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Support a thriving and talented community of Filipino EAs

EA Community ChoiceEA community
Zian-Bonoan avatar

Zian Marie V. Bonoan

ActiveGrant
$43,700raised
$50,000funding goal

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Project summary

EA Philippines needs your help!

In light of the current funding constraints in the EA community, EA Philippines has had a difficult time securing the means to continue its usual operations for this year. This can mean less support for growing a highly engaged community of Filipino EAs. 

We are seeking USD 43,000 as our preferred funding for 1 year of operations and a 2-month buffer. The minimum amount of funding we are seeking would be USD 28,000 for 1 year of operations. This will help us with our staffing as well as being able to produce valuable projects (e.g. introductory fellowship for professionals, career planning program, EA groups resilience building, leadership retreat, etc.) and guidance to encourage, support, and excite people in their pursuit of doing good.

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

In the next year, our core team hopes to achieve the following goals with the specified metrics for success for each project:

We recognize that these particular projects may not necessarily “reinvent the wheel.” However, these events are strategically chosen not only to sustain our uphill progress but to continue scaling up towards a diverse pool of individuals looking to do the most good they can. These projects will be designed as a funnel to the other; for example, we hope to initiate our projects in this order:

Introductory fellowship for professionals/Seeding a new EA chapter —> In-depth fellowship —>  Career planning program —> Leadership retreat/EA groups resilience building 

This chain model is a response to the need for impactful follow-ups after projects. Alongside these projects, routine activities such as career/chapter advising and monthly socials/meetups. 

In these succeeding projects, we hope to maximize our pool of volunteers and potentially take on some interns who can assist in events management, administrative tasks, or community engagement. We expect to take in at least 5 volunteers for these initiatives, both students and professionals potentially sourced from our introductory fellowships or previously engaged members.

Objective 1. To introduce new and diverse members to EA PH 

We believe it is essential to provide EA knowledge-building spaces to unique individuals actively looking for ways to create more impact with their resources. We plan to achieve this in two ways:

  1. Introductory fellowship for professionals. In 2022 EA Philippines has hosted one cycle of IF for professionals (see syllabus here). We believe this is an important initiative to sustain considering that all introductory fellowship opportunities in the Philippines are geared for university students or fresh graduates. Additionally, given that we have previously conducted this program, our team has a model to work with and improve on for future cycles. Ideally, we would be accepting ~30 participants and aiming for a 60% graduation rate—the same metric we followed in our first cycle. While we only reached a 40% graduation rate for all monitored fellows, we were able to generate 17 graduates and around 14 members willing to be part of EA PH. We aim to exceed these numbers in the succeeding cycle. Additionally, we aim to channel these talents into existing EA-aligned organizations or to other EA PH events such as a career planning program. 

  2. Seeding a new EA chapter. A motivated university student member of the EA PH community expressed interest in opening an EA chapter outside of Metro Manila—specifically in the Mindanao region. This member expressed confidence in taking on three co-founders and eight new members. We see supporting this budding EA chapter as an exciting opportunity to pursue, especially with local EA organizations such as Healthy Futures Global. With an EA chapter in Mindanao, we can help create talent to support these organizations. Additionally, much of the activities of EA Philippines has been centered on Metro Manila audiences. Our team finds seeding a new chapter outside of Metro Manila to be a compelling opportunity to expand the EA movement into other parts of the Philippines. EA Philippines would be providing mentoring to the co-founders and connecting them with existing EA group support programs.

Objective 2. To build the skills and confidence of EA PH members to pursue/sustain EA-aligned initiatives

Our members have initiated various local EA initiatives ranging from spearheading projects to leading registered nonprofits. We believe it is important to both 1) support our existing members leading these initiatives and 2) encourage aspiring members looking to initiate a local EA endeavor. We have two key projects we believe can accomplish this:

  1. Leadership retreat. Retreats are an incredibly high-impact opportunity. EA Philippines has not yet conducted a similar program to a leadership retreat. We hope to explore this leadership retreat through one of either ideas: 1) helping existing founders lead organizations better through strategy setting, fundraising, delegation skills, etc. or 2) helping aspiring founders by exploring topics such as co-founder fit, project ideation, etc. In either idea, our goal is to facilitate a participant-driven program design. We have at least 14 cause/topic specific organizations based in the Philippines led by amazing EAs, offering a wide opportunity to support these EAs. With this number of organizations (and considering that we can expect around 2-3 EAs on average from each of these orgs), our ideal turnout would be 20-30 participants for a leadership retreat. 

