I’m writing to introduce myself as the new president of Giving What We Can. I take this role with gratitude to former presidents Toby Ord and Sam Deere, and to former executive director Michelle Hutchinson. Giving What We Can has been a very meaningful part of my life over the years, and I’m honored to be able to work on it in a fuller capacity.
As a refresher, GWWC was founded in 2009. In 2012, the Centre for Effective Altruism was founded as an umbrella organization for GWWC and its sister organization 80,000 Hours. In 2016, CEA restructured and one of the changes was that GWWC was incorporated as a project of CEA rather than operating as its own organization.
Since GWWC is a project of CEA, being the president means that I am the main person running this project. Sam Deere continues as Technical Director, Larissa Hesketh-Rowe as Marketing and Communications Specialist, and Jacob Hilton volunteering as Webmaster. Harri Besceli continues supporting local effective altruism groups, including Giving What We Can chapters. I continue to also serve as the Community Liaison at CEA, working to help the effective altruism community thrive. Michelle Hutchinson is now working to set up the Oxford Institute for Effective Altruism to strengthen effective altruism as an academic research field.
About me: I’ve known since I was young that I wanted giving to be an important part of my life, and I remember how relieved I was to discover Giving What We Can and finally meet other people thinking along the same lines. My husband and I took the Pledge together five years ago. We live near Boston, Massachusetts with our two young children. After working as a social worker in mental health, I joined CEA in 2015.
Some ways I’d like to develop GWWC over the coming months:
- Updating information on the website to be more current
- Updating the “How Rich Am I” calculator when the newest dataset comes out
- Better reflecting the fact that GWWC is cause-neutral
- Emphasizing the Pledge as something that is to be carefully considered and taken seriously, including directing people to Try Giving if they are not yet sure whether they want to make a long-term commitment
- Meeting GWWC members in person at the upcoming EA Global conferences in San Francisco and London
- Hosting office hours and talks at EA Global about what GWWC does and why; see my talk from EA Global Boston.
Thank you to all those who have made this community what it is! I’m excited to be moving forward with all of you. You can always reach me at community@givingwhatwecan.org — please feel free to get in touch with any questions or suggestions.