News and happenings within the Effective Altruism Chicago community
Hi there,
Welcome to the monthly EA Chicago newsletter 👋
Be sure to stay in touch during the month via our Eventbrite page and Slack workspace.
EACHI March Event Schedule
March Social Event: Join EACHI on Saturday, March 16th at 2pm at an Irish Pub (location TBD) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! Don’t forget to wear green 😊 (event details will be available soon)
March Learning Event: The details for this month’s learning event will be announced in mid-March.
News & Updates
Job Opportunities
· Giving What We Can is hiring a researcher to help identify the most effective donation opportunities for a variety of world views, and recommend these to our donors! They decided to extend the deadline and now applications close on March 2nd. View the full job listing and apply here.
· Open Philanthropy is seeking social science research in global health and wellbeing, on land reform, health, migration, education, science and metascience, and global development. Open Philanthropy has also added forecasting as an official grantmaking focus area.
· Leadership changes at One for the World: GWWC pledger Jack Lewars is stepping down as Executive Director to launch a consultancy offering bespoke donation advice for large donors. Emma Cameron is taking on the role of interim Managing Director, and One for the World is accepting applications for their next Executive Director!
· GiveWell is hiring for senior roles: Head of People Operations and Head of Communications.
· Founders Pledge Climate is currently recruiting for a Climate Communications Manager to increase our reach and communicate our work (apply here) and an Applied Researcher to contribute to our research agenda and grantmaking (no job ad yet, reach out here).
· Dr. Joshua Lewis and Dr. Lucius Caviola—co-directors of the Effective Altruism Psychology Research Group—are looking to hire a full-time Junior Research Scientist (Research Assistant). You can learn more about this position and how to apply HERE.
· Dr. Andrea Dittmann and Dr. Kyle Dobson are looking for a remote Project Manager for the New Blue Initiative to manage randomized controlled trial (RCT) interventions aimed at improving community-police relations in field sites across the country. The position will begin ASAP for a one-year commitment with the possibility of renewal for a second year. This position is ideal for individuals who are looking to apply to graduate school in the social sciences within the next few years, and want a few years of gaining research experience.
Key Responsibilities:
Project Review Meetings: Conducts regular project review meetings with the PI team to monitor progress against timelines and keep the PI team accountable.
Process Management: Break down complex aims into actionable steps and milestones, while guiding the team through any potential challenges that may arise. Ensuring all supportive documents are up-to-date and communicating any updates across the team. This will include overseeing the creation of study procedures and protocols for recruitment, consent, payment, remote and in-person data collection, data cleaning, and processing.
Field Site Management: Provides training, support, and supervision of part-time research staff to implement those procedures and protocols.
Schedule Management: Supports the PI team with scheduling internal and external meetings, attending meetings, taking meeting notes, and tracking follow-up items. Maintains a team calendar of project deadlines to ensure alignment across all ongoing projects.
Accountability: Facilitates the evaluation of in-process and completed projects and workflows to support future process improvement. Keeps the team accountable regarding work tasks and deliverables.
Grants Administration: Supports the team in helping to identify and apply for relevant grant funding.
We anticipate this to be a complex, fast-moving position. The project manager will need to assess and balance priorities, risks, and benefits.
Requirements
Ideal candidates would have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in behavioral science related field (e.g., psychology, management, criminology, public policy), prior research experience, and experience working with and managing others. The candidate must have strong organizational and communication skills. The candidate should be self-motivated, proactive, and able to work both independently and collaboratively. Strong technical skills are an asset but are not required. (e.g., R, Qualtrics, ChatGPT, Natural Language Processing)
How To Apply
To apply, please submit (1) A cover letter, (2) Current resume or CV, and (3) Names and contact information for three professional references to Drs. Kyle Dobson and Andrea Dittmann at kyle.dobson@virginia.edu and andrea.dittmann@emory.edu with subject line “Solutions Lab Project Manager Application.”
Deadline for applications is March 15th but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Community
· On Friday, March 29th there is a talk on Animal Welfare and Climate Change at Northwestern’s Pritzker Law School. You can learn more about this event and grab your ticket HERE.
· The EA and Judaism Intro Fellowship is an 8-week virtual program you can do alongside school or work that explores the core ideas of effective altruism and their relationship to Jewish tradition, texts, culture, and history. Learn more and apply by March 10th.
· One of our community members, Brad West, gave a TedX talk about his work on Profit for Good. Check out his talk HERE.
· GWWC pledger Dustin Moskovitz shared his reflections on 'The Long Journey to Doing Good Better' – philanthropy, decision-making in the face of uncertainty, his approach to strategic cause selection, and the need for ongoing reflection and adaptation in the pursuit of doing good.
