Giving Compass' Take:

• Evan Ward writes and breaks down how he believes EA (Effective Altruism) can reach more and do a lot more good by investing in growing itself.  

• What are the limitations of effective altruism? What are the benefits? Is this movement really pushing the dialogue forward around giving and philanthropy? 

Here's an article on insights from a founding member of Effective Altruism. 


Effective Altruism encapsulates some of the most powerful, impactful ideas in the world. It seems that when people focus single-mindedly on answering this question with no preconceived conclusions to justify, remarkable ideas are birthed and great work takes place. The bottom line is: the world probably needs a lot more effective altruists.

The problem, in my mind, is that EA is not growing fast enough. Surely, many people like myself are exposed to EA's ideas and want to pursue them further, but are too bound up in their everyday lives to dive deeply into them. They want to find a way in which they can drastically increase their impact, but between school, work, traditional obligations, and just not being around other effective altruists, they struggle to figure out how to fully realize their impact.

I believe it is time for EA to begin experimenting with investing more heavily in growing its own. It's time we start doing more to help people pro-actively become effective altruists. We need an EA Academy where people of all walks of life can come together, study ideas essential for making a high impact, build life-long friendships with other EAs, and become fully integrated with the movement.

Read the full article about the need for and viability of an effective altruism academy by Evan Ward at Effective Altruism Forum