Let's advertise EA infrastructure projects, Feb 2024

By Arepo @ 2024-02-21T13:49 (+103)

This is the latest of a theoretically-three-monthly series of posts advertising EA infrastructure projects that struggle to get and maintain awareness (see original advertising post for more on the rationale).

I italicise organisations added since the previous post was originally submitted and bold those edited in to the current one after posting, to make it easier for people to scan for new entries.

Also, since funding seems to be very tight in the community at the moment, I've added a section to the end on 'Organisations urgently seeking donations'. I don't have any inclusion criteria atm beyond signal boosting posts people have made in the last few months, especially those who are in an existential crisis from lack of funding. 

Online coworking/socialising

Free or subsidised accommodation

Writing support

Mental health support

Tech support 

Legal support

Coaching

Forecasting tools

Financial and other material support

Support services for EA organisations

Organisations urgently seeking donations

Inclusion criteria for other organisations

I'm going try out making the guidelines more permissive, to include resources that are explicitly designed for individual EAs even if they're fee-charging, since such organisations have the same problem getting the word out as everyone else. Let me know if your org qualifies and you want me to add you to the list.

So now the approximate criteria are as follows (as ever, open to discussion, and if there's something you think is essential to let people know about which doesn't strictly fit, feel free to suggest it - for eg the house database doesn't technically qualify, but seemed too valuable to omit):

Also, let me know if I should remove any resources or edit any of the descriptions. I've checked it for broken links but haven't done any further editing. As ever, feel free to message me and let me know if some resource or organisation should be added to the list.

Finally if you think that these organisation deserve more exposure but don't want to give me free karma for essentially C&Ping the same thing every few months, please consider strong upvoting this post and strong downvoting this karma sink comment.

Habryka @ 2024-02-21T19:51 (+8)

A bunch of projects by Lightcone Infrastructure that likely qualify: 

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T10:58 (+4)

Thanks Oliver. I've added Forum Magnum and Lighthaven.

I'm reluctant to have links to other forums through some combination of

a) it being a potential floodgate to start linking to communities that aren't fairly explicitly a subset of EA, and 

b) those forums being already well known, and I want to highlight projects that people  might realistically miss after a couple of months in the EA fold.

I'm wondering whether I should take some of the bigger organisations off the list for the latter reason, but I haven't managed to come up with a consistent principle here. I'm open to being persuaded that there's a way to be more consistent in either direction.

Habryka @ 2024-02-23T17:10 (+4)

Nah, seems reasonable to me.

Saul Munn @ 2024-02-21T20:18 (+3)

writing here to add a signal: i know less about the first two (LW and the codebase behind it), but Lighthaven is a godsend. i've run two EA-aligned events at lighthaven that would've either been infeasible to run elsewhere due to cost constraints, or significantly worse at other venues.

Pat Myron @ 2024-02-25T19:07 (+1)

@Habryka is it possible to track all public Magnum forums? Any searchable legal attribution or technical element?

Habryka @ 2024-02-27T03:34 (+2)

Can't think of any way off the top of my head.

Brad West @ 2024-02-21T14:08 (+6)

I'd mention Elliot Billingsley as an excellent, aligned coach.

Arepo @ 2024-02-21T14:52 (+1)

Thanks! I've added him.

lynettebye @ 2024-04-29T12:38 (+5)

Note: the mental health navigator doesn't just focus on free or low-cost mental health resources. They provide links to free/low cost online resources, plus a providers database of coaches, therapists, and psychiatrists recommended by EAs. 

Maja Nenadov Webster @ 2024-02-23T14:05 (+5)

Hope it's okay to share Freelancing For Good which I co-founded. This is a new EA-aligned community specifically aimed at freelancers. Our mission is to introduce freelancers both within and outside EA to different high-impact pathways for doing good e.g. earning to give, working on projects addressing pressing issues, or starting their own charitable project.

We also have a Slack channel if anyone wants to join! 

lynettebye @ 2024-02-23T10:11 (+5)

Can we add EA Mental Health Navigator, especially the provider database? It's a list of coaches and therapists recommended by EAs. It is available as a resource, and would also benefit from more people leaving reviews of providers they've worked with! 

