A Chance Encounter with EA

Before I even knew what Effective Altruism (EA) was, I found myself at the EAGx conference in Berlin in 2016. At the time, I had already been vegan for several years and was actively taking part in animal rights demonstrations. I attended EAGx because I knew that a number of animal welfare organisations would be represented there. At the conference, I discovered that EA encompassed far more than animal welfare, and I was fascinated to find that there was an entire social movement grappling with the question of how best to do good in the world. Philosophy hadn’t really been my thing before, which made it all the more exciting to encounter concrete arguments that could both reinforce and sharpen my intuitions.

EA’s Role in My Career Planning

In some ways, it had always been clear to me that I wanted to organise both my work and parts of my free time in a way that creates social value, solves problems, or ideally makes the world better in some meaningful sense. When it came to the difficult question of exactly what that should look like, EA frameworks, career coaching, and conversations with people from the community proved invaluable.

How I donate

Through the community, I also came across Giving What We Can. I hadn’t really thought seriously about donating before, but around five years ago I took the 10% Pledge. Once I saw my income placed within the global income spectrum, it became clear to me that giving away a portion of that income was simply the right thing to do. Since then, my annual donations have become a meaningful ritual, and I’m genuinely grateful that through EA I discovered organisations like Effektiv Spenden (German for effective giving), which I trust to generate the greatest possible impact from my giving.

Nurturing Talent in European AI Governance

Whilst my donations continue to go towards reducing animal suffering, my professional work currently sits in a different cause area. The Talos Network is an organisation focused on education in the field of AI governance and regulation, with a particular emphasis on Europe. Together with my colleagues, I run fellowship programmes to support talented and motivated individuals in building careers in this field. The programmes — which can include placements at AI governance think tanks in Brussels, for example — also help to address talent gaps in a rapidly evolving and growing sector. In doing so, we foster an ecosystem that is as well-equipped as possible to mitigate the risks posed by advanced AI. This work feels especially important to me because AI technology carries very significant risks — including the concentration of power and gradual disempowerment. Addressing these risks requires exceptional talent in the right positions. The focus on Europe remains a relatively underexplored niche within the AI governance cause area, and that is precisely what makes our work so valuable to me: I’m convinced that a strong European strategy can contribute to a more stable global system.