Information for Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative

Table of contents

Basic information

Item Value
Country United States
Website http://existence.org/
Launch date 2017-01-01
Last recorded date when we made major data updates for this org 2023-08-11
Donations List Website (data still preliminary) donor, donee

Positions count by year

Hover over a name to see the position and date range. This table only includes positions where at least the start date is known. The positions count can count the same person multiple times if they held different positions; similarly, the list of staff may include the same person multiple times if they held more than one position during a single year. For each year, a person is included if they were at the organization for any part of the year; this means the actual staff count at any point during the year can be lower (or higher, if some staff held multiple positions in a single year).

Year Positions count Researchers General staff Associates Board members Advisors
2017 16 Andrew Critch, Gina Stuessy, Jeremy Schlatter, Kenzi Amodei, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Michael Keenan, Rebecca Raible Andrew Critch, Eric Rogstad, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Malo Bourgon, Qiaochu Yuan, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh Andrew Snyder-Beattie
2018 22 Andrew Critch, Colleen Gleason, Gina Stuessy, Jeremy Schlatter, Josh Jacobson, Kenzi Amodei, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Michael Keenan, Rebecca Raible, Rebecca Raible Alex Flint, Andrew Critch, Eric Rogstad, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Qiaochu Yuan, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh Andrew Snyder-Beattie
2019 20 Andrew Critch, Colleen Gleason, Jeremy Schlatter, Josh Jacobson, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Kyle Scott, Rebecca Raible, Sawyer Bernath, Sofia Davis-Fogel Alex Flint, Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Qiaochu Yuan, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh Andrew Snyder-Beattie
2020 20 Andrew Critch, Andrew Critch, Josh Jacobson, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Kyle Scott, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath, Sofia Davis-Fogel Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Jan Tallinn, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Stuart Russell
2021 15 Andrew Critch, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Jan Tallinn, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Stuart Russell
2022 17 Andrew Critch, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Jan Tallinn, Kyle Scott, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Sofia Davis-Fogel, Stuart Russell
2023 19 Andrew Critch, Elizabeth Cooper, Elizabeth Cooper, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Jan Tallinn, Kyle Scott, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Sofia Davis-Fogel, Stuart Russell
2024 18 Andrew Critch, Elizabeth Cooper, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath Andrew Critch, Jaan Tallinn, Jacob Tsimerman, Jan Tallinn, Kyle Scott, Malo Bourgon, Matt Fallshaw, Sam Bankman-Fried, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Sofia Davis-Fogel, Stuart Russell

Number of full-time staff at the beginning each year

The following table lists some dates and people who were at the organization on the given date (namely, the start of the year). The table may not list every person who worked for the organization (e.g. they could have joined and left in the middle of a single year). This table excludes associates, interns, advisors, and board members.

Date Staff count Staff
2018-01-01 8 Andrew Critch, Gina Stuessy, Jeremy Schlatter, Kenzi Amodei, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Michael Keenan, Rebecca Raible
2019-01-01 7 Andrew Critch, Colleen Gleason, Jeremy Schlatter, Josh Jacobson, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Rebecca Raible
2020-01-01 6 Andrew Critch, Josh Jacobson, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Sawyer Bernath, Sofia Davis-Fogel
2021-01-01 4 Andrew Critch, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath
2022-01-01 6 Andrew Critch, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath
2023-01-01 6 Andrew Critch, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath
2024-01-01 7 Andrew Critch, Elizabeth Cooper, James Paul Gonzales, Jess Riedel, Kenzi Amodei, Sawyer Bernath, Sawyer Bernath

Full history of additions and subtractions

This table shows the full change history of positions. Each row corresponds to at least one addition or removal of a position. Additions are in green and subtractions are in red. If a position name changed, it is listed simultaneously as an addition (of the new name) and removal (of the old name) and colored yellow. Additionally there are faded variants of each color for visited links.