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T10:58 (+2)

Thanks Lynette. I've added them now.

Amber Dawn @ 2024-02-21T15:19 (+4)

Thanks for the shout-out! I just want to add that I also offer writing coaching, for those who want to learn how to make their own writing clearer and more effective. 

Arepo @ 2024-02-21T16:06 (+3)

No worries :) I've added 'and writing coach' to the OP, so it will also show up if I C&P the copy for future such advertising posts.

atury @ 2024-04-26T15:23 (+3)

Thank you so much for creating this series of posts! I think this is a great idea to get the word out about these and there is a lack of visibility into these important services and orgs. 

Is there any other marketing that is going along with these posts? e.g. posting on Slack channels, Facebook groups, or the like? I think that could potentially multiply the benefits and help get the word out even more. 

I'm definitely supportive of being more broadly inclusive of services/orgs here that are fee-charging and for the same justification you list. 

I see the Mental Health Navigator is mentioned under the Mental Health section, but I suggest that the Coaching session also have a reference to it at the top mentioning that there are a bunch of coaches on that resource as well, in the same Providers list. 

More strongly, I don't think it makes sense to only list a few coaches explicitly by name in this post. There are a ton of coaches who specifically target EAs on the Mental health Navigator, virtually all (if not all) of whom meet all the criteria. The MHN is intended to be the single source of truth list and provides useful features like filtering. It also only lists providers who have some review/recommendation (or if they've listed themselves, that has been reviewed by a gatekeeper at the Mental Health Navigator). To have another list here could only ever amount to a less complete and as such potentially confusing or less valuable list. I myself am a leadership coach to EAs and would love to be added to this list, but, I also know of a couple dozen other coaches who would also love to get more visibility, many of whom will never discover this post. I'd rather help out the entire coaching community, and also provide a more valuable interface to EAs seeking coaches, which helps out the entire EA community. 

If you don't agree, I'd love to hear your thoughts on why. If you do agree and want to change this, then it's less clear what to do with the existing names, since it seems it would slightly reduce the visibility for the people already here (it is far shorter list here, and far fewer clicks to dive to those individuals). However, at the risk of irritating a few people (most of whom I personally know and very much like and respect!), I would lean towards removing them in favor of the broader list. But a middle ground might be to leave them and something like this at the top of the coaching list "When looking for a coach, the best thing to do is go to the Mental Health Navigator providers list. It is the single source of truth for coaches, it provides a broader list, includes recommendations, and provides filtering to identify coaches that fit your criteria. The list of coaches here are only the ones who have specifically reached out to be added to this post." 

And, finally, if you do choose to continue to explicitly list some coaches here, then I'd love it if you could reply to this comment with that as well (or email me at adam@adamtury.com) so that I can request to add myself to the list (and reach out to a bunch of other extremely effective EA coaches to encourage them to do this too). 

Nitpick: You use "or" a couple of times in your criteria. I believe in both cases the "or" conjoins only the bullet with the single adjacent bullet. But just to make it a tiny bit clearer what two things are conjoined by "or", you could use indenting, or include both things in the same line item. 

Arepo @ 2024-04-28T07:17 (+2)

Thanks for the support :)

Is there any other marketing that is going along with these posts? e.g. posting on Slack channels, Facebook groups, or the like? I think that could potentially multiply the benefits and help get the word out even more. 

I tend to link the posts in the main Facebook groups and the EA Anywhere Slack channel, but nothing too lavish - it takes a nontrivial amount of time to do this, and I don't have a lot of spare bandwidth.

I see the Mental Health Navigator is mentioned under the Mental Health section, but I suggest that the Coaching session also have a reference to it at the top mentioning that there are a bunch of coaches on that resource as well, in the same Providers list. 

As in there are life/other types of coaches on MHN?