  2. Student groups resilience building. While EA PH is not completely hands-on with our university chapters, we provide regular support in terms of advising and resources such as books. In our observations with our three university chapters, we recognize that recruiting organizers is a significant challenge. We hope to address this by providing a space where university organizers convene and share ways in which resilience can be sustained in their respective chapters. Additionally, if we could support the fruition of a new EA chapter in Mindanao, we could provide this same opportunity for their organizers.

Objective 3. To introduce high-fidelity models of EA for in-depth EA knowledge

EA Philippines, along with our university chapters, offer several entry points into the EA knowledge space. Our goal is to elevate this further by offering more high-fidelity avenues for in-depth EA knowledge. We plan to facilitate an in-depth EA fellowship targeted towards those who have accomplished an introductory fellowship provided by either our university student chapters or by EA Philippines’ professional’s introductory fellowship. Previously, EA Philippines conducted an in-depth reading group (see syllabus here) An in-depth EA fellowship can offer members an opportunity to engage in EA more profoundly.

Objective 4. To prepare EA PH members for pursuing a high-impact career

A common concern in our community is the need for a follow-up to EA introductory-level opportunities. We believe offering a program for career support and development is a viable fit for this need. We believe it is essential to help members further apply EA principles to their careers. To achieve this, we plan to pursue a career planning program. In the past, EA Philippines has provided career support by offering advising and hosting a career planning retreat tailored for students and professionals. Shifting from a retreat program to a continuous 6-week program allows us to provide our members' long-term focus, flexibility, and structured guidance as opposed to having these 

Aside from our four objectives, our team is considering the possibility of registering EA Philippines. EA Philippines is aiming to solidify our credibility in the local context to open avenues for a wider network of opportunities. We recognize that with this established credibility comes more opportunities for sustainable funding, networking, trust in the organization, and attracting more talent (which increases the pool of potentially high-impact EAs in the Philippines). Out of all these benefits, we see the opportunity for sustainable funding of particular interest. Registration can reduce friction or barriers associated with accepting funding from potential grantors/donors. This is important for EA Philippines to continue scaling up as more and more.

How will this funding be used?

Our preferred funding amounts to USD 43,000 for 1 year of operations and a 2-month buffer for staff funding and routine operations. This will cover funding for the salaries of Zian Bonoan and Sam Ackary at 0.5 FTE each as co-directors, operational expenses (e.g. Tech Subscriptions, Events, Socials, Book Orders, Routine Volunteers, etc.), and funding all the projects mentioned in the Project Breakdown section.

The minimum amount of funding would be USD 28,000 for 1 year of operations. This would primarily entail changes in the projects we choose to run for the year.

We think EA Philippines is a cost-effective organization to fund considering the difference in the cost of living compared to EA groups in higher-income countries, making our projects and costs cheaper to run and sustain. You can refer to this budget breakdown for more information. 

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

Zian

Zian Bonoan (LinkedIn) currently serves as the Co-Director of EA Philippines. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University. Besides being active in the Effective Altruism space, Zian also works as a part-time market researcher in GoDoc, a software company specializing in developing applications for medical practitioners. 

Much of her work is centered within EA, having recently helped organize EAGxPhilippines in October, last year. Her experience here includes producing all graphics used before and during the conference, coordinating with several suppliers for the timely production of needed materials, and crafting an appropriate marketing strategy to pique the interest of EAs primarily within the Philippines and in Asia. Her interest in EA started within her university group, EA Blue, where she also served as the Vice President for Communications. She also provides communications and graphic design support for EA university and city groups on a freelance basis. Some of her previous clients include EA for Christians, Stanford EA, and a handful of EAGxs among others.

Sam

Sam Ackary (LinkedIn) currently serves as the Co-Director of EA Philippines. She graduated in 2023 from Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in BS Health Sciences and a minor in Sociology. After graduating from university, Sam began working in the health and development space. She currently works at the Ateneo School of Government as a Research and Project Assistant for their Tobacco Control and Governance Program under the Ateneo Policy Center division. 

In the EA space, Sam served as the Secretary-General of Effective Altruism Blue in her last year of university. Her milestones as a Secretary-General include spearheading the creation of an organizational constitution, mentoring an Associate Secretary-General, and systematizing an event evaluation system. She also has experience in EA operations work as a Research and Project Assistant with Anti-Entropy, directly reporting to Red Bermejo, Executive Director, and a board member of EA Philippines. Sam has explored other EA opportunities by joining a Virtual Program reading group for The Precipice, volunteering for EAGxPhilippines, and facilitating EA topic discussion spaces for EA Blue.