Date Number of positions Number of positions added Number of positions removed Positions added Positions removed
2017-02-01 9 9 0 Andrew Critch, Andrew Critch, Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Eric Rogstad, Gina Stuessy, Malo Bourgon, Michael Keenan, Qiaochu Yuan, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh
2017-04-14 10 1 0 Jacob Tsimerman
2017-05-01 11 1 0 Kenzi Amodei
2017-07-01 12 1 0 Kenzi Amodei
2017-08-01 13 1 0 Rebecca Raible
2017-10-01 14 1 0 Kyle Scott
2017-10-03 15 1 0 Jaan Tallinn
2017-11-01 16 1 0 Jeremy Schlatter
2018-03-01 15 0 -1 Rebecca Raible
2018-03-08 12 0 -3 Gina Stuessy, Kenzi Amodei, Michael Keenan
2018-03-21 13 1 0 Colleen Gleason
2018-06-01 14 1 0 Matt Fallshaw
2018-07-01 15 1 0 Rebecca Raible
2018-08-01 16 1 0 Sam Bankman-Fried
2018-09-01 15 0 -1 Eric Rogstad
2018-09-03 16 1 0 Josh Jacobson
2018-11-01 17 1 0 Alex Flint
2019-01-04 16 0 -1 Qiaochu Yuan
2019-02-01 14 0 -2 Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Rebecca Raible
2019-03-01 15 1 0 Kyle Scott
2019-03-02 14 0 -1 Colleen Gleason
2019-04-01 13 0 -1 Jeremy Schlatter
2019-04-16 12 0 -1 Kyle Scott
2019-06-01 13 1 0 Sofia Davis-Fogel
2019-07-01 14 1 0 Sawyer Bernath
2020-01-01 14 1 -1 Stuart Russell Alex Flint
2020-02-01 15 2 -1 Kyle Scott, Sawyer Bernath Sawyer Bernath
2020-02-17 14 0 -1 Kyle Scott
2020-05-01 13 1 -2 Jan Tallinn Josh Jacobson, Kyle Scott
2020-05-02 14 1 0 Sawyer Bernath
2020-08-01 12 0 -2 Andrew Critch, Sawyer Bernath
2020-08-02 13 1 0 Sawyer Bernath
2020-09-01 14 1 0 Andrew Critch
2020-10-01 13 0 -1 Sofia Davis-Fogel
2021-07-02 14 1 0 Jess Riedel
2021-08-01 15 1 0 James Paul Gonzales
2022-01-01 16 1 0 Sofia Davis-Fogel
2022-08-07 17 1 0 Kyle Scott
2023-03-30 17 1 -1 Elizabeth Cooper Elizabeth Cooper
2023-05-23 18 1 0 Elizabeth Cooper

List of people (38 positions)

Person Title Start date End date Employment type Source Notes
Andrew Critch President & Founder 2020-09-01 [1], [2]
Andrew Critch Executive Director 2017-02-01 2020-08-01 [3], [4], [5]
Andrew Critch Board chair 2017-02-01 board member [3], [4], [6]
Elizabeth Cooper Deputy Director 2023-03-30 2023-03-30 part-time [7]
Elizabeth Cooper Deputy Director 2023-05-23 part-time [8], [2]
Kenzi Amodei Interim Deputy Director 2017-07-01 2018-03-08 [9], [4], [10]
Kenzi Amodei Deputy Director 2017-05-01 [11]
Rebecca Raible Writer and Operations Manager 2017-08-01 2018-03-01 part-time [9], [4], [12]
Rebecca Raible Program Manager: Grants and Awards 2018-07-01 2019-02-01 part-time [13], [14]
Kyle Scott Project Manager 2017-10-01 2019-04-16 [15], [16]
Kyle Scott Operations Manager 2019-03-01 2020-02-17 full-time [17], [18]
Kyle Scott Operations Manager 2020-02-01 2020-05-01 part-time [18]
Kyle Scott Board Advisor 2022-08-07 [19], [2]
Gina Stuessy Operations Consulting 2017-02-01 2018-03-08 [3], [4], [10]
Michael Keenan IT Support 2017-02-01 2018-03-08 [3], [4], [10]
Andrew Snyder-Beattie Advisor 2017-02-01 2019-02-01 [3], [4], [14]
Malo Bourgon Board advisor 2017-02-01 advisor [3], [2]
Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh Board advisor 2017-02-01 advisor [3], [4], [2]
Jacob Tsimerman Board advisor 2017-04-14 advisor [20], [2]
Jaan Tallinn Board advisor 2017-10-03 advisor [21], [2]
Jeremy Schlatter Software Engineer 2017-11-01 2019-04-01 [22]
Colleen Gleason Operations & Finance Manager 2018-03-21 2019-03-02 full-time [23]
Sam Bankman-Fried Board advisor 2018-08-01 advisor [24], [6]
Eric Rogstad Board treasurer 2017-02-01 2018-09-01 board member [25], [3], [4], [26]
Qiaochu Yuan Board secretary 2017-02-01 2019-01-04 board member [3], [4]
Alex Flint Board secretary 2018-11-01 2020-01-01 board member [14], [27], [28]
Josh Jacobson Collaboration Manager & Project Manager 2018-09-03 2020-05-01 full-time [29], [30]
Sofia Davis-Fogel Project Manager 2019-06-01 2020-10-01 full-time [31], [28]
Sofia Davis-Fogel Board advisor 2022-01-01 advisor [6], [2]
James Paul Gonzales Executive Assistant To Prof. Stuart Russell 2021-08-01 full-time [32], [33], [6]
Sawyer Bernath Project Manager 2019-07-01 2020-02-01 full-time [34], [35], [17]
Sawyer Bernath Deputy Director 2020-02-01 2020-08-01 full-time [36], [35], [30]
Sawyer Bernath Executive Director 2020-08-02 full-time [1], [35], [2]
Sawyer Bernath Secretary & Director 2020-05-02 board member [30], [2]
Stuart Russell Board advisor 2020-01-01 advisor [25], [2]
Jess Riedel Treasurer & Director 2021-07-02 board member [37], [2]
Jan Tallinn Board advisor 2020-05-01 advisor [30], [6]
Matt Fallshaw Board advisor 2018-06-01 advisor [14], [38], [39]