More strongly, I don't think it makes sense to only list a few coaches explicitly by name in this post. There are a ton of coaches who specifically target EAs on the Mental health Navigator, virtually all (if not all) of whom meet all the criteria. The MHN is intended to be the single source of truth list and provides useful features like filtering. It also only lists providers who have some review/recommendation (or if they've listed themselves, that has been reviewed by a gatekeeper at the Mental Health Navigator). To have another list here could only ever amount to a less complete and as such potentially confusing or less valuable list. I myself am a leadership coach to EAs and would love to be added to this list, but, I also know of a couple dozen other coaches who would also love to get more visibility, many of whom will never discover this post. I'd rather help out the entire coaching community, and also provide a more valuable interface to EAs seeking coaches, which helps out the entire EA community. 

I'm not sure how I feel here. The coaches section has definitely got a bit bloated.  I could do some rotation to highlight individuals, but that sounds quite a pain in the butt. I'm also a little wary of deferring to a single other resource, since I'm generally worried about EA groupthink that comes from deferred epistemics. Maybe a reasonable approach would be to list coaches only if they fit the opt-in criterion and for some (non-egregious) reason (e.g. that they don't deal with mental health) aren't listed on MHN?

Happy to be persuaded there's a better approach, though. If you do think that's reasonable, feel free to reach out to any coaches who that would include, or just link me to their websites (including you, though it sounds like you're on there?).

Nitpick: You use "or" a couple of times in your criteria. I believe in both cases the "or" conjoins only the bullet with the single adjacent bullet. But just to make it a tiny bit clearer what two things are conjoined by "or", you could use indenting, or include both things in the same line item. 

Good suggestion, thanks.

lynettebye @ 2024-04-29T12:36 (+3)

The MHN has a pretty broad inclusion, so dealing explicitly with mental health isn't a requirement. There's a bunch of coaches there. 

I second that it doesn't make sense to name a few coaches here. I'd be happy with adding all the coaching focusing on EAs (probably a dozen to a few dozen?) or pointing to a third party source like MHN that already has extensive lists. 

atury @ 2024-04-29T23:06 (+1)

As in there are life/other types of coaches on MHN?

Yeah, there are lots of coaches and therapists on MHN. The idea is that people have a single list that is known and trusted, and also provides a useful interface for people to be able to find a coach/therapist that is right for them. This is the main purpose of the providers page. There is some benefit to having the central resource including reducing the proliferation of separate lists, which can be confusing to people.

These coaches aren't generally licensed mental health professionals (certainly some exceptions), but seeing an effective coach is certainly something that can greatly support mental health, and I think that was at least part of the reasoning of listing them there. 

I'm not sure how I feel here. The coaches section has definitely got a bit bloated.  I could do some rotation to highlight individuals, but that sounds quite a pain in the butt. I'm also a little wary of deferring to a single other resource, since I'm generally worried about EA groupthink that comes from deferred epistemics. Maybe a reasonable approach would be to list coaches only if they fit the opt-in criterion and for some (non-egregious) reason (e.g. that they don't deal with mental health) aren't listed on MHN?

I agree that rotation isn't practical. I hear what you're saying about being worried about deferred epistemics. My perspective is that MHN providers page is actually worth deferring to for this because it earns trust by providing a general platform where many people can be listed, (it wouldn't be deferring to a shorter list of people getting outsized attention). The intention is that it gives someone a better chance at figuring out what provider is right for them based on their own analysis rather than other more arbitrary methods. It would be supportive of a process of evaluating multiple providers instead of just hearing of one provider and going with that person. Also it includes a bunch more things like factual information about the coaches that help with matching, and has recommendations from others who have gotten services (which, in aggregate, provide meaningful data). Would love to get your thoughts on this. 

All that said, I think it would be reasonable to list coaches who contact you and fit the opt-in criteria and who aren't on MHN. 

Tyner @ 2024-02-23T04:50 (+3)

I don't think that SEADS still exists.  They haven't posted in a while and their website is dead

https://seads-ai.org/portfolio.html

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T10:40 (+2)

Thanks Tyner - I've removed them.

Adam Binks @ 2024-02-22T19:23 (+3)

As well as Fatebook for Slack, at Sage we've made other infrastructure aimed at EAs (amongst others!):

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T11:30 (+2)

Thanks Adam. I've edited those in.

