Dewi Erwan on BlueDot Impact and Scaling High-Impact Organisations

Dewi Erwan is a co-founder of BlueDot Impact, the Biosecurity Advisor to the Cambridge Existential Risk Initiative, and the previous Executive Director of Effective Altruism Cambridge.

In this episode we discuss:

• Setting up BlueDot Impact and scaling pilot programmes
• Talent gaps in the EA community and more strategic goal setting
• Career advice and leadership skills

Dewi’s Recommendations

• James Collins’ Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
• Aaron Swartz’s Theory of Change
• (Album) Sing to the Moon by Laura Mvula
  • Song highlight: Father Father

BlueDot Impact (and other projects)

• Courses: AGI, Alternative Proteins, GCBRs [coming soon]
• Retrospective on the Summer 2021 AGI Safety Fundamentals
• Minerva University and “Building the Intentional University”
• Cambridge Existential Risks Initiative and its Fellowship Programme

Effective Altruism Community Building

• Strategy
  • Longtermist EA needs more Phase 2 work
  • Focused Research Organisations (e.g. Convergent, Astera)
  • “Big tent” effective altruism is very important (particularly right now)
• Talent gaps
  • Think twice before talking about ‘talent gaps’—clarifying nine misconceptions
  • EA needs founders, engineers and materials scientists, consultancies, a hiring agency, outsiders with a greater diversity of skills, operations mangaement, experienced professionals, and much more…
• Outreach
  • The Funnel Model
    • See also Don’t Be Bycatch and The funnel or the individual: Two approaches to understanding EA engagement
  • Kuhan Jeyapragasan on effective altruism university groups
  • EA is becoming increasingly inaccessible, at the worst possible time
  • Bad Omens in Current Community Building
  • Leaning into EA Disillusionment

Leadership

• Dewi’s management and leadership resource (it’s a lot!)

Misc

• Alarmy – Alarm Clock Solution [Android; Apple]
• Leah Pierson’s “Saying No to Things” punch card
• Cheese Toasties / Grilled Cheese
• The Meat Eater Problem
• Patagonian Welsh