The Introduction to Effective Altruism Fellowship
A four-week track to kickstart your impact journey
The world is a complex and fascinating place. As a human kind we have been able to bring about numerous positive developments, and many things continue to improve. From decreasing starvation and child labor to advancing scientific understanding, democracy, and literacy rates, we have accomplished a lot.
At the same time, many things are still not quite right. Social injustice, biodiversity loss, war, and global warming are just a few of the challenges that we are facing. Due to the sheer number of problems we face, it is tempting to believe that you can’t do anything about them. This is not true.
It turns out, you can make an immense positive impact if you approach it from the right angle. You can make a significant difference.
The purpose of this fellowship is to empower you to learn more about this opportunity, and to provide you with the basic tools to seize it.
How it works
Discussion groups
Discuss a curated curriculum with other people who care deeply about improving the lives of others in the most effective ways they can.
Social activities
We organize weekly social activities in addition to the discussion sessions so that we can get to know each other on a more personal level. We will have picnics, game nights, and excursions which will allow you to connect with other like-minded people of your fellowship cohort.
3 hour time investment per week
1 hour prep
Before attending each discussion, you’ll spend roughly 2 hours completing the set of readings, podcasts or videos.
2 hours discussion
Discuss the ideas you’ve read with your fellowship group in one of our community rooms.
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We’ll explore why it's important to think carefully about how you spend your time and money to help others, and why a "scout mindset" is critical to finding the best opportunities.
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Some efforts to help appear to be much more effective than others. We'll share a tool for estimating impact, and look into one promising focus area: reducing global poverty.
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Humanity appears to face existential risks: the chance of a catastrophe that destroys our long-run potential. One such risk is from a future pandemic that is worse than COVID-19.
What would the world look like if we took the interests of our grandkids' grandkids as seriously as our own? This week, we'll focus on longtermism, and look at a set of forecasting tools that might help us to predict the future.
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We’ll discuss ways to apply the principles of effective altruism to your own life, particularly through your career.
Curriculum
Questions you’ll explore
Who should we care about helping?
How much better are the best options to do good?
What can we do to prevent the next pandemic?
How can we make better decisions together?
How does climate change compare to other risks?
What happens after the fellowship?
Once you completed the fellowship you can decide whether you want to apply as an active member. Amongst others, you can then join our weekly member dinners, participate in our skill-building workshops, join fun reading groups and get access to a bunch of other resources.
Furthermore, you can get going with impact projects. We don’t only want to learn about how to do the most good, we want to do it. After completing the fellowship, you can team up with others who care deeply about doing good in the most effective ways they can. With them you can start a project that brings about a significant positive impact on a local, national or global level. The tools and knowledge you will have gained during the fellowship will be useful for this.