Project summary

CEEALAR (https://www.ceealar.org/) was launched in 2018 and offers free/subsidised accommodation to up to 27* EAs at a time, for anywhere from a few days to a year. Grantees do research in EA cause areas, launch EA projects or upskill in EA areas. As of 2024 we're experimenting with narrowing our focus to grantees working on Global Catastrophic Risks. We are:

• Cost effective: At our target occupancy (20) it costs us just under $1000 to fund an individual for 1 month vs an average of $5,500 to support an independent EA researcher ( based on EA fund payouts)

• A multiplier on the impact of EAs. We provide workshops, 1:1 meetings and community. ~80% of guests estimate significantly more productivity here than their counterfactual.

• Unique and scaleable - we are the first project of this kind and are documenting our learnings and providing a blueprint for others.

For more information, see our recent update post:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/esFoMmj3PAECTqSrF/ceealar-2024-update

What are this project's goals and how will you achieve them?

1) Increase the number of talented people working on Global Catastrophic Risks

2) Enable those people to develop the skills and connections they need to amplify their impact.

(See our theory of change for a full description of the path to impact: https://www.ceealar.org/learn-more/our-theory-of-change)

We achieve these goals through the following:

• Financial assistance

  • Free/subsidised accommodation, communal meals and stipends so that grantees can focus full time on EA work without having to take non impactful jobs to fund themselves

• Community building and networking for EAs from a range of cause areas and countries

  • We are currently developing the CEEALAR Alumni Network (CAN) to enable guests and alumni to better support each other

  • Hosting low or no cost retreats for EA organisations

• A productive workspace

  • Ergonomic coworking spaces, breakout rooms, private studies, a home gym and the highest density of whiteboards in a several mile radius.

• Learning and development opportunities

  • Talks and workshops tailored to grantees’ needs
    

How will this funding be used?

Our basic operations are currently funded until end of 2025 (assuming business as usual), but we have plenty of capacity to absorb additional funding - both for additional runway, as we have no guarantee of future funding from current sources, and for meaningful improvements to the space.

We're highly cost effective, and we're experienced at stretching a little a long way, but there is a lot of potential for impact from additional funding - we can do a lot with a little, but we can also do more with more.

Who is on your team and what's your track record on similar projects?

https://ceealar.org/people/

Our track record is the past 5 years of CEEALAR, perhaps most notably surviving the covid pandemic and quickly returning to growth.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails? (premortem)

(In order of likelihood)

• Funding shortfalls are by far the most likely fail state at present.

• Some small but nontrivial chance of significant maintenance/repair issues resulting in prolonged closure due to the age of the buildings.

• Similar probability of a staffing 'failure cascade' where an inability to hire for a key role (i.e. ops manager, executive director) leads to burn out for the remaining staff as they try to compensate for the shortfall, which leads to more staff losses and significant loss of tacit/institutional knowledge

• An acute community crisis/scandal that results in significant reputational damage to CEEALAR such that we are obligated to shutdown. (In this context it's worth noting that in 5 years of operation we have had nothing like this happen and that guest feedback is overwhelming positive concerning the culture of CEEALAR)

• Legal issues with local council or UK charity commission. Highly unlikely, but we are a fairly unique project and we cannot predict whether the future regulatory landscape will be hospitable to us.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

We were funded by SFF in 2023, and by AISTO and EAIF in 2024. We have also received significant financial support from the EA community and our alumni.