Join us at the first ever Effective Altruism Summit in Switzerland, on 24 October 2026
Applications are now closed
New to effective altruism?This one-day event brings people together around effective altruism, a growing global movement dedicated to doing good more effectively. Geneva is a city built on international cooperation, and this summit is for people here who want to think deeply about how to do the most good with the resources they have. You'll hear from inspiring speakers who have built their careers around that question, and leave motivated by the ideas and the community you've connected with.
Who is this event for
This event might be especially useful for:
Professionals in global health and development, humanitarian response, biosecurity, AI, animal welfare, or related fields, interested in using their skills to address some of the world's most pressing problems.
Researchers and academics working on policy-relevant questions excited about applying critical thinking to complex social problems.
People already working in effective altruism related roles that are interested in networking and providing mentorship during the conference, or in supporting regional efforts.
Recent graduates or final-year students in international relations, public health, development, law, or a related field, who want to start building the connections and thinking that will shape their career.
Speakers
Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
The Hon. Melissa Parke was appointed as the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on 1 September 2023. Ms Parke is a former Australian Minister for International Development, and former Australian federal Member of Parliament (2007 to 2016). Prior to being elected to the Australian Parliament, Ms Parke worked as an international lawyer with the United Nations in Kosovo, Gaza, New York and Lebanon (1999 to 2007). Ms Parke also served as a member of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict in Yemen (2017–2021).
Principal Strategist, The Humane League
Léo Le Ster is the Principal Strategist for The Humane League, advising and training 80 member organisations of the Open Wing Alliance in 70 countries on their corporate campaigns, targeting major global food corporations to abolish extreme confinement and cruel practices in factory farming.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, Lafiya
Sigrid De Lepeleire works as Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager at Lafiya, which brings family planning counselling and contraceptive services to women in remote communities in Nigeria through a network of trained government health workers. Her work focuses on generating and using evidence to understand how the programme performs, where it can improve, and how it can make women with an unmet need for family planning more visible in national health data. Before joining Lafiya, she spent more than six years with the Belgian Red Cross, managing health and humanitarian programmes across Sub-Saharan Africa. Effective altruism led her to focus increasingly on monitoring and evaluation, and on using evidence to understand what actually makes a difference.
Head of EA Funds, Centre for Effective Altruism
Loic works at the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA), where he leads EA Funds, a portfolio of cause-area philanthropic funds that lets individual donors pool their giving and rely on subject-matter experts to identify and fund highly cost-effective projects. Current funds cover global health and development, risks from transformative AI, animal welfare, and EA community building. Prior to joining CEA, he spent 15 years at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a research and policy organization in international development, most recently as its Chief Research and Policy Officer, overseeing IPA's Sector Programs, Policy team, and the Right-Fit Evidence Unit, a monitoring and evaluation advisory unit he founded.
Executive Director, Talos Network
Chiara Gerosa is Executive Director of Talos Network, which develops the people Europe needs to shape a resilient future with advanced AI. She joined Talos in 2024 as Fellowship Lead, training policymakers to govern frontier AI, and has led the organisation since 2025. Before that, she advised the UK government on online security and AI policy. She has also researched AI and security, and worked to strengthen collaboration between academia and policymakers in the UN system.
AI Governance Programme Lead, Talos Network
Hannah Betts is an AI Governance Programme Lead at Talos Network, where she co-leads the Policy Leaders Programme, a fellowship for experienced professionals entering European AI governance. Her career focuses on supporting institutions, governments and civil society to govern advanced AI. She previously led special projects and managed business operations at FAR.AI. Hannah holds a Master of Science from Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington, examining challenges faced by journalists covering AI in New Zealand.
Co-founder and Director, Mieux Donner
Romain Barbe co-founded Mieux Donner on the conviction that we can have far greater impact once we have the right information. He helps foundations, companies and individuals support effective organisations, using evidence and prioritisation to decide where the money goes. An INSA engineering graduate, he has worked in humanitarian aid in India, served as a French Navy officer, and built sustainable solutions at an electric bicycle startup. He pledged 10% of his income in 2023, translated 80,000 Hours' career guide into French in 2024, and founded Mieux Donner through the Charity Entrepreneurship incubator. He has spoken on effective giving before the French National Assembly.
President, Sentience
Naoki Peter is President of Sentience, a Swiss nonprofit working to improve the lives of animals through political and societal change. He has been active in the effective altruism community since 2015, in roles including volunteer, board member and IT contractor. Alongside his nonprofit work, Naoki teaches computer science at a high school in Zurich and previously worked as a software engineer.
Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy, University of Geneva
Antonin Broi is a postdoctoral researcher in philosophy at the University of Geneva. He has been active in the effective altruism movement for over ten years, including two years as President of EA France, where he continues to serve on the board. His research, grounded in ethics, focuses on the philosophical foundations of EA, well-being, and philanthropy.
Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Simon Institute for Longterm Governance
Konrad Gerosa (formerly Seifert) is Chief Strategy Officer of the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance, which he co-founded in 2021. The Institute supports policymakers, diplomats and technical experts in fostering international cooperation on governing transformative technologies, particularly frontier AI. Konrad oversees its strategy, people and special projects. A social entrepreneur, he has built two nonprofits after leaving an undergraduate degree in international relations, and has designed and led dozens of retreats and workshops on topics from probabilistic thinking to group decision-making and social impact. He also co-runs Fractal Geneva.
