Currently a fourth year corporate attorney at a global law firm. Despite my current role, I have a deep interest, respect and admiration for effective altruism. I’m fortunate to have been in a myriad of rooms with a multitude of stakeholders that are interested in combatting a lot of societal issues. Through that, I have learned what does and doesn’t work.
A rewarding project that I worked on is founding the Cecil Allan Fraser Bursary: https://givetoqueens.ca/project/view/1247
Hi Everyone! First, thanks for taking the time to read 😊, I appreciate it.
I’m Nigel Masenda, I’m currently a corporate attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP. I’ve spent the better part of the last four years in private practice with a focus on emerging company and venture capital work, as well as some private equity (including investment funds) and public company work. It’s a pretty general practice, practically what this looks like is helping start-ups throughout their full life cycle (from incorporation, to financing and ultimately acquisition/public offering), helping sponsors set up their investment fund vehicles, private equity companies in their acquisitions of companies or assisting public companies with their annual and quarterly disclosure requirements.
I’m sure you’re wondering “…so where’s effective altruism?” well, the primary driver for going to law school was to be an agent of change and to help others beyond myself – the restoration of dignity for those who may have lost it or had it stolen from them. In the wake of the summer of 2020, I founded The Cecil Allan Fraser (link in my bio). It is one of the most exciting and meaningful initiatives that I have been a part of. It’s focus is narrow in scope and the data suggests that it’s been highly effective at providing a solution to a problem that’s prevalent throughout the legal profession.
I’m now at a point in my career where I want to continue creating, and participating in, initiatives that actually provide credibly remedies to a host of problems and for it to be less of a “side hustle” and more my life’s work 😊. Full-time. I appreciate that it may be a slow burn to transition out…(though, I prefer acting quickly and decisively..) so I’m happy to learn from each of you and will likely ask some surface level questions, but I promise I just want to learn.
Some areas that excite me are:
AI governance;
Biosecurity risks;
Social impact funds (this is a very broad category, I know!)