Nicole_Ross

Karma: 1,187

Nicole_Ross 8 Feb 2023 2:02 UTC
103 points
16 ∶ 0
on: Should EVF consider appointing new board members?
I wanted to thank you for sharing. I think it can be hard or scary to raise concerns or feedback to a board like this, and I appreciate it.

(I can only speak for EVF US:)
Since the beginning of all this, we’ve been thinking through board composition questions. In particular, we’ve been discussing what’s needed on the US board and what changes should be made. We’ve also explicitly discussed conflicts of interest and how we should think about that for board composition.

There are a variety of different issues raised in the post and comments, but I want to say something specifically about FTX-related conflicts. In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, EVF UK and EVF US commissioned an outside independent investigation by the law firm Mintz to examine the organizations’ relationship to FTX, Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried, and related individuals. We’re waiting for the results of the investigation to make a determination about whether any board members should be removed for FTX-related reasons. We’re doing this to avoid making rushed decisions with incomplete information. Nick has been recused from all FTX-related decision-making at EVF US. (Nick and Will have also been recused from FTX-related decision-making at EVF UK side, though that’s an independent process that I’ll let an EVF UK board member comment on.)

We’re also actively working on getting new board members. We hope to be able to share new board members soon (though these things take time). We understand the community wants updates, and we’ll do our best to answer questions and provide further news as we can (though it may be slow and limited).
What links here?

Nicole_Ross 7 Nov 2019 16:20 UTC
54 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: CEEALAR’s comment on: EA Hotel Fundraiser 5: Out of runway!
Hey all,
I’m the EA Grants evaluator. We don’t usually comment publicly on reasons for not granting to something, but Greg gave us permission and encouragement in this case given the community interest. At this point I’m not excited to fund the EA Hotel’s general costs. My concerns are:

- Hotel management generally (including selection of guests/projects)
- Potential for community health issues, and concern about handling of a staffing issue
- Some concern about the handling of past PR situations; I think these were very difficult situations, but I think an excellent version of the hotel would have handled these better

I’m still happy to help with finding an excellent Project and Community Manager, and to consider topping up/extending funding for the right candidate, should the EA Hotel find general operating funding elsewhere.
What links here?
- Milan_Griffes's comment on EA Meta Fund November 2019 Payout Report by SamDeere (14 Dec 2019 18:04 UTC; 12 points)
- Greg_Colbourn's comment on EA Hotel Fundraiser 5: Out of runway! by CEEALAR (7 Nov 2019 18:25 UTC; 9 points)

Nicole_Ross 15 Oct 2020 17:59 UTC
51 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Ofer’s comment on: Avoiding Munich’s Mistakes: Advice for CEA and Local Groups
+1. I also think that the chilling effect can extend to people’s thoughts, i.e., limiting what people even let themselves think let alone write.

Nicole_Ross 8 Jan 2020 15:22 UTC
43 points
0 ∶ 0
on: Where are you donating this year and why – in 2019? Open thread for discussion.
I decided to mostly not donate this year, and instead save for future donations. Because of my role at CEA and the fact that I might not be doing as much grantmaking in the future (see “Update on CEA’s EA Grants Program”), I think it’s reasonably likely I’ll come across some small grantmaking opportunities that otherwise might not be funded. I want the resources available to be opportunistic. If I don’t come across any opportunities this year, I think I should reassess my donation plans.
I also cut down my allocation this year in order to cover some health expenses. I have a chronic illness and am doing a big health push right now, including seeing a doctor not covered by health insurance. I strongly think that people should take care of their health (physical and mental), so wanted to explicitly mention that here. My mom also passed away so I am allocating more money towards therapy and grief processing support, which I similarly endorse for others in this position.

Nicole_Ross 18 Nov 2022 1:05 UTC
38 points
12 ∶ 0
in reply to: Habryka’s comment on: Why you’re not hearing as much from EA orgs as you’d like
I’m very sympathetic and would like to figure out how to say more.

Nicole_Ross 29 Jan 2024 22:21 UTC
26 points
0 ∶ 0
on: EV investigation into Owen and Community Health
Thanks to the boards for thinking through this and thinking about how Community Health can do better in the future.

