Members of the EA movement do so much great work, but much of it occurs in private or local contexts not known to others around the globe. Yet publicizing our good deeds is really valuable for optimizing global flourishing. Thus sharing about what you did is a very EA thing to do. So please share any EA-themed accomplishments you have not yet shared on previous Accomplishment open threads, whether recent achievements or ones from long ago! This thread is a completely safe space, with no social norms of "don't be a braggart" applying - just share and be safe in your sharing. Share as many or as few good deeds as you wish.
Please both share about your own good deeds and respond to what other people share with your authentic responses, ranging from upvoting to comments :-) Doing so will help motivate each other to greater accomplishments going forward and build capacity for the EA movement.
Now, sharing about our accomplishments may seek awkward at first, since it goes against social norms, but we in Effective Altruism know the benefit of trying out unorthodox approaches for good reasons. Sharing about our goods deeds results in many benefits for the world:
1) Inspiring others to emulate some aspects of those good deeds through social proof and network effects.
2) Support each other doing good deeds through providing social connections, positive rewards, and warm feelings, which are vital forencouraging further pro-social activities.
3) Amplifying the signal about things you want others to know about, such as EA projects you are involved in, EA articles you published, etc.
P.S. This is an experiment, and is very open to optimization - besides sharing about your good deeds, please suggest ways to improve any aspects of it. For the history of previous Accomplishment Open Threads, click here and also this .impact FB discussion.
I co-founded the Effective Altruism Madison local group back in Oct 2014. We've had monthly meetups averaging 8 attendees per event (some regulars, some new people). Including my boyfriend and I, 6? of us at least have taken the Giving What We Can Pledge. I also encouraged my friend to coordinate an EA group at the local university here, and his group is off to a great start! (We also have a third EA group in the Madison area, at a large health tech company, that I can't take any credit for.)
I founded and led a farmed animal committee for a local AR org almost 2 years, educating thousands of people about the cruelties of factory farming and giving them information about veg options. The org worked on a wide range of animal issues, but since farmed animal advocacy is considered most cost/time-effective, I worked to really strengthen and focus on that area.
I'm the lead coordinator of Madison WI's veg fest, which more than doubled in size and drew over 4,000 attendees last year. (This event is also pro-veg advocacy and supporting those who are already veg.)
Since 2011, I've donated over $45k to hopefully increasingly effective charities -- I believe my selections have gotten better each year.
(5. Way back in 2009 I helped my boyfriend, Ben West, figure out what he had to do to graduate college, which allowed him to earn lots of money at his job, which allowed him to save up and start a company, from which he hopes to donate a LOT to effective charities https://80000hours.org/2015/12/interview-with-ben-who-expects-to-donate-eight-figures-for-charity-through-tech-entrepreneurship/ We continue to encourage each other to do the most we can.)
You've really done a lot, great to hear about your accomplishments! Sounds like with your help, Madison is becoming an important venue for EA-related activities. Keep up your good work!