CEA press kit

The Centre for Effective Altruism works to steward a global movement of people who are committed to using reason and evidence to find the most effective ways to help others. We want to contribute to a world where humanity has solved a range of pressing global problems and is prepared to face the challenges of tomorrow. To achieve this, CEA is building a movement of people who think carefully about which problems to work on and take impactful action to solve them.

Contact information

Media inquiries
media@centreforeffectivealtruism.org
Mailing address
Centre for Effective Altruism
Trajan House, Mill Street
Oxford, OX2 0DJ
United Kingdom
Primary media contact
Fran Barclay
Media Relations Manager
fran.barclay@centreforeffectivealtruism.org
Social media
Twitter: @EffectvAltruism
Facebook: Centre for Effective Altruism
LinkedIn: Centre for Effective Altruism
YouTube: @EffectiveAltruismVideos

Overview

Effective altruism is a framework that encourages people to combine compassion and care with evidence and reason to find the most effective ways they can help others. It's both a research field, which aims to identify the world's most pressing problems and the best solutions to them, and a practical movement of people who aim to put those findings into action.
This project matters because some attempts to do good are enormously effective, while many others fail to reach this potential. For instance, some charities help 100 or even 1,000 times as many people as others, when given the same amount of resources.

History

Founded in 2011 by philosophers William MacAskill and Toby Ord at the University of Oxford, the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) began as a project to promote and develop the ideas of effective altruism — using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis.
Key milestones
  • 2009: Creation of Giving What We Can and the 10% Pledge
  • 2011: 80,000 Hours is founded to help people lead high-impact careers.
  • 2011: The term "effective altruism" is coined and the Centre for Effective Altruism is founded as an umbrella organization for Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours.
  • 2012: Giving What We Can incubates The Life You Can Save, which later spins off as a separate organization.
  • 2012: 80,000 Hours incubates Animal Charity Evaluators, which later spins off as a separate organization.
  • 2015: Launch of EA Global conference series
  • 2015: Publication of William MacAskill's first book "Doing Good Better"
  • 2020: Publication of Toby Orb’s book “The Precipice”
  • 2022: Publication of William MacAskill’s second book “What We Owe the Future”
  • 2023: First EA conferences in Latin America and India

Key metrics

  • People involved in effective altruism on every continent except Antarctica
  • Over 1,500 attendees at our largest EA Global conference in London (June 2025)
  • Over 60,000 subscribers to the EA Newsletter
How we supported the effective altruism movement in 2024:
  • 6,000+ non-unique attendees to our in-person events across 16 cities
  • 11,000+ logged-in visitors to our online discussion forum
  • Supported 180+ local and university group organisers

Core principles

Effective altruism is guided by its core principles. These include:
Scope sensitivity
We're committed to prioritizing actions that benefit more lives over actions that benefit fewer. The difference between saving a billion lives and saving ten isn't just a matter of degree — it's a fundamental difference in scale that should guide decisions about where to focus our efforts.
Impartiality
We aim to assist those who need it most without giving extra weight to people who are similar to us or geographically close. This approach often points us toward supporting people in developing countries, non-human animals, and future generations whose needs might otherwise be overlooked.
Scout mindset
We can help others more effectively when we work together to think clearly and orient toward truth, rather than defending our existing ideas. Since humans naturally struggle with biases and motivated reasoning, we try to cultivate intellectual humility by testing our beliefs and updating our views when presented with contrary evidence.
Recognition of tradeoffs
Because our time and money are limited, every choice to support one cause means not supporting another. We acknowledge these opportunity costs and try to make deliberate decisions about how to allocate our resources, recognizing that saying yes to one intervention often means saying no to others that might also do good.

Spokesperson profiles

Zach Robinson

Chief Executive Officer
Zach joined as CEA's CEO in February 2024. He also serves as the CEO of CEA's fiscal sponsor, Effective Ventures Foundation USA. Previously, he was Chief of Staff at Open Philanthropy (OP), where he managed communications and grantmaking teams, developed organisation-wide policies to help OP scale, and identified new Global Health and Wellbeing cause areas to increase OP's giving. Prior to his work at OP, he was the director of product and strategy for startup Ivy Research Council (now Veris Insights), worked as a management consultant at Bain and Company, and was a vegetarian cowboy on a cattle ranch.