Saul Munn @ 2024-02-21T20:21 (+3)

you might find a number of good resources — specifically within forecasting — here: predictionmarketmap.com. i would particularly highlight Manifund as a way for EAs to get funding~

 

coi: i built the aforementioned map, and i currently work at manifund.

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T11:47 (+2)

Thanks Saul. I've added Manifund. I'm unsure whether to add the map, since I want to keep this list to 'services' (or products) that are actively being worked on rather than lists that might go stale. How much continuing work are you putting into upkeeping the map?

Saul Munn @ 2024-02-24T02:06 (+1)

ahh, sorry — i meant that there are a bunch of things on the map that you might consider adding, particularly in the "forecasting tools" section (e.g. manifold, metaculus, squiggle, guesstimate, metaforecast, etc). i didn't necessarily mean to imply that you should also add the map, though i could be persuaded either way.

also re: manifund, this is sorta hard to convey concisely, but we do both of:

  1. fund impactful projects (e.g. you can submit an application and get funded)
  2. provide infrastructure to fund projects (e.g. we're hosting the ACX Grants on manifund)

not sure exactly how to describe this, and i think you did a pretty good job in your description!

(edit: added the last sentence of the first paragraph)

Kathleen @ 2024-02-28T19:11 (+2)

Thanks for these resources!

I hope it's okay mention my executive coaching here. I work with EAs to overcome anxieties and connect with purpose. My style is informed by mindfulness practice, Gendlin's Focusing, and Internal Family Systems.

KyleGracey @ 2024-02-28T18:24 (+2)

We at Future Matters also offer strategy consulting Support services for EA organisations. A summary of our services is here!

atury @ 2024-04-26T14:34 (+1)

I suggest adding the EA Services Directory (managed by Deena Englander) here. EASE is: "A directory of independent agencies and freelancers offering expertise to EA-aligned organisations." Their problem statement: "Many organizations in the EA world have similar needs but lack the bandwidth or expertise to realize them. By providing a directory of experts covering many common challenges, we aim to save the movement time whilst addressing key skill shortages."

Arepo @ 2024-04-27T22:53 (+2)

Do you know what kind of management she does of it? Can anyone add themselves, or does she curate it in some way?

atury @ 2024-04-29T22:42 (+1)

Hey @Arepo - Deena has a form that requires the individual to submit a bunch of information about their services, their website, linkedIn, and three testimonials (on a later page of the form). So she is doing some curation. 

niplav @ 2024-02-21T23:05 (+1)

Reach heaven through research consulting.

People other than at Arb also offering it (at various rates):

I remember Sarah Constantin having been available for this too, but I don't know whether she still does research consulting.

Arepo @ 2024-02-23T11:12 (+3)

A general paired criterion I have is that the services either have to be targeted to EA individuals (which I don't think research qualifies as) or to offer pretty substantial discounts to them (the logic being that I want to support people supporting the little guy) - Arb assured me in an earlier post they do the latter. Do you know if any of these people would do so?

niplav @ 2024-02-23T15:58 (+3)

Ah, makes sense. I don't know whether others do this. I will have to think on how I handle this myself, but I want to make it cheaper for individuals & EA topics.

niplav @ 2024-03-07T19:23 (+1)

I've thought a bit about this and updated to include a (admittedly minor) discount for impactful or interesting work, "$20 for impactful or interesting projects, $35 for work with a public result, $50 otherwise".

SummaryBot @ 2024-02-21T14:58 (+1)

Executive summary: A post advertising free or discounted services and resources aimed at effective altruists, as well as organizations in the EA community that urgently need funding.

Key points:

  1. Lists free/subsidized coworking spaces, accommodations, professional services, coaching, tools, and financial support available to EAs.
  2. Includes organizations like CEEALAR, EA Poland, and AI Safety Camp that urgently need donations to continue operating.
  3. Relaxed criteria to include some fee-based services and resources specifically aimed at helping individual EAs.
  4. Requests readers spread awareness of these organizations and strongly vote on the post.
  5. Invites suggestions for additional organizations to include that provide valuable services, face funding issues, or deserve more exposure in the EA community.

 

 

This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.