edit: As always, disagree/downvoters, would be good to hear why you disagree, as I’m not sure what I’ve written below merits either a disagree and especially not a downvote.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Rebecca.
I do find myself wishing that some of these discussions from the core/leadership of EA[1] were less vague. I noticed this with Habrkya’s reaction to the recent EA column in the Washington Post—where he mentions ‘people he’s talked to at CEA’. Would be good to know who those people at CEA are.
I accept some people are told things informally, and in confidence etc., but it would seem to be useful to have as much as is possible/reasonable in the public domain, especially since these discussions/decisions seem to have such a large impact on the rest of the community in terms of reputational impact, organisational structure and hiring, grantmaking priorities and decisions etc.
For example, I again respect you said that your full thoughts would be ‘highly costly’ to share, but it’d be enlightening to know which members of the EV board you disagreed with so much that you felt you had to resign. If you can’t share that, knowing why you can’t share that. Or if not that, knowing what the concrete issues were. If you allege that there were “extensive and significant mistakes made which have not been addressed” and that these mistakes “make me very concerned about the amount of harm EA might do in the future” then I really want to know what these mistakes were concretely and who made/is making them. I think the vagueness is another sign that EA’s healing process post-FTX still has a way to go.[2]
Above all though, I hope you’re doing well, and would be happy to have an individual conversation if you think that would be useful, or if you aren’t willing to share things on the Forum.
Not to imply the vagueness is a fault of yours. It’s probably attributable to people’s concerns of retaliation, legal constraints/NDAs, unequal power structures etc.
For example, I again respect you said that your full thoughts would be ‘highly costly’ to share, but it’d be enlightening to know which members of the EV board you disagreed with so much that you felt you had to resign.
At the time of Rebecca’s resignation, how many members did the EVF USA board have? As of January 2023, the board was [Beckstead, Kagan, and Ross] with Beckstead recused from FTX-related matters for obvious reasons. In April, her resignation and the addition of Eli Rose & Zach Robinson were concurrently announced (although it is not clear if she decided to resign prior to these appointments to the board).
My sense is the EV UK board mattered a good amount as well during this period, and Claire Zabel was also on the board during the relevant period (I do not know which board members Becca was thinking about in the above post, if any).
edit: As always, disagree/downvoters, would be good to hear why you disagree, as I’m not sure what I’ve written below merits either a disagree and especially not a downvote.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Rebecca.
I do find myself wishing that some of these discussions from the core/leadership of EA[1] were less vague. I noticed this with Habrkya’s reaction to the recent EA column in the Washington Post—where he mentions ‘people he’s talked to at CEA’. Would be good to know who those people at CEA are.
I accept some people are told things informally, and in confidence etc., but it would seem to be useful to have as much as is possible/reasonable in the public domain, especially since these discussions/decisions seem to have such a large impact on the rest of the community in terms of reputational impact, organisational structure and hiring, grantmaking priorities and decisions etc.
For example, I again respect you said that your full thoughts would be ‘highly costly’ to share, but it’d be enlightening to know which members of the EV board you disagreed with so much that you felt you had to resign. If you can’t share that, knowing why you can’t share that. Or if not that, knowing what the concrete issues were. If you allege that there were “extensive and significant mistakes made which have not been addressed” and that these mistakes “make me very concerned about the amount of harm EA might do in the future” then I really want to know what these mistakes were concretely and who made/is making them. I think the vagueness is another sign that EA’s healing process post-FTX still has a way to go.[2]
Above all though, I hope you’re doing well, and would be happy to have an individual conversation if you think that would be useful, or if you aren’t willing to share things on the Forum.
An infamously slippery term, I’m guessing I’m referring to EV, CEA, OpenPhil, the Meta Coordination Forum attendees etc.
Not to imply the vagueness is a fault of yours. It’s probably attributable to people’s concerns of retaliation, legal constraints/NDAs, unequal power structures etc.
At the time of Rebecca’s resignation, how many members did the EVF USA board have? As of January 2023, the board was [Beckstead, Kagan, and Ross] with Beckstead recused from FTX-related matters for obvious reasons. In April, her resignation and the addition of Eli Rose & Zach Robinson were concurrently announced (although it is not clear if she decided to resign prior to these appointments to the board).
My sense is the EV UK board mattered a good amount as well during this period, and Claire Zabel was also on the board during the relevant period (I do not know which board members Becca was thinking about in the above post, if any).
Rebecca’s comments seem consistent with Beckstead being part of her concern, though.