Organisations
Program
Registration and welcome coffee start at 09:30, and the first session begins at 10:00.
09:30–10:00 Foyer
Pick up your badge, grab a coffee and get ready for the day.
10:00–10:50 · Plenary Zurich room
Erik Jentzen (EA Switzerland), with Sigrid De Lepeleire (Lafiya), Romain Barbe (Mieux Donner) and Chiara Gerosa (Talos Network)
Erik Jentzen, Director of EA Switzerland, kicks off the day. Then three people from the community share their own path towards doing more good: how they asked whether their work could do more good, and what they changed.
10:50–11:15 Foyer International
Coffee, tea and snacks.
11:15–11:50 · Talk and Q&A Zurich room
Loic Watine (EA Funds)
Loic picks up on the three stories of the opening and asks what they have in common: how do you compare options when the differences between them are far larger than most people expect? He explores the frameworks behind effective altruism, such as scale, neglectedness and tractability, and how to apply them in practice.
11:50–12:10 · Talk and Q&A Zurich room
Antonin Broi (University of Geneva)
Antonin Broi (University of Geneva) explores the mindset behind effective altruism: a brief look at where the idea comes from, how it differs from other traditions of philanthropy, and what it asks of us in practice.
The talk is about giving as much as about careers and connects directly to the afternoon giving workshop. Takeaway question: what role should effectiveness play in your own giving?
12:15–13:15 Foyer International
Vegan lunch. Speed meeting sessions start at 13:00 and 13:15, so grab your food early if you want to join one.
13:00–13:50 · Speed meetings · In parallel
Questions after the morning sessions? Ask them in informal small-group chats with experienced mentors, and work out your next steps. Two rounds of 20 minutes.
For anyone new to EA, or who wants to understand it better.
Connect with others in the community, reflect on your own EA journey and discover concrete next steps. Three quick 1:1 conversations (eight minutes each) with different participants, with conversation starters provided.
For people already familiar with EA who want to deepen connections.
14:00–14:40 · Talk and Q&A Zurich room
Léo Le Ster (The Humane League) and Naoki Peter (Sentience)
Billions of animals live and suffer on factory farms, yet few causes get so little attention. This talk explains why animal welfare is one of the most important and neglected ways to do good, and how you can help.
14:45–15:10 · Fireside chat Zurich room
Melissa Parke (Executive Director, ICAN), moderated by Isaia Gisler (ZAIS)
Why nuclear weapons remain an existential threat, why we’ve relied on luck more than deterrence, how abolition could work, and why AI, from military integration to superintelligence, raises the stakes.
15:15–15:40 · Fireside chat Zurich room
Konrad Gerosa (Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Simon Institute for Longterm Governance), moderated by Marius Wenk (EA Switzerland)
Why might AI governance be one of the most impactful areas to work in right now, and what does that mean for people who already work in policy and international affairs? The conversation covers what the Simon Institute works on, why AI governance matters for the coming decade, and concrete ways people with a policy background can shape how AI is developed and deployed.
15:45–16:45 · Org fair Foyer
Coffee, and a chance to meet the organisations working on the problems discussed today: effective giving platforms, AI safety and policy groups, animal welfare organisations, career advising services, EA Switzerland and our local group. Every organisation has one concrete action you can take.
16:15–16:40 · Office hours · In parallel
Drop-in time with speakers during the second half of the org fair. Bring the question you did not ask in plenary. No registration needed; come and go as you like.
Antonin Broi (University of Geneva)
Sigrid De Lepeleire (Lafiya)
Léo Le Ster (The Humane League)
16:45–17:25 · Workshops · In parallel
Places are limited; please register.
Romain Barbe (Mieux Donner)
Say you have a little (or a lot of) money to give this year. How would you split it between global health, animals and emerging risks? Would you defer to a fund? Accept some risk? After a quick look at what the evidence says about giving, you discuss four ready-made giving portfolios with your table and write your own end-of-year plan (any amount counts).
Hannah Betts (Talos Network)
A hands-on session with Hannah Betts that guides you through considerations when choosing or changing your career. This session will use examples from animal welfare and AI Safety research, operations and policy to bring these decisions to life and show how various barriers can be overcome. You will leave with concrete next steps to understand your options, address your uncertainties, and turn barriers into opportunities. Please bring a pen or a phone to complete the worksheet.
17:30–18:00 · Plenary Zurich room
Erik Jentzen, Sonja Rossmann and Andre Santos (EA Switzerland)
After a day exploring what effective altruism is about, and how each of us can do the most good with the resources we have, we come back together to close the summit and leave with concrete next steps.
18:00–19:00 · Evening · In parallel
Sponsored by Effective Altruism Switzerland and Anima International
Drinks and socialising to close the day. Speakers and mentors stay for the first half hour, so this is the moment to continue the conversation you started at lunch.
Join Giving What We Can (GWWC) and other pledgers to celebrate your commitment to effective giving! The pledge party takes place at the GWWC pledge booth, as part of the reception.
End
Application process
Thank you to everyone who applied. This is how our application process works:
Select your ticket and complete a short application (~5-15 minutes).
Our team will review your application and will be in touch with you within 10 working days.
You'll receive an email with our decision and more information. Your card is only charged if and when you're accepted.
Ticket pricing
We suggest a CHF 40 contribution to help cover event costs, but we don't want price to be a barrier, so we also include reduced-price options.
All tickets include access to the full programme, a vegan lunch, and refreshments.
If you require a free ticket, please email us to request it.
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