About us
The Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research aims to promote academic work that addresses the question of how to use our scarce resources to improve the world by as much as possible.
We are especially interested in the idea that the primary determinant of the value of our actions today is how those actions influence the very long-run future. We believe that by making the right decisions today, humanity has the opportunity to positively steer civilisation’s trajectory for thousands of years to come. We are therefore interested in supporting excellent research that:
Defends or criticises the idea that we should primarily care about the very long-run impact of our actions.
Works out the implications of a long-term view for our decisions today.
Is of importance for the long-run future of civilisation, even if the research is not directly about the idea of long-term impact.
Our Team
Assoc Prof William MacAskill
Director
William is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Senior Research Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute, University of Oxford. His academic research focuses on the fundamentals of effective altruism - the use of evidence and reason to help others by as much as possible with our time and money, with a particular concentration on how to act given moral uncertainty.
Eirin Evjen
Chief of staff
Eirin manages the team and ensures the smooth running of all programmes. Before joining Forethought, Eirin worked as the Executive director of Effective Altruism Norway. She has a background in science and technology studies.
Oliver Ritchie
Director of special projects
Oliver works with academics whose Global Priorities research focuses on using reason and evidence to do the most good. He has particularly close links with Oxford's Global Priorities Institute. He delivers projects on issues such as setting strategic direction and finding new ways to measure and increase impact.
Previously, Oliver led a team in HM Treasury to advise the Chancellor on Covid-19 strategy. He has broad experience in Government including advising on decarbonisation, international negotiations, and tax policy, and has also worked in social research. He holds an MA in Political Economy from King's College London, and a BA (hons) in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Exeter.
Gavin Weinberg
Operations Associate
Gavin supports the team in all things operations and administration. Before joining Forethought, Gavin interned for a member of the US Congress and did state policy research for a food policy advocacy organization. He studied political science and data science.
Thomas Moynihan
research fellow
Thomas is a research fellow at Forethought Foundation focusing on the historical significance and importance of contemporary longtermist thought. He is working on a book exploring why concern for the far future has emerged only relatively recently, when considering the total sweep of human thought throughout the past. Previously, he has written extensively on the history of ideas surrounding human extinction and the development of concepts regarding existential risk. He has a background in intellectual history, holding a DPhil from Oxford University.
Collaborators
GLobal Priorities Institute
The Forethought Foundation works closely with the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University.
Effective Ventures
The Forethought Foundation is a project of Effective Ventures.
The Forethought Foundation is a project of the Effective Ventures group and works in close collaboration with the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University.