Hi everyone, thank you so much for doing this AMA – it’s incredibly valuable.

I’m currently tying to transition into the social impact space after 15+ years leading operations, project teams in sectors like banking, UX/UI, service design and innovation. My background combines private sector experience with community-building and political organising — including managing volunteer teams and co-leading a small political party.

Over the past months, I’ve been exploring the EA ecosystem more intentionally: reading, connecting with people, applying to impact-driven roles and applying to join the Introductory EA Program next month.

I’ve noticed that, despite my experience in leadership, operations, and user-centred design, it’s been hard to break into roles within high-impact orgs — possibly due to sectoral gaps or a lack of direct cause-area expertise.

My main questions:

• For someone mid-career, with generalist skills (people/project/ops leadership, strategy, stakeholder engagement, etc.), what are the most promising entry points into impactful roles?
• Do you see ops/strategy roles being open to career switchers from outside the EA ecosystem?
• Would it be more effective to focus on upskilling in a specific cause area, or to double down on positioning my transferable experience?

I’d deeply appreciate any advice, or even feedback on how I might be framing my experience too narrowly or too broadly.

Thanks again!