Before discovering effective altruism, I didn’t actively seek out questions of purpose. I used to busk at farmers markets to raise money for local charities, but I wasn't really a do-gooder by nature. Now I work as a grantmaker on Open Philanthropy's Global Aid Policy program, where I'm confident that my contributions are making a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
I was a happy-go-lucky type of person who wanted to have a satisfying life and treat people well, but I didn't think much about the impact I wanted to have on the world. There was probably a small part of me that was curious about doing good, but it wasn't something I was putting energy towards.
That changed during spring break in 2017 when I was visiting Scotland with a friend. She introduced me to someone in the EA community, who gave an unbelievably compelling account of the best ways to drive progress in global development and animal welfare. I was skeptical but fascinated, and he gave me a copy of Will MacAskill’s book, Doing Good Better, to read on the flight home. I was sold pretty much on the spot — I just had no idea that one person could make such a tremendous impact in the lives of others.
"The magnitude of good that was possible was just so striking to me."
I was moved by the rigor and open-mindedness with which the organizations I read about approached their work. They were truly trying to help others as much as they could rather than choosing a pet priority and building a program around that. Now I spend my career investigating global development grants, trying to increase the size and cost-effectiveness of international aid budgets. Sometimes my work involves confronting hard realities, like the global rate of suicide by pesticide ingestion. The heaviness of the material can be tough, but being able to work on these issues is a real privilege.
Through work trips to Ethiopia, Zambia, and Ghana, I've met the real people global aid work affects, like a sex worker who told us that antiretroviral therapy probably saved her life, and a malaria community case management volunteer who walks for miles in the heat for no pay because he’s lost loved ones to the disease.
"Being a part of the EA community has improved my life by so much in so many ways. It's just been the best thing that's ever happened to me and I don't think there's a close second."
Effective altruism means thinking deeply and putting care into using our resources — time, money, connections, anything that gives us the ability to create impact — thoughtfully and impartially to best improve the lives of others. I would encourage anyone to learn more and meet some of the people, because being around a community who lives by these values is incredible. I really wish I had gotten involved sooner.
