A conversation with GiveWell's Elie Hassenfeld

The co-founder and CEO discusses the past and future of effective giving

New episode of Bad Takes about George Santos, his lies, and calls for his ouster or prosecution.

To somewhat belatedly kick off the New Year, I wanted to share a conversation I had recently with GiveWell co-founder and CEO Elie Hassenfeld. We talked about how GiveWell got its start, how he thinks about tough questions in global health and development, and how the organization anticipates the funding landscape shifting in the next year. If you’re interested in development or philanthropy, I think you’ll find what Elie has to say worth a listen.

Before we get to the interview, a quick update. As longtime Slow Boring readers know, we believe that GiveWell does tremendous work and a portion of the newsletter’s revenue goes to their top charities each month.

To date, your paid subscriptions have resulted in $97,385 in contributions. Most recently, in the third quarter of 2022, GiveWell directed $16,391 from Slow Boring to New Incentives, an organization that provides cash incentives for routine immunizations in North West Nigeria (we discuss their work in our conversation below), which GiveWell estimates saved three lives.

An enormous thank you to our paid subscribers for making this possible. You can learn more about GiveWell’s top charities (and make an additional donation, if you’re so inclined) on their website.

Paid subscribers will find a transcript of my conversation with Elie below.