Products (0 products)

Name Creation date Description

Organization documents (3 documents)

Title Publication date Author Publisher Affected organizations Affected people Document scope Cause area Notes
Comment on After one year of applying for EA jobs: It is really, really hard to get hired by an EA organisation 2019-02-27 Aaron Gertler Effective Altruism Forum Centre for Effective Altruism, Open Philanthropy, Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Ought, Vox, AI Impacts, Center for Human-Compatible AI, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative Job application experience Various Gertler describes his experience applying to various effective altruism-related organizations.
Comment on After one year of applying for EA jobs: It is really, really hard to get hired by an EA organisation 2019-02-26 Max Daniel Effective Altruism Forum Open Philanthropy, OpenAI, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative, Centre for Effective Altruism, Future of Humanity Institute, AI Impacts Daniel gives his experience applying to various effective altruist organizations, detailing the time he spent on applications and preparation.
After one year of applying for EA jobs: It is really, really hard to get hired by an EA organisation 2019-02-25 EA applicant Effective Altruism Forum Open Philanthropy, Centre for Effective Altruism, Future of Humanity Institute, Effective Giving UK, Rethink Charity, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Nuclear Threat Initiative, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Global Priorities Institute, Ought, Veddis, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative A pseudonymous effective altruist gives their experience applying to various effective altruist (and related) organizations.

Documents (0 documents)

Title Publication date Author Publisher Affected organizations Affected people Affected agendas Notes

Similar organizations

Organization Number of people in common List of people in common
Center for Applied Rationality 7 Andrew Critch, Kenzi Amodei, Kyle Scott, Gina Stuessy, Michael Keenan, Eric Rogstad, Qiaochu Yuan
Machine Intelligence Research Institute 5 Andrew Critch, Malo Bourgon, Jaan Tallinn, Jeremy Schlatter, Stuart Russell
University of California, Berkeley 3 Andrew Critch, Qiaochu Yuan, Stuart Russell
Center for Human-Compatible AI 3 Andrew Critch, James Paul Gonzales, Stuart Russell
Survival and Flourishing.Fund 3 Andrew Critch, Eric Rogstad, Alex Flint
Survival and Flourishing.Org 3 Andrew Critch, Eric Rogstad, Alex Flint
Centre for Effective Altruism 3 Kyle Scott, Sam Bankman-Fried, Josh Jacobson
Future of Humanity Institute 3 Kyle Scott, Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh
Animal Charity Evaluators 3 Gina Stuessy, Sam Bankman-Fried, Sofia Davis-Fogel
Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence 3 Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Stuart Russell
Centre for the Study of Existential Risk 3 Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, Jaan Tallinn, Stuart Russell
Alignment Research Center 2 Kyle Scott, Josh Jacobson
Future of Life Foundation 2 Jaan Tallinn, Josh Jacobson
Future of Life Institute 2 Jaan Tallinn, Stuart Russell
Encultured AI 1 Andrew Critch
Anthropic 1 Rebecca Raible
GiveWell 1 Rebecca Raible
Palisade Research 1 Kyle Scott
Longview Philanthropy 1 Andrew Snyder-Beattie
Open Philanthropy 1 Andrew Snyder-Beattie
Redwood Research 1 Malo Bourgon
Global Catastrophic Risk Institute 1 Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh
OpenAI 1 Jeremy Schlatter
FTX Future Fund 1 Sam Bankman-Fried
Lightcone Infrastructure 1 Eric Rogstad
Innovations for Poverty Action 1 Josh Jacobson