How the work will be split

The following breakdown of roles and responsibilities are divided between Zian and Sam:

Zian

  • Career advising

  • Events organizing and management

  • Communications 

  • Operations (finances, administrative tasks)

Sam

  • Career advising

  • University chapter advising

  • Events organizing and management

  • Community health

  • Volunteer/intern management

While Zian and Sam are early in their careers, they can provide value to university students or fresh graduates initiating their professional careers. Both Zian and Sam are backed by rich work experience gained through both professional work in the EA and non-EA space through student organizing for EA, internships, freelance work, and part-time jobs. With these experiences in hand, Zian and Sam can provide young EA members with advice regarding seeking high-impact work experiences, maximizing networking opportunities, and developing career goals.

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

  1. Issues in the global community put EA in a bad light

    1. Outcome: People who would normally be excited about EA ideas might look to the issues of the global EA community. This may influence their view of EA and lead them to disengage or even take on a negative view of EA regardless of the progress and welcoming community the Philippines has.

    2. Mitigation: Provide a space in the EA PH community where people can discuss and ask their questions about concerns they may have. It would also be best practice for us to be as transparent and honest as possible about EA PH’s stances on such events while also promoting or defending EA/EA Philippines locally. 

  2. The information we put out is not valuable or communicates EA poorly

    1. Outcome: Very talented people who go through our programs may disengage with EA or engage with EA for reasons other than doing good effectively. EA Philippines may also end up progressively moving away from the ideas of EA or producing programs that ultimately do not lead anyone to pursue tangible actions of their own.

    2. Mitigation: Establish a deep understanding of EA knowledge among the core team so that projects and operations are designed in such a way that communicates EA ideas as clearly and accurately as possible. This can mean expecting core team members to regularly put aside the time to read through EA material, stay updated with developments across the global EA community, retain involvement and connection with the wider EA community outside of the Philippines, etc. Projects would also be designed in such a way that encourages following through with personal actions from the participants besides being a source of information.

  3. We can’t get enough volunteers

    1. Outcome: Some of the projects we’ve carefully selected and planned for will have to be deprioritized or restructured and therefore some goals may ultimately not be attained.

    2. Mitigation: Selecting volunteer involvement to be in roles that are more suitable to university students who also happen to be the biggest group and have also shown to be the most eager to take part in such activities. 

  4. Internal disputes deter people from participating in the community

    1. Outcome: Internal conflicts can produce an environment that feels unwelcoming and distracts from the goals of EA therefore the loss of more talented people in the EA space.

    2. Mitigation: Continue providing the means for people to voice out concerns and have a point person for community health support to make sure this is not overlooked.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

While the Co-directors currently receive a small stipend from the savings of the previous core team, this runway is projected to run out by the end of April. We will put out a call for funding on the EA Forum shortly after this is posted. Around the same time, we will be passing in an application for CEA Group Support Funding after Zian became a CEA Certified Organizer last February. We will also be applying for funding from Meta Charity Funders and the EA Infrastructure Fund which we intend to put out by mid to late March. Finally, we are considering seeking funding locally although we currently have no funders in mind for this. 

As of this time, we have received USD 2000 from Brian and Red ($1000 each) which will be placed into paying Zian and Sam part-time stipends for the next couple of months.

Concluding thoughts

EA Philippines humbly seeks your support to sustain and expand our impactful initiatives. With a proven track record of fostering a vibrant community and catalyzing meaningful change, EA Philippines has emerged as a leader in Southeast Asia. However, the recent conclusion of our grant underscores the urgent need for sustainable funding to support our operations and initiatives. Your contribution will enable us to sustain our staffing, produce valuable projects, and provide essential guidance to our community members. Your support is not just an investment in EA Philippines; it's an investment in the future of effective altruism in the Philippines. 

We look forward to your generosity — your support will drive the current and future effective altruists in the Philippines!

Comments9Donations7
Zian-Bonoan avatar

Zian Marie V. Bonoan

about 1 month ago

Progress update

EA Philippines has had quite a number of developments so far! After spending the first quarter of the year on fundraising, EA PH began operations in April. Below is a quick funding update, the main progress we’ve had so far, and what our next steps will be.

Funding update

EA Philippines was fortunate to have filled its funding gap of $43,000 earlier this year. You can take a look at our budget here.

EA Philippines' current funding as of October 16, 2024:

  • Meta Charity Funders: ~Php1,262,500

  • Individual Donations: ~Php204,500

  • CEA Group Support Funding: ~ Php 395,000

Total amount raised: ~Php3,124,500

Total minimum funding goal: ~Php 1,606,700

Total preferred funding goal: ~Php 2,566,000

This means we’ve currently covered ~123.9% of our preferred funding goal.

What progress have you made since your last update?

  1. EA Philippines ran its Introductory Fellowship from August 10 to September 21. We sought out members in the community who could help in running the program and were able to get 2 program organizers and 2 volunteers.

