Effective Altruism @ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Greetings!

Welcome to the Effective Altruism @ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (EA @ UIUC) website! We're a community of students and alumni helping each other do the most good with our lives and careers.

Effective Altruism Illinois is a student organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) focused on using evidence and reason to improve the world as much as possible. We explore topics such as global health, poverty reduction, and long-term global challenges.

What We Do

We run weekly discussion groups and socials. Currently, we meet at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at 2pm on Sundays weekly. We'll also be hosting a few events throughout the year, such as a retreat and some guest speakers. More details to come soon!

The best way to hear about our events and stay connected is to join our discord server! Please apply to join using the invite link, https://discord.gg/wpVYPrYssS., stating your university (UIUC) email address if you are student or faculty, and state your purpose otherwise.

Learn more about the global Effective Altruism movement here.

As uniquely priveleged individuals in an world that is both egregiously unequal and rapidly changing, we believe that we have a powerful opportunity to do good. Then, Effective Altruism is about answering the question: how can we use our resources to help others the most? Rather than doing what feels right, we try to use evidence and careful analysis to find the best causes to work on. But insight alone isn't enough—we follow through by directing our time and money where they'll make the greatest difference.

At UIUC, our Effective Altruism group provides a space for thoughtful discussion, career exploration, and community building for students interested in high-impact paths.

Contact

For non-urgent communications, please reach out to us at ea.uiuc.exec@gmail.com. We'd love to talk to you regardless of your level of experience with effective altruism or field of study/work. To schedule a 1-1 or for other more urgent inquiries, please reach out to our exec directly at one of the emails listed below.

Our Team

Mayank Aggarwal

Mayank is a 4th-year undergraduate studying Civil Engineering and Math. He loves meeting new people and discussing philosophy, economics, and pretty much everything else, so feel free to chat him up! You can reach him at mayanka6@illinois.edu.

Eryn Van Wijk

Eryn is a 3rd-year undergraduate studying Astrophysics and Philosophy. At the moment, they are particularly interested in science communication, how public trust is built, and how we assess our inductive methods for science and reasoning. Reach them at erynv2@illinois.edu.

Alex Jin

Alex is a 2nd-year Master's student studying Computer Science. He is especially interested in cost-effective giving for global health. He is cool. Reach him at ajin7@illinois.edu.

Happenings

Upcoming events, discussions, and announcements will be posted here.