TL;DR - the last 5 (ish) years

  • I studied International Development at the University of East Anglia. I didn't particularly enjoy my time at university, but the opportunity to study abroad at The University of Hong Kong in 2019 was a truly transformative experience. It's also where I met my partner - we're celebrating our 7th anniversary this year!
  • After I graduated, I spent 9 months working for American Express on a 2 year graduate scheme in Procurement. During this time, I participated in an online course on AI Ethics and Society by Cambridge ICE that would change the trajectory of my career. I started posting summaries on Medium, but as I read wider and deeper (Superintelligence, Human Compatible, The Alignment Problem) I decided I wanted to somehow use my career to support direct work on AI Safety.
  • After working through the 80,000 Hours Career Guide, and discovering effective altruism, I determined that my operations expereince (thanks, Amex!) could actually be valuable in the AI Safety space. In May 2022, I joined the grants team at Effective Ventures Foundation and later Open Philanthropy, where I support grantmaking in Potential Risks from Advanced AI amongst many other impactful cause areas.
  • I'm a serial hobbyist. I tend to dive deep into something for about 1-2 years before moving on to the next challenge. Pevious hobbies include learning the piano (2021-2022), Japanese (2022-2023) and triathlon (2024).
  • In August 2024, I competed in my first ever triathlon event - IRONMAN 70.3 Tallinn. I completed the course in 6:24:47, and it's the fittest I've ever been by a long way. I trained roughly 8-10 hours per week for 6 months, which combined with work left little room for anything else in life. My social life, personal care, and downtime all took a backseat. I am racing the Generali Maratón Málaga this December with a friend, which I'm hoping will offer a more sustainable balance. We're aiming for sub-4 hours.
  • I'm currently studying Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and I'm reading Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow. I try to keep my Goodreads profile up to date, but plan to post updates here too!