Effective altruism gave me a framework to think through how I could really make a difference. Now, as director of Effective Altruism Germany, I help others make more impactful career decisions.
I studied arts management with dreams of organizing festivals and concerts, but when I actually tried it during my studies, I realized it didn't give me a sense of purpose or fulfillment. After graduating I started working at grantmaking foundations, which felt great at first because I knew I might make a difference. But I wasn't sure how to evaluate which problems were biggest, how many people were already working on them, or what the actual ways to solve them were.
During my Master’s program, someone I happened to stay with told me about effective altruism and sent me a few posts from the EA Forum. I thought I'd get around to reading them, but truthfully, I didn’t. Then I saw an announcement for an
introductory program to effective altruism in German on Facebook. I signed up, and was absolutely amazed by what I learned and the discussions we had.
"It was like a friendly debate where we explored different perspectives on ideas and then tried to find answers that worked for all of us."
The principle from effective altruism that helps me most day-to-day is prioritization. When considering important life decisions — like what to do with your career or where to donate money — we can and should make these decisions in a smart way. I accepted my current role as Director of EA Germany because I realized that even though I could make a real difference at my foundation job, I could have even more impact helping others make good decisions about their careers. Now, I help hundreds of people per year make better career decisions by connecting them with opportunities they might not have thought about.
"What the community and the ideas gave me was a lot of self-efficacy and really pushed me towards aiming higher. Before that, I didn't feel like I could lead an organization. I didn't feel like I could have a huge impact, but actually now I think I can."
Effective altruism gave me a feeling of self-efficacy by providing a framework to compare different options in order to really have an impact and improve the world. I used to struggle with deciding how much to focus on myself versus trying to help others. Now, I really value my other hobbies and interests.
My advice to someone curious about EA? Don't repeat my mistake of not reading those articles someone sends you! Start with one post, like the
introduction to effective altruism, then go ahead and meet other people who like the ideas. Meeting the people behind these ideas will hopefully encourage and motivate you too.
