Most of us want to make a difference. We see suffering, injustice and death, and are moved to do something about it. But working out what that ‘something’ is, let alone actually doing it, can be a difficult and disheartening challenge.

 

Effective altruism is a response to this challenge.

 

We are part of a growing social movement with university chapters at most top universities around the world, based on the idea that good intentions alone, while admirable, are not enough to have an impact. Instead, we are committed to combining compassion with reasoning and evidence so that our choices do the most good possible.

 

With this broad approach, we tackle some of the most challenging questions of our era: what global problems should we prioritize, what strategies have the best chances of solving them, and how can we best use our careers, donations, resources, and lifestyles to contribute to these?

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Every semester, we run seminar programs to think about these questions about improving the world, and implement our responses in our own decisions and lives. We also host speaker events on relevant topics from AI governance to animal welfare, and social events to build a sense of community between people interested in thinking about these questions.

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Our long-term goals are to cultivate a thriving community of people at USC who are deeply committed to improving the world, to help each other learn about how can best do so, and to launch effectiveness-minded projects.