I’m sorry for my mistakes here and the harms my mistakes have caused. In particular, I should have given more support to Julia’s decision-making by getting more details about the case, forming my own inside view and double-checking the actions taken in this case. I think that would likely have caused us to take different actions here and prevented some harms. Our changes, listed in more detail in Chana and Julia’s comments, make a mistake like this much less likely in the future.

I also wish I had ensured I had a clearer set of principles and policies for when, either as a board member or the manager of the Community Health team, an issue needed escalation to the whole board. We’re working on a team-wide policy to this effect.

In general, I’ve also made a lot of personal updates in line with the mistakes listed above (e.g., I put higher weight on the value of pre-agreed-upon policies relative to case-by-case decision-making than I used to). I’m grateful for everyone’s work and support on the changes our team is making; I think it’s making us better and more robust.

Nicole_Ross 5 Dec 2020 18:00 UTC
23 points
0 ∶ 0
on: My mistakes on the path to impact
I love this post. Thanks so much for sharing.

Nicole_Ross 7 Feb 2019 20:49 UTC
23 points
0 ∶ 0
on: EA grants available to individuals (crosspost from LessWrong)
(x-posting my comment)
Hi Jameson,

I lead the EA Grants program at CEA and anyone should feel free to contact me (nicole.ross@centreforeffectivealtruism.org) if they have any questions or if a time sensitive opportunity comes up before the next grant round opens. Please feel very free to reach out!

Also, in case it’s helpful: I looked at your other post briefly, and I don’t think the topic automatically excludes it from EA Grants.

More generally, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about the types of projects that might be falling through the cracks. I only recently started at CEA and am still thinking through what EA Grants should look like in the future (e.g. what niche it should fill within the funding space, how it can be better and more efficient). If you (or others) have thoughts on this topic, please email me: nicole.ross@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.

Nicole_Ross 26 May 2021 17:37 UTC
19 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: BrianTan’s comment on: AMA: Working at the Centre for Effective Altruism
I have a lot of “life shit” that has happened (chronic health issues, I’m accident-prone, my mom died). In addition, my role can be inherently stressful sometimes (I do some risk mitigation work). CEA has been amazingly supportive. CEA has helped me figure out a schedule that feels sustainable and part of a thriving life for me. CEA has helped me orient towards my “life shit” in much healthier and constructive ways. I now have an automatic reminder (or “TAP”) installed to talk to our people ops person whenever I feel angsty or stressed, or uncomfortable. She’s so good at helping me identify what’s going on and helping me figure out what to do about it.

Nicole_Ross 4 Nov 2020 4:05 UTC
17 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Ozzie Gooen’s comment on: Desperation Hamster Wheels
[Apologies for the rambly nature of this response]

Thanks Ozzie, I agree with your point here. I don’t think this is essential for everyone and I agree it can lead to or be indicative of some weird biased mental move.
A couple of clarifications/mini-rambles on what I mean (but I think what I mean is a much less interesting than a useful discussion about what is helpful to people and what the implications and pros and cons of different views are):
- I agree that the value I can give to others is a lot more in expectation than the value of my life on its own.
- My career and donation decisions are mostly based on utilitarian reasoning (or at least that’s what I intend). Not all of my life is though (there’s a future post on this topic brewing in my mind—something about a portfolio approach to life).
- [super confused on this] I think sometimes acting as if I believe more of a virtue ethics-y/deontological thing in some day to day decisions, particularly around personal life/happiness might be better as measured/defined by utilitarianism lights? Anyways, something in the vague direction of this argument feels true for me with optimizing for my own happiness. I’m confused about this though, and depending on the day might respond very differently if asked about it.
- I think the main underlying point I was trying to make is more along the lines of the latter thing Ozzie said (with one slight edit, in bold) “actually, optimizing for my own happiness more than I had been is the optimal way of achieving a more universally good outcome”.
- I probably should have worded that point differently? I’m not positive though—I wrote the initial phrase in question for the Nicole of a few years ago who had literally forgotten that she, too, counts and has value. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it felt like a very important realization to me. I had actually forgotten and that forgetting had lots of subtle impacts on my emotional well-being and intellectual resiliency that were quite bad.

