Two months into EA: Why I'm rethinking my approach to impact

Summary:

 Discovering EA recently has made me reconsider how I think about my career and impact. Instead of switching sectors entirely, I'm exploring how to bring EA principles into the work I'm already doing.

I stumbled onto EA about two months ago through a friend who kept mentioning "cost-effectiveness" in conversations about development work. Initially, I was skeptical, another framework claiming to solve everything? But the more I read, the more I realized I'd been wrestling with many of these questions without having the language for them.

What clicked for me

The biggest shift has been moving from "What sector should I work in?" to "How can I maximize impact wherever I am?" I've been working as a communication specialist for a religious organization for a while now, and my first instinct was to completely pivot toward a more obviously EA-aligned organization.

But when I started applying EA thinking to my current work, I noticed opportunities I'd been missing. Resource allocation decisions were happening without the kind of analysis that EA emphasizes. Policy conversations that could affect thousands of people were happening without anyone asking basic questions about cost-effectiveness or evidence base.

What I'm trying now

Rather than immediately jumping ship, I'm experimenting with bringing EA principles into my existing context. This looks like:

- Introducing simple impact measurement into projects that previously relied on outputs only
- Connecting colleagues with research they hadn't seen (turns out many people just haven't encountered certain evidence)
- Asking "What would happen if we allocated this budget differently?" in meetings where no one else is asking that question

The interesting thing is how receptive people are to these ideas when they're framed practically rather than as part of a movement.

Questions I'm wrestling with

I'm drawn to roles that sit at intersections, between local knowledge and international research, between organizations working on similar problems, between sectors that don't usually coordinate. The most interesting problems seem to happen in these boundary spaces.

But I'm still figuring out: How do you measure the impact of work that's primarily about enabling other people's impact? When is it worth staying in a less obviously impactful role if you can shift how resources get allocated? How do you balance building career capital with taking action now?

What I'm curious about

I'm particularly interested in connecting with others who are applying EA thinking in non-traditional contexts, especially in African settings. How do you adapt these frameworks when working in environments with different institutional constraints? What does cause prioritization look like when you're embedded in specific local contexts?

I'm also curious about organizations that focus on ecosystem building rather than direct implementation. Are there places that specialize in the kind of connector/translator work I'm drawn to?

Two months in, I'm still learning, but I'm optimistic about finding ways to create more impact without necessarily changing everything about my career path. Sometimes the highest leverage might be helping existing systems work better rather than building new ones.