The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is an Oxford-based charity that builds and supports the
effective altruism
Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, c ...
community. It was founded in 2012 by
William MacAskill
William David MacAskill (; born 24 March 1987) is a Scottish philosopher and author, as well as one of the originators of the effective altruism movement. He is an Associate Professor in Philosophy and Research Fellow at the Global Priorities I ...
and
Toby Ord
Toby David Godfrey Ord (born July 1979) is an Australian philosopher. He founded Giving What We Can in 2009, an international society whose members pledge to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities, and is a key figure in the ...
, both philosophers at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. CEA is part of Effective Ventures, a federation of projects working to have a large positive impact in the world.
History
CEA’s founding was prompted by the need to set up an umbrella organization under which
Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism-associated organisation whose members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. It was founded at Oxford University in 2009 by the philosopher Toby Ord, physician-in- ...
and
80,000 Hours
80,000 Hours is a London-based nonprofit organisation that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research. It provides this advice on their website and podcast, and ...
could be incorporated. In late 2011, the members of those two organizations met to discuss how this new entity should be named, and the name “Centre for Effective Altruism” was adopted. At the time, the movement that would later be called “
effective altruism
Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, c ...
” did not yet have a standard name—terms common back then included “optimal philanthropy” and “rational altruism”—and this was the first time the term “effective altruism” was used in its current sense. CEA was registered as a charity the following year.
In 2015 and 2016, CEA incorporated several projects, including
Effective Altruism Global
Effective Altruism Global, abbreviated EA Global or EAG, is a series of philanthropy conferences that focuses on the effective altruism movement. The conferences are run by the Centre for Effective Altruism. '' Huffington Post'' editor Nico Pit ...
and Giving What We Can, and began to function as a centralized organization, rather than merely as an umbrella.
Sam Bankman-Fried
Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried (born March 6, 1992), also known by the initialism SBF, is an American suspected fraudster, entrepreneur, investor, and former billionaire. Bankman-Fried was the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX ...
joined CEA as director of development in late 2017, leaving shortly thereafter to fund Alameda Research. In 2018, CEA launched a new version of the Effective Altruism Forum, based on the
LessWrong
''LessWrong'' (also written ''Less Wrong'') is a community blog and forum focused on discussion of cognitive biases, philosophy, psychology, economics, rationality, and artificial intelligence, among other topics.
Purpose
''LessWrong'' pro ...
codebase.
In 2022, the division of CEA providing operations support and fiscal sponsorship to several projects changed its name to “Effective Ventures”. The rest of CEA now operates as one of Effective Ventures’ many projects, which besides Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours, include EA Funds, the Forethought Foundation, the Centre for the Governance of AI, Longview Philanthropy, Asterisk, Atlas Fellowship, and Non-trivial. CEA continues to pursue its mission to build and nurture a global community of people who are thinking carefully about the world’s biggest problems and taking impactful action to solve them.
Activities
As of 2022, CEA’s primary activities include organizing the
Effective Altruism Global
Effective Altruism Global, abbreviated EA Global or EAG, is a series of philanthropy conferences that focuses on the effective altruism movement. The conferences are run by the Centre for Effective Altruism. '' Huffington Post'' editor Nico Pit ...
conference series; building and maintaining the Effective Altruism Forum and the effective altruism landing page; funding and advising hundreds of effective altruism groups across the world; and preserving the effective altruism community's ability to grow and produce value in the future by building a healthy intellectual culture and an inclusive community.
CEA’s offices are in Trajan House, a building that also accommodates many other organizations connected with the effective altruism movement, including the Forethought Foundation, the Centre for the Governance of AI, the Global Challenges Project,
Our World in Data
Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.
It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a re ...
, the
Future of Humanity Institute
The Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Oxford investigating big-picture questions about humanity and its prospects. It was founded in 2005 as part of the Faculty of Philosophy and the ...
and the Global Priorities Institute; the latter two are also part of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
CEA's budget for the year 2021 was $28 million.
See also
*
Effective altruism
Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, c ...
*
80,000 Hours
80,000 Hours is a London-based nonprofit organisation that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research. It provides this advice on their website and podcast, and ...
*
Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism-associated organisation whose members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. It was founded at Oxford University in 2009 by the philosopher Toby Ord, physician-in- ...
*
Effective Altruism Global
Effective Altruism Global, abbreviated EA Global or EAG, is a series of philanthropy conferences that focuses on the effective altruism movement. The conferences are run by the Centre for Effective Altruism. '' Huffington Post'' editor Nico Pit ...
References
External links
*
Effective Altruism a CEA-created online introduction to effective altruism.
Effective Altruism Forum a CEA-run online forum for the effective altruism community.
Effective Altruism Global a CEA-run conference series on effective altruism.
YouTube Channel recordings of talks from past conferences.
{{Effective altruism
Charities based in Oxfordshire
2012 establishments in England
Effective altruism