Vaidehi Agarwalla đ¸
Bio
I lead Product at Momentum, and care about making funding for high impact causes more robust & diversified. I live in the Bay Area, advise Asia-based community builders and run Pineapple Ops. I previously worked in consulting, recruiting and marketing, with a BA in Sociology and focused on social movements. (A little on my journey to EA)
I'm always keen to hear feedback through any means. Here's an anonymous way to share: admonymous.co/vaidehiagarwalla
Unless otherwise stated, I always write in a personal capacity.
/'vÉĂ°ehi/ or VEH-the-hee
Some posts I've written and particuarly like:
- Ideas from network science about EA community building
- The funnel or the individual: Two approaches to understanding EA engagement
- The availability bias in job hunting
- What comes after the intro fellowship?
Advice I frequently give:
- When in doubt, apply*
- What Ops in EA is like
- If you're running a retreat, nail the vibes and venue
- Add randomness to your conferences
How others can help me
If you feel I can do something (anything) better, please let me know. I want to be warm, welcoming & supportive - and I know I can fail to live up to those standards sometimes. Have a low bar for reaching out - (anonymous form here).
If you think you have different views to me (on anything!), reach out -I want to hear more from folks with different views to me. If you have deep domain expertise in a very specific area (especially non-EA) I'd love to learn about it!
Connect me to fundraisers, product designers, people with ops & recruiting backgrounds and potential PA/ops folks!
How I can help others
I can give specific feedback on movement building & meta EA project plans and career advising.
I can also give feedback on posts and grant applications.
Posts 65
Comments662
Topic contributions62
Sebastian addressed this in a comment below. I'll also add that the Hub is a volunteer-run project, and we have limited time / resources.
Fair point, I couldn't find a link to point to the budget, but:
"We launched this program in July 2022. In its first 12 months, the program had a budget of $10 million."
From their website - https://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/ea-global-health-and-wellbeing/
I don't think they had dramatically more money in 2023, and (without checking the numbers again to save time) I am pretty sure they mostly maxed out their budget both years.
However, distancing yourself from 'small r' rationality is far more radical and likely less considered.
Could you share some examples of where people have done this or called for it?
From what I've seen online and the in person EA community members I know, people seem pretty clear about separating themselves from the Rationalist community.
Good Ventures have stopped funding efforts connected with the rationality community and rationality
Since that post doesn't specify specific causes they are exiting from, could you clarify if they specified that they are also not funding lower case r "rationality"?
More broadly, they are ultimately scared about the world returning to the sort of racism that led to the Holocaust, to segregation, and they are scared that if they do not act now, to stop this they will be part of maintaining the current system of discrimination and racial injustice.
This feels somewhat uncharitable.
Thanks so much for sharing these insights! Over the past few years I've seen the inner workings of leadership at many orgs, and come to appreciate how complex and difficult navigating this space can be, so I appreciate your candor (and humor/fun!)