Staff
Aaron Kavanaugh | Office Manager. Aaron manages GiveWell’s facilities, procurement, software systems, and social cohesion work. Prior to GiveWell, Aaron worked in infectious disease control for the state of California. He holds a B.A. in anthropology from UC Berkeley. Outside of work, he can be found mixing a cocktail and convincing his friends to play that new board game.
Ahmed Alkhatib | Donations Specialist. Ahmed runs GiveWell's donations processing work across all funding streams. He previously worked in nonprofit administration, the tech scene, and international activism. Ahmed earned a B.S. in business administration/marketing from the University of San Francisco and an Associate of Arts degree from City College of San Francisco. Outside GiveWell, Ahmed works on humanitarian aviation advocacy, performs fun gigs on TaskRabbit, drives weekend crowds for Uber, or cooks enough food to feed an entire neighborhood.
Alex Cohen | Senior Researcher. Alex leads GiveWell's work finding and conducting early-stage research on new interventions. Prior to GiveWell, Alex was the Director of Learning and Evaluation at a private foundation based in Indianapolis and a Postdoctoral Associate at the Yale School of Management. He holds a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. In his spare time, he likes to go hiking with his kids.
Alicia Weng | Research Associate. Alicia focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. Prior to GiveWell, she worked as a research assistant in health economics. She holds a B.S. in economics from MIT. In her spare time, she can be found wandering around cities or getting lost in the woods.
Andrew Martin | Senior Research Associate. Andrew focuses on analyzing program costs and GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness models for top charities. Prior to GiveWell, he worked as an English teacher in South Korea and constructed housing for Habitat for Humanity. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2009 with a B.A. in English and received an M.P.A. from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2015. As a Seattle resident, Andrew is contractually obligated to enjoy hiking.
Audrey Cooper | Philanthropy Advisor. Audrey advises donors on how to achieve their philanthropic goals. Before joining GiveWell, Audrey worked in development at nonprofits in Seattle and New York, with a focus on building corporate partnerships. She holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from The King's College. Outside of work, Audrey enjoys consuming books and coffee.
Ben Bateman | Head of Growth. Ben leads GiveWell’s growth projects and website management. Prior to GiveWell, Ben worked at Indiegogo, where he launched client startups and later led Indiegogo’s expansion into the Chinese market. He holds a B.A. in English literature from Lewis & Clark College. In his spare time, he can be found outside or in a book.
Caitlin McGugan | Senior Researcher. Caitlin focuses on researching questions that impact the cost-effectiveness models GiveWell uses in its grantmaking to top charities. Prior to joining GiveWell, she worked in economic consulting and researched the impacts of health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. She holds a B.A. in economics and mathematics & statistics from Williams College and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, baking, yoga, and following NBA basketball.
Catherine Hollander | Senior Program Associate. Catherine works on project, information, and charity relationship management on our New Interventions team. Catherine previously worked in journalism, covering economics and health care at National Journal and serving as editorial director for Beacon, an independent funding platform for journalism. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history. In her free time, she loves to read.
Charlene Abellana | Controller. Charlene graduated from San Francisco State University in 2011 with a bachelor's in business accounting. Upon graduation, she worked as an auditor specializing in Alternative Investment Funds at Rothstein Kass and KPMG. She then worked on investments and philanthropic funds in the family office of Eric Schmidt before joining a hedge fund in San Francisco. Charlene joined GiveWell in September 2017.
Daisy Hao | Senior Accountant. Daisy coordinates the accounting and financial reporting functions at GiveWell. She holds a bachelor's in business administration and a master's in professional accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining GiveWell in 2021, she worked as an audit manager at Ernst & Young. Daisy enjoys Texas barbecue and hiking in the woods with her chihuahua.
Devin Jacob | Data & Technology Project Manager. Devin manages GiveWell’s website and CRM infrastructure and supports our data needs. He previously has worked in a variety of areas including IT, used-book selling, commercial fishing, freelance web development, and teaching history to college students. He is a certified Salesforce systems administrator and holds a B.A. in history from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in history from NYU, where he spent five years in a Ph.D. program but left without completing a dissertation on banishment and exile in the early British Empire. He spends a lot of time hanging out with his two cats, cooking, and reading.
Elie Hassenfeld | Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (President). Elie sets the strategy and oversees the work of GiveWell, with a particular emphasis on leading GiveWell's research. He previously worked in the hedge fund industry, which he left to co-found GiveWell in 2007. He has a B.A. in religion from Columbia University. He enjoys taking up (and mostly failing at) new athletic pursuits and spending time with his wife and young children.
Erin Crossett | Senior Researcher. Erin leads GiveWell’s work identifying and researching new interventions, with the goal of recommending high-impact giving opportunities. She previously worked in a variety of research-related roles at Arnold Ventures, Mathematica Policy Research, and USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV). She also worked on randomized controlled trials of sanitation and social safety net programs for Innovations for Poverty Action and Georgetown University. Erin holds a Master's in International Development Policy from Georgetown University and a B.A. in International Relations from University of Rochester. She loves odd animals, Southeast Asian food, good books, and bad television.
Erin Wolff | Donor Relations Associate. Erin communicