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Thanks for sharing an explicit theory of change. I think you make a convincing case for filling a niche and being more cost-effective than some other interventions in the GCR community-building space (which in my opinion are often unnecessarily flashy).
Still, as an EA in Global Health who recently enjoyed a stay at CEEALAR, I’m disappointed to see the narrowing of focus to GCRs only. I think you can probably make a compelling case for why CEEALAR can be more effective if it specialises, but am I right in guessing that the change is driven mainly by trustees’ assessment that GCRs are just way more important than other cause areas?
Personally I think AI x-risk (and in particular, slowing down AI) is the current top cause area, but I’m also keen on most other EA cause areas, inc Global Health (hence the focus on general EA from the start); but the update is mainly a reflection of what’s been happening on the ground in terms of our applicants, and our (potential) funding sources.
My intuition is that the narrowing of CEEALAR is probably the correct choice:
• The major funders in the space seem to be more likely to fund GCR interventions.
• Insofar as the funders are interested in Global Health, they tend to prefer direct interventions like the Against Malaria Foundation and insofar as people want to kick off new projects Charity Entrepreneurship provides more specialized support.
• Independently of cause area priorities, focusing the project more narrowly makes it more legible for funders (harder to evaluate a project that does a little bit of this and a little bit of that)
• Focusing the project more narrowly makes it more competitive for high-potential grantees (who want to know that there will be other people with the same interest to bounce ideas off).
Maybe consider a name change to Centre for Enabling GCR Learning & Research? In general, I think it’s better for orgs that are all-in on a subset of cause areas (that is exclusive of multiple significant cause areas) not to use branding that implies broader coverage.
Executive summary: CEEALAR aims to reduce global catastrophic risks by providing promising early-career effective altruists with a supportive environment to rapidly upskill, perform research, and develop projects.
Key points:
CEEALAR focuses on enabling EAs working on reducing global catastrophic risks like advanced AI and biosecurity.
CEEALAR provides a tailored, cost-effective program to help EAs transition into or accelerate high-impact careers.
Alumni have gone on to impactful roles in GCR organizations after their CEEALAR residencies.
CEEALAR fills an important niche in the GCR talent pipeline by removing barriers and enabling ambitious, cutting-edge independent work.
CEEALAR has a time-limited program and targets agentic individuals, ensuring learning translates to action.
CEEALAR welcomes donations and questions about their theory of change.
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