    1. 30 onboarded fellows with 60% of them completing and graduating from the program. This program had a 4/5 overall event feedback rating.

    2. We are still in the middle of assessing the outcomes of this program.

  2. Helped in the creation of the first Philippine EA group outside of Metro Manila, EA Davao. EA Davao currently has over 10 members and is headed by Hanie Guiamadil, a student from Ateneo de Davao University. They are in the process of seeking funding and building the community in the Mindanao region.

  3. Ran 3 “Organization Series” events. This is a series of talks where local EA-aligned organizations share about their updates, best practices, and what it's like working in such an organization.

    1. The first talk was for organizations working on Global Health and Development. We had speakers from Phlourish and Healthy Futures Global.

    2. The second talk was for our community-building organizations. It featured speakers from EA Blue, EA UPD, EA Taft, and EA Davao.

    3. The third talk was to hear from organizations working on Animal Welfare and Alternative Proteins. We had speakers from Animal Empathy Philippines and Paro Institute. 

  4. In the process of hiring a third person. At present, EA Philippines is currently limited by work capacity and manpower. Sam and Zian are both operating at 0.5 FTE each. With this in mind, hiring a third person can help provide additional support for necessary activities such as organizing events, curating learning materials/resources, supporting communications efforts, etc.

  5. Conducted a mid-year community survey. The goal of this survey is to better understand the community, focus on doing more things that are relevant to it, and recalibrate our strategy accordingly.

    1. You can see the EA Philippines Mid-Year Community Survey Report here.

What are your next steps?

  1. Adjust programs, events, and operations to better address needs expressed in the community survey.

    1. Refurbishment and better utilization of the Effective Altruism Philippines website

    2. Improved dissemination of information

    3. Providing more opportunities for volunteers to help out 

    4. Organizing more diverse, one-off events

    5. Updating community health guidelines and code of conduct 

  2. Continuation of “Organization Series”. 

    1. A talk showcasing WhiteBox Research and Condor Camp SEA, local organizations working in AI Safety.

    2. The final talk of the organization series for “Office Hours” is to hear from members who are working in EA or EA-aligned organizations.

  3. In-depth fellowship preparation.

Is there anything others could help you with?

Several community members have expressed an interest in EA Philippines running a mentorship program (pairing mentors with mentees), but previous efforts to establish something like this have proven unsuccessful or have not run for very long. Advise from groups that do this or have suggestions on how to go about this would be great!

🥦

Tony Gao

3 months ago

The per capita GDP of the Philippines is approximately 3500$, compared to the OECD average of $40,000. Is it not more cost-effective from a utilitarian perspective focus on local development rather than altruism?

Jason avatar

Jason

7 months ago

What is the current situation with other funding? Also, what is the current plan if you obtain the funding you have now but not much more than that?

It's not clear to me what would happen if EA Philippines is unable to get funding for staff other than the temporary part-time stipends described in the proposal. In such a world, I don't think the original proposal really helps users assess the effectiveness of an offer they might make in the hundreds-to-low-thousands range. (That's not intended as a criticism of the proposal; it can be very hard to convey cost-effectiveness at many different funding levels.)

donated $350
Austin avatar

Austin Chen

7 months ago

I'm matching the existing donations for another $350, to get this project across its minimum bar, and based on the testimonials from Lorenzo and Jeroen. (I also very much appreciate that Zian found time for a 30m user interview call to provide feedback on Manifund and teach us a bit about the needs of EA Philippines.)

Zian-Bonoan avatar

Zian Marie V. Bonoan

7 months ago

@Austin Hey Austin! Thank you so much for the support and and I'm happy to have helped! :))

donated $200
lfp avatar

Lorenzo Fong Ponce

8 months ago

EA Philippines' 2020 virtual Intro Fellowship back during the pandemic was my first encounter with the Effective Altruism community. Their authenticity, warmth, and impact-focus has made a lasting impression on me. I've met members at EAG London and most recently EAGxPhilippines 2023 and am always impressed with my interactions with them and the rate of progress my fellowship cohort has made in 3.5 short years.

In my view, they define the bar for me on what a vibrant and diverse EA community should look like. I.e., while I currently live in London and engage with their EA community, EA Philippines' community in my view exceeds that of London.

Zian-Bonoan avatar

Zian Marie V. Bonoan

7 months ago

@lfp Thank you, Lorenzo!! We're really happy that the community can extend that much warmth all the way from here. We truly appreciate your support! :)

donated $50
JeroenWillems avatar

Jeroen Willems

8 months ago

I'm often impressed by the things I see coming out of EA Philippines and think they are very inspiring!

Zian-Bonoan avatar

Zian Marie V. Bonoan

8 months ago

@JeroenWillems Thank you so much for the support Jeroen! :)