to be one of the more successful things CEA has done for the EA field.