Resources spent
- Leverage Research has now existed for over 7.5 years1
- Since 2011, it has consumed over 100 person-years of human capital.
- From 2012-16, Leverage Research spent $2.02 million, and the associated Institute for Philosophical Research spent $310k.23
Outputs
Some of the larger outputs of Leverage Research include:
- Work on Connection Theory: although this does not include the initial creation of the theory itself, which was done by Geoff Anders prior to founding Leverage Research
- Contributions to productivity of altruists via the application of psychological theories including Connection Theory
- Intellectual contributions to the effective altruism community: including early work on cause prioritisation and risks to the movement.
- Intellectual contributions to the rationality community: including CFAR’s class on goal factoring
- The EA Summits in 2013-14: The EA summit is a precursor to EA Global, which is being revived in 2018
Its website also has seven blog posts.4
Recruitment Transparency
- Leverage Research previous organized the Pareto Fellowship in collaboration with another effective altruism organization. According to one attendee, Leverage staff were secretly discussing attendees using an individual Slack channel for each.
- Leverage Research has provided psychology consulting services using Connection Theory, leading it to obtain mind-maps of a substantial fraction of its prospective staff and donors, based on reports from prospective staff and donors.
- The leadership of Leverage Research have on multiple occasions overstated their rate of staff growth by more than double, in personal conversation.
- Leverage Research sends staff to effective altruism organizations to recruit specific lists of people from the effective altruism community, as is apparent from discussions with and observation of Leverage Research staff at these events.
- Leverage Research has spread negative information about organisations and leaders that would compete for EA talent.
General Transparency
- The website of Leverage Research has been excluded from the Wayback Machine5
- Leverage Research has had a strategy of using multiple organizations to tailor conversations to the topics of interest to different donors.
- Leverage Research had longstanding plans to replace Leverage Research with one or more new organizations if the reputational costs of the name Leverage Research ever become too severe. A substantial number of staff of Paradigm Academy were previously staff of Leverage Research.
General Remarks
Readers are encouraged to add additional facts known about Leverage Research in the comments section, especially where these can be supported by citation, or direct conversational evidence.
Citations
1. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/969wcdD3weuCscvoJ/introducing-leverage-research
2. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/453989386
3. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/452740006
4. http://leverageresearch.org/blog
5. https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://leverageresearch.org/
I've provided my explanations for the following in this comment:
No evidence has been provided Paradigm Academy is Leverage's successor. While the OP stated facts about Leverage, all the comments declaring more facts about Leverage Research are merely casting spurious associations between Leverage Research and the EA Summit. Along with the facts, you've smuggled in an assumption amounting to nothing more than a conspiracy theory about Leverage rebranding themselves as Paradigm Academy and is organizing the 2018 EA Summit for some unclear and ominous reason. In addition to no logical reason or sound evidence being provided for how Leverage's negative reputation in EA should be transferred to the upcoming Summit, my interlocutors have admitted themselves or revealed their evidence from personal experience to be weak. I've provided my direct personal experience knowing the parties involved in organizing the EA Summit, and also having paid close attention from afar of Leverage's trajectory in and around EA, contrary to the unsubstantiated thesis the 2018 EA Summit is some opaque machination by Leverage Research.
There is no logical connection between the facts about Leverage Research and the purpose of the upcoming EA Summit. Further, the claims presented as facts about the upcoming Summit aren't actually facts.
At this point, I'll just point out the idea Paradigm is somehow necessarily in any sense Leverage's successor is based on no apparent evidence. So the author's advice doesn't logically follow from the claims made about Leverage Research. What's more, as I demonstrated in my other comments, this event isn't some unilateral attempt by Paradigm Academy to steer EA in some unknown direction.
As one of the primary organizers for the EA community in Vancouver, Canada; the primary organizer for the rationality community in Vancouver; a liaison for local representation of these communities with adjacent communities; and an organizer for many novel efforts to coordinate effective altruists, including the EA Newsletter, I don't know if I'd describe myself as a "mentor." But I know others who see me that way, and it wouldn't be unfair of me to say both digitally, and geographically on the west coast; in Vancouver; and in Canada, I am someone who creates more opportunities for many individuals to connect to EA.
Also, if it wasn't clear, I'm well outside the Leverage orbit. If someone wants to accuse me of being a hack for Leverage, I can make some effort to prove I'm not part of their orbit (though I'd like to state that I would still see that as unnecessarily poor faith in this conversation). Anyway, as an outsider and veteran EA community organizer, I'm willing to provide earnest and individuated answers to questions about why I'm going to the 2018 EA Summit; or why and what kind of other effective altruists should also attend. I am not speaking for anyone but myself. I'm willing to do this in-thread as replies to this comment; or, if others would prefer, on social media or in another EA Forum post. Because I don't have as much time, and I'd to answer such questions transparently, I will only answer questions publicly asked of me.
Unlike the author of this post and comment stated, it doesn't follow this event will be anything like the Pareto Fellowship, as there aren't any facts linking Leverage Research's past track record as an organization to the 2018 EA Summit.
For what it's worth to anyone, I intend to attend the 2018 EA Summit, and I offer as a friend my support and contact regarding any concerns other attendees may have.
See Geoff's reply to me below: Paradigm and Leverage will at some point be separate, but right now they're closely related (both under Geoff etc). I think it's reasonable for people to use Leverage's history and track record in evaluating Paradigm.