Project summary

I am the chair of EA Manchester, and will continue in that role in the upcoming academic year. Last year, I was funded by OP, but now neither OP nor CEA are funding part time organizers, citing the lack of oversight and the split from EV, respectively. 

I think running this group is very impactful, and as I will explain more below, I am very good at community building. I have a track record of fellowship participants counterfactually changing career plans to be impactful, and I would like to both continue doing this and start doing this on a larger scale for the connected AIS group.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

My two primary goals are:

• Growing the AIS fellowship - there are many high potential people in this field at the University of Manchester, and this feels especially important

• Connecting in-depth fellowship graduates to high-impact opportunities - I often make connections between these graduates and AIM charities that need volunteers or interns, and have been in conversations with other EA groups in making a database for this purpose, helping recent graduates and university students get work experience and freeing up time for AIM founders.

I’d also like to make time for more new projects, such as:

• Spending time helping people apply for EA conferences, as I find these especially valuable for university students.

• Hosting guest speakers from impactful orgs for students to get to know these on a more personal level.

• Hosting more social events, as they have shown to keep people significantly more engaged.

How will this funding be used?

I am using this funding to cover my living costs while studying and running EA Manchester. Last academic year, I lived on an OP grant and a contract job at a development charity based in Manchester. With both contracts having finished, if I do not get funding I will have to take a service job at the cost of my time at EA Manchester.

With funding, I plan to spend at least 13 hours p/w on EA Manchester. Without, I will probably not be able to spend more than 1-3 hours p/w, due to needing to take another, non-effective job.

Last year, I was paid $8,700 by OP, for 10 hours p/w for 9 months. In the end, I spent an average of 15 hours p/w on the group. Realistically, I will spend at least 13 hours p/w this year, which at the same rate, is $11,310. It is likely that I will spend more hours, but counterfactually, I would not work more hours on another job, or need more money to live on, so I will leave the maximum at 13 hours p/w.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

I directly manage six people. These include fellowship facilitators, operations, and an AIS head, who manages two additional people on his team. 

When I took over as chair, we had a two person team putting 15 people per year through EA fellowships, including 2-3 through the in-depth fellowship. Out of these, ~1 person per year would change their career plans to be more EA aligned.

In my one year as chair, we have grown to a 10 person team, which I have intentionally downsized to 7 for efficiency. Last year, we put over 60 people through EA fellowships, most of which I personally ran, and 12/15 people completing the in-depth fellowship are counterfactually planning to change their career plans to be EA aligned. 

These are the highest numbers for any group in the UK without a full time organizer, and may be the largest outright. 

Based on these statistics and the positive feedback I receive from fellowship participants and team members, I am exceptionally good at community building. It seems like my community building work has a very outsized impact compared to the amount of funding I am working with, and I have been planning to continue this growth this upcoming year.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

If I do not get funding, I will still give the intro talk and manage team meetings on a volunteer basis, but won’t have much additional time for other things. 

Some things that would not happen if I am not funded, that are probably quite good:

• Growing the AIS fellowship, it currently has just one member, and I am confident that with more of my time, we could grow it to 10+ people within a term.

• As the only person in the group with a wide EA network and knowledge of impactful organizations, it is a valuable use of my time to meet 1-1 with members and connect them to opportunities.

• Having multiple years of organizing experience, I am quite good at promoting the group, which significantly increases participation numbers.

• Joining the new facilitators for the first few weeks of the program, helping the program run smoothly and have higher quality sessions.

• Significant admin and operations time to find more opportunities for the group, such as working with EA professionals groups, retreats, and going to conferences.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

In August of 2024, I received a grant that lasted 9 months. This finished a few months ago, and I now have no funding for the foreseeable future.

OP decided not to fund part time organizers in the winter. CEA informed me there would be a decision on whether they would pick up these contracts in March, but as of July, despite regular checking in, they have not made a decision. That seems to be a pretty clear no, and has put me in a difficult position financially.