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Update on project on reforms at EA organizations
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3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: EA Forum
This is a mid-project update from June 2023 on an EA governance reform effort; the completed outputs were published in November 2023 and are linked from the post's header.
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eaforum
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CommunityEA Strategy FortnightCEA Community Health TeamNonprofit governanceOrganization strategy
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Importance: 38/100blog postnews
Summary
An interim update on a project led by Julia Wise, Sam Donald, and Ozzie Gooen examining institutional reforms for EA organizations, including governance practices, whistleblowing mechanisms, and organizational best practices. The team synthesizes input from ~25 people with EA and non-EA institutional experience to produce concrete, organization-specific recommendations.
Key Points
- •Project team is conducting ~25 interviews spanning EA insiders and non-EA professionals (nonprofits, finance, government, consulting) to identify reform priorities.
- •Work includes cataloging forum discussions on reform, researching whistleblowing platforms, and understanding legal constraints on nonprofit governance.
- •Recommendations may target specific organizations (e.g., Open Philanthropy, Effective Ventures) or apply broadly to smaller EA orgs lacking basic governance infrastructure.
- •Outputs expected as 5-15 page reports with organization-specific or situation-specific guidance, plus potential recommendations for new EA ecosystem services.
- •Finished materials were completed by November 2023, making this an interim progress update in the reform effort.
Cited by 2 pages
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Update on project on reforms at EA organizations — EA Forum
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by Julia_Wise🔸 , Sam Donald , Ozzie Gooen Jun 17 2023 2 min read 11 89
Community EA Strategy Fortnight CEA Community Health Team Nonprofit governance Organization strategy Frontpage [Edited, November 2023: finished materials here .]
[Edited, June 2023: the name "task force" wasn't very accurate and gave some wrong impressions; we decided to change the name to a "project," since we think that's more accurate. Thanks for the feedback on this!]
This post is an update on a project on reforms that EA organizations might make.
Currently the people on the project are Julia Wise (employee at Centre for Effective Altruism, board member at GiveWell), Ozzie Gooen (president at Quantified Uncertainty Research Institute, board member at Rethink Charity, former board member at Rethink Priorities), and Sam Donald (strategy fellow at Open Philanthropy, former staff at COVID taskforce at UK Cabinet Office, former staff at McKinsey). We also have a discussion space with a larger group of about a dozen people (experts in related fields, EA organization staff, and community members). Currently the total time on this project is about 1 full-time equivalent, mostly from Julia.
We realize a small group of people isn’t going to reflect all the views or types of expertise useful for a project like this. Our goal is to draw on that expertise, often from people who don’t have time to participate in frequent meetings about EA reforms, and to synthesize views and practical information from a range of sources.
If you have suggestions for people it would be useful for us to get input from (including yourself!) we're happy to hear ideas at this form .
So far the process has included:
Reading and cataloging the problems identified and possible solutions proposed in posts about institutional reform that have been written up on the Forum.
Speaking to ~25 people about which areas they see as most important for possible reforms in EA, and what best practices they think EA should be adapting from other fields. We’re trying to speak with a mix of people with significant experience in EA institutions, and people with significant work history in non-EA institutions (nonprofits, finance, government, management consulting.)
Researching existing whistleblowing platforms and laws
Next steps:
Better defining possible reforms based on the ideas collected and discussed.
Getting more advice from people with professional experience in those areas. Understanding the pros and cons of a possible change
Understanding what’s legally feasible (e.g. given how different countries regulate nonprofit boards)
As we get closer to specific recommendations, discussing them with relevant staff at organizations, to learn more abo
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