Previous to my 15+ years as an international educator presenting chiefly English Language and Literature in Germany and Wales, I held a range of roles in editing, writing and project management, mostly in line with education and some in the philanthropic realm, in Chicago, Seattle and NYC. Highlights from that period include serving as editor-in-chief and volunteer coordinator for an annual magazine for Earth Day Chicago, editing technical articles for Microsoft, and producing (product managing) award-winning children’s educational software for Edmark.
I also worked as a copywriter at a German high-tech industrial ad agency for some time.
I left teaching in 2021 to commence a career shift into an impact role in comms and development. Since 2022, I’ve been communications and outreach lead (PT) for the Charity Elections program, a project “incubated” by Giving What We Can, as of summer 2024 I am also Donor Relations Coordinator (PT) at ALLFED, responsible for stewardship, fundraising systems, and more.
I am interested in exploring ways to apply my strengths in relationship development, communication and writing, editing, storytelling, planning, creative problem-solving, project coordination, and other areas, in a role collaborating with others to explain, explore and inspire solutions to today’s social and environmental problems. The most on-target opportunities seem to be centered in outreach, fundraising and stewardship/donor care, PR, “content,” or marketing (and I have not ruled out education/training and curriculum development).
Current personal interests related to EA include deepening my understanding of various areas of EA including longtermism and cause prioritization, exploring and developing the stories we use to bring EA to a wider audience, and looking at current thinking around the application of EA approaches and ideas in educational contexts and the working world.
I’m also a sometime volunteer editor for various EA organizations and Kiva.org, served on the Comms Team for High Impact Professionals, have been occasional copyeditor for The Unjournal, and founded and advised several student green clubs. Outside all this, I’m an amateur songwriter (www.lyricist.net) with musical theatre cred in the form of a Tisch MFA and various readings in Chicago and NYC. highlight: An original poem of mine was read on NPR by the poetry editor of the New Yorker magazine. I’ve got one especially nice blog entry up for Giving What We Can. Meanwhile, writing and editing stuff can be glimpsed at www.adamedit.com. My family is returning to the EU in 2025.
Thanks for reading!
This could lead to quite a bit of cost-effective positive impact on students, especially those who already have an interest in choosing a career that has positive social consequences. Many students, in my experience, would be very happy to consider higher-impact careers if they had a little wisely-presented encouragement at the right juncture. Such materials would not have to be extensive, and they could be tied to online content that goes deeper into the topic or even provides some interaction.
That said, the above OP call for proposals seems highly oriented towards students at elite schools, or elite students at other schools, and specifically is aimed at students heading for a university education. I might suggest that we should be considering how young people likely to enter other professions, be they white- or blue-collar, might benefit from an understanding of these topics (e.g., those listed above: EA, rationality, longtermism, and global catastrophic risk reduction).
I will start a discussion on this in the proper forum...but this much larger group of future consumers/workers/influencers/voters should not be ignored. Charities need staff at many levels, and people in many vocations can incorporate these ideas into their work, giving, volunteering, and political activities. Is it too soon for EA to open up to a broader audience?