Our Meetup Made Impact!

We held our meetup on Saturday, 22nd March, 2025 in Abuja Nigeria which brought 28 attendees comprising of existing community members and mostly those who are new to Effective Altruism. The meetup featured group discussion sessions on Effective Altruism, presentations and networking session.

Feedback from participants showed
a) Attendees rated their overall experience highly, with an average of 9.07/10
b) They were very likely to recommend the event, with an average of 9.5/10.
c) The average value of the connections made during the meetup was 8.62/10.
d) 11 out of 13 attendees said that the meetup made them reconsider their career path towards a high-impact career.

We also shared shared opportunities to take action with attendees such as the Intro Fellowship program with new members, resources from the EA forum and aligned organisations such as 80,000 hours, and are currently in the process of onboarding 2 of them who have met the criteria for joining our community here in Nigeria.

A total expenses of $376.9 was used for the meetup, kindly find the breakdown below:
- Meeting hall for meetup - 129.3
- Snacks, drinks and water - 92.5
- Transportation/venue logistics - 11.8
- Food takeout packs - 4.1
- Transportation reimbursement to 20 attendees - 124.9
- Miscellaneous - 14.4

We now have a balance of $970.7

Our community members from other cities have shown interest in having a meetup as well and given the potential impact meetups like this have, we have decided to have meetups in 3 more cities ( Lagos, Kano and Bauchi) between the months of April and May, 2025 which would serve as a tool for outreach; introducing Effective Altruism to those who have the potential to make an impact, while providing an avenue for EA inclination and networking opportunities for existing community members.

Here is a LinkedIn post on the meetup: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/effective-altruism-nigeria_eanigeria-eacommunitymeetup-abuja-activity-7309865291306483712-nbCa?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAADTA_HkB5BnjBtsjBpan99GAyAEuXWYCsyY

Thank you once again for your support.

Change in Project Date

I want to start by thanking everyone who donated towards this project

I am considering rescheduling our meetup to around March 2025 because EA Nigeria summit was held in the same location where we planned to organize the meetup this September. We believe that by moving the event to around March 2025, we can achieve the desired impact we are aiming for.

I intend to organize the event as an EA Nigeria event, as I am part of the team. Our original intention and purpose remain the same.

Thank you all once again for your consideration and donation.

@Jason We reached the proposed rate after checking the rates of other EA groups and adjusting our rates to the cost of living which seems to be the average for similar organisations (non profits) in Nigeria.

@Jason Thank you for this advice. @Austin Can I go ahead and increase this? Please let me know what works or the amount.

@Jason Thank you very much for your donation, you are absolutely right about your consideration.

@Nina Thank you very much!

Happy to support this initiative

@TonyGao Thank you.

@TonyGao We already have community members who work in government and have the potential to become leaders in the sector in the future; whose approach to solving problems has been shaped by their association with us. So I can say that EA is not completely out of the traditional avenues of power rather in touch with it.

We would focus on promoting EA to all with the aim of attracting those with the potential solve pressing issues. These persons could be in the government, non governmental organisation or an independent individual who is working on one project or the other.

I think there has also been a push within the EA community for members to take jobs in government and policy because altruistic individuals would apply same principles.

@TonyGao No, it is not. The major problem of third world countries is effective management of resources, they approach it with short term thinking, this reflects in infrastructures, policies and other aspects of the economy, in other words they are not altruistic in their approach, while other developed economies have been observed to apply the principles of longtermism to positively impact the lives of people in their region/country.

Promoting effective altruism in Nigeria has helped to shape individual's thought process and approach to solving pressing problems. This has reflected in the work and projects they do.

@Jason We have had about 5 - 10 persons for the meetup in Abuja, we have had over 50 in the last two years who attended from other parts of the country.

Our members through consistent involvement with us have been equipped to make informed decisions in their career, studies and projects, some of them have been actively involved in volunteering for EA aligned organizations.

@Hayhem Thank you!

@chrisshaw Thank you!