Nicole_Ross 31 Mar 2022 19:56 UTC
14 points
0 ∶ 0
on: Announcing What We Owe The Future
I’m pre-ordering a copy! And I want to strong +1 that I think the case for pre-ordering the book could be quite high impact.
I was able to read a draft, and I wanted to share that I really liked the intro and first chapter. I really wish I had read those when I was a first year in university.

Nicole_Ross 26 May 2021 17:42 UTC
14 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: DM’s comment on: AMA: Working at the Centre for Effective Altruism
Positives:
- I feel like I was able to create a role that played to my strengths, and I feel excited about the expected value of my career.
- I care a lot about my work.
- I really like my colleagues.
Negatives:
- It can be stressful. I feel like I’m working on important things, and care a lot about how they go. When things don’t go well or there’s something time-sensitive and important to get right, it can feel stressful. This might be particularly related to my role (I handle risky situations a lot).
- It can be hard to take my brain off of work. I’m a lot better than I used to be, but it’s a concerted effort I have to make. (e.g. my partner will remind me not to look at my work computer, I’ve uninstalled my work slack from my phone)

Nicole_Ross 4 Dec 2020 20:45 UTC
12 points
0 ∶ 0
on: LessWrong is now a book, available for pre-order!
I’m very excited for this!

Nicole_Ross 5 Apr 2022 17:44 UTC
10 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Julia_Wise’s comment on: Case for emergency response teams
I’m also very excited about this. Let me know if I or the community health team can help support this get off the ground!

Nicole_Ross 4 Sep 2019 20:43 UTC
10 points
0 ∶ 0
on: English as a dominant language in the movement: challenges and solutions
Thanks so much for writing this! This is something I think about in my work, but I’m sure still need to improve on.

Nicole_Ross 13 Nov 2019 22:45 UTC
8 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Milan_Griffes’s comment on: Update on CEA’s EA Grants Program
Thanks for raising this! I agree with this concern, and more broadly think it’s important to do work to mitigate grantmaker biases and make the grantmaking ecosystem more robust. In this particular case I think the trade-offs are too high, the biggest ones being the ability to narrow CEA’s focus (which has historically been too broad) and our staff capacity.

Nicole_Ross 23 Apr 2019 23:50 UTC
8 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Kirsten’s comment on: EA Grants applications are now open
Hi Khorton,

Apologies! I missed your question. Most of the decisions have been made and funds disbursed, although there are a few decisions and fund disbursals that have been very delayed. This delay has been due to staff changes, an internal audit of our legal processes, and some more complex situations with a few of the applications. I’m in touch with those still waiting.

We have also discovered a number of other issues with the way grants were tracked and funded in 2017 and 2018. I’m working to resolve these issues, and intend to publicly follow up with more information later in the year.

If you have any more questions or concerns in the interim, please let me know: nicole.ross@centreforeffectivealtruism.org. I’m always open to feedback and suggestions.

Nicole_Ross 20 Dec 2019 19:01 UTC
7 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: Milan_Griffes’s comment on: EA Hotel Fundraiser 5: Out of runway!
We are still happy to help with hiring and to consider helping to fund the role if there’s enough general funding. We haven’t received new info from Greg about whether there is enough general funding that it’s worth moving forward hiring, so we’re currently on standby.

Nicole_Ross 20 Dec 2019 19:00 UTC
7 points
0 ∶ 0
in reply to: RyanCarey’s comment on: Update on CEA’s EA Grants Program
Thanks for the comment! I agree. I think that whether this iteration makes sense will depend on what Funds can handle and what it looks like in the future. I do like this general idea of thinking creatively about how to best integrate EA Grants into EA Funds, and would be keen to hear more ideas if you have them.

Nicole_Ross 23 Nov 2019 19:13 UTC
7 points
0 ∶ 0
on: Update on CEA’s EA Grants Program
Hi all—just a quick note to thank everyone who has commented. I’ve been out on leave for personal reasons and will respond when I’m back. Apologies for the delay!