· GWWC pledger Marcus Abramovitch shared a breakdown of how much he donated in 2023, to which organisations and why. Take a look for insights into his donation rationale and his approach to diversifying donations. Marcus encourages everyone to contribute meaningfully to causes they believe in.
· GWWC pledger James Brown published this creative explainer of diminishing returns, suggesting i's more than an economic principle, but also an opportunity for creating more happiness for everyone involved. By sharing resources with those who have less, individuals can optimise overall joy, as happiness is non-zero-sum and can be contagious.
Cause Areas
Animal welfare
· The Humane League is pleased to share that UK supermarket Morrisons has committed to giving all of its own-brand fresh chickens 20% more space by November 2024, reducing the suffering of an estimated 50 million chickens annually. Additionally, The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) recently met to discuss legislation for farmed fish slaughter, aiming to introduce new legal protections for up to 77 million fish slaughtered annually in the UK.
· The Fish Welfare Initiative shared their 2023 year in review, which includes scaling their farmer program to over 100 farms, finishing construction on experimental ponds to be used in future research with their local university partnership, and improving the lives of an estimated 450,000 fishes.
· Farmed Animal Strategic Team (FAST) announced the launch of their Animal Advocacy Forum, a new platform aimed at increasing discussion and enhancing collaboration within the animal advocacy movement.
Global health and wellbeing
· Helen Keller Intl reached more than 35 million children across 13 countries in Africa with lifesaving vitamin A in 2023. They are also officially bringing their services to Madagascar, which now marks 14 countries where they will ensure children under five receive critical vitamin A supplementation. They have released their 2023 annual report.
· New Incentives has set an ambitious goal to enroll 1.8 million infants in 2024. As the organization continues to increase demand for routine immunizations, it also works closely with government partners to support vaccine supply efforts.
· You can catch up on GiveWell’s recent events online: CEO Elie Hassenfeld’s discussion with Neil Buddy Shah, CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) about the CHAI Incubator (here) and Elie’s conversation with journalist Matthew Yglesias, co-founder of Vox and creator of Slow Boring, about GiveWell’s top charities and latest research here.
· GiveWell’s Director of Research Teryn Mattox wrote a guest essay about the effectiveness of kangaroo mother care (KMC) for the ParentData Substack.
· GiveWell has also recently updated its reports on two of its top charities: the Against Malaria Foundation and Malaria Consortium.
· The Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) recently published its 2023 Annual Review reflecting on the progress in their programs this past year, and detailing ambitious plans for the year ahead.
· Teaching at the Right Level Africa is organizing a series of webinars for partners in government and other organizations to improve foundational learning skills across Africa. They will also participate in the CIES conference to share experiences scaling and adapting the TaRL model across contexts. On International Mother Language Day, TaRL Africa celebrated linguistic diversity in classrooms.
· High Impact Engineers emphasize their particular aptitude to contributing to global health and development – read more here.
Global Catastrophic Risk Reduction
· Greg Colbourn is starting a funding circle aimed at slowing down/stopping further AGI development, due to concerns about near-term x-risk. There are many funders focused on AI Safety, but none so far focused on slowing / pausing / stopping AGI. Individuals willing to commit significant funding are invited to join to discuss and coordinate donations towards this cause (funds won’t be pooled).
Evaluators, grantmakers and incubators
· Ambitious Impact (AIM, formerly Charity Entrepreneurship) has rebranded to encompass its classic CE program along with new programs focusing on grantmaking, research, and effective giving. The organisation believes that creating pathways for other career paths, similar to what they have done for nonprofit entrepreneurship, is the most effective way to double their impact. They have opened applications for their upcoming CE Incubation Program and Research Program, with the deadline of April 14.
· The AIM Grantmaking Mental Health Funding Circle will hold its spring round in April, with applications due March 31st and decisions expected in early May. Grantee applicants can follow the instructions here to apply.
· Effektiv Spenden has initiated a new fund, named "Defending Democracy," in response to the surge of interest in defending democracy sparked by CORRECTIV's report on a secret far-right meeting in Germany on January 10. They have also helped launch Power for Democracies, a charity evaluator focused on democracy promotion.
· Giving Green recently had an in-person event in London with 11 climate funders, advisors and partners. The goal was to highlight their approach to high-impact philanthropy, while opening up the discussion to allow funders to share their own values, approaches and constraints. Catch up on the presentation deck here.
· Animal Charity Evaluators is now accepting applications for their 2024 Movement Grants. Please visit their website to view the application guidelines, timeline, and a list of previous grant recipients. Apply by March 17! You can also read about what they achieved through grants previously here.
(Please contact EACHI’s organizer, Samantha Kassirer, if you have something you’d like featured here next month!)
We look forward to seeing you in person or online!