Testimonials

"Learning about effective altruism helped me grapple with big questions about what it means to help others. I’ve found more clarity and a sense of community by engaging with effective altruism.” Cecil Abungu, coordinator of the ILINA program
“My engagement with the effective altruism community, along with other communities, helped make possible much of the work I do now. At New York University, I direct the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection and the Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, and I co-direct the Wild Animal Welfare Program. I also write books on animal welfare, AI welfare, pandemics, climate change, and other pressing issues. Each of these projects reflects, in different ways and to different degrees, the ideas and opportunities that effective altruism offered me.” Jeff Sebo, Associate Professor at New York University

Media coverage

Frequently asked questions

What is effective altruism?
Effective altruism is a framework focused on how we can use our resources to help others as much as possible, particularly through our professional careers and charitable donations. As a research field, effective altruism aims to identify the world's most pressing problems, and the best solutions, using evidence and reason. Effective altruism is also a practical movement of people who aim to use those findings to do good.
Which issues does effective altruism focus on?
The effective altruism movement focuses on causes that are important, neglected, and tractable. Currently, major focus areas include global health and development, animal welfare, biosecurity, and artificial intelligence safety. Most funding from donors associated with effective altruism has gone to global health and development initiatives – more than 60% of grant dollars from organizations associated with effective altruism from 2012-2023.
How does CEA differ from a “traditional” charity?
Unlike charities that directly implement programs, CEA is a meta-charity that works to build and support the effective altruism movement. We conduct research, run events, and provide resources that help individuals and organizations do more good.
Is effective altruism the same as longtermism?
Effective altruism and longtermism are not synonymous, and being involved in the ideas of effective altruism does not require involvement in longtermism. Many people involved in effective altruism do not agree with the ideas of longtermism. CEA does not define itself as a longtermist organization and we work with and support people across the effective altruism movement working on a range of causes.
Is effective altruism the same as rationalism?
Effective altruism and rationalism are not synonymous, and many people who align with one do not align with the other. Effective altruism is focused on using evidence and reason to do the most good for others. Rationalism is a broader philosophy centered on clear thinking, truth-seeking and overcoming cognitive biases.
Is effective altruism just utilitarianism or consequentialism?
As a moral framework, effective altruism combines the belief that helping others is important with principles that inform an approach to providing help effectively. People who align with utilitarianism might find effective altruism attractive because of its focus on doing as much good as possible. However, many people who align with effective altruism care intrinsically about things besides welfare – such as rights, freedom, inequality, and personal virtue.
Is effective altruism a monolithic organization?
Effective altruism is not an organization. Effective altruism is a decentralized global movement. Independent individuals and institutions are inspired (to varying degrees) by effective altruism ideas and insights. There is no official membership process for an organization to formally affiliate itself with effective altruism, and CEA doesn't maintain any register of affiliated organizations.
Does effective altruism care about systemic change?
Yes. Effective altruism started with a focus on approaches that are proven to work at the “downstream” level, such as scaling up rigorously tested health treatments. Today, many in the community are working on approaches that pursue “upstream” systemic change, such as advocating for policy change. The principles of effective altruism remind people of the need to evaluate all claims of positive impact based on available evidence.
Does effective altruism endorse tithing?
Effective altruism doesn't prescribe a specific amount that people should donate, nor does it mandate charitable giving. Some people inspired by effective altruism pledge to give 10% of their income through Giving What We Can, but many give different amounts based on their circumstances. Effective altruism encourages sustainable giving and recognizes the importance of looking after oneself so that you can contribute more effectively over the course of your lifetime.
How can journalists get more information about effective altruism?
Journalists can contact our media team at media@centreforeffectivealtruism.org. We're happy to provide interviews, background information, or connect you with subject matter experts in our network.

Contact us

For additional information, interview requests, or to be added to our press list, please contact:
Media relations team
media@centreforeffectivealtruism.org
We aim to respond to all media inquiries within 24 hours.
Last Updated: September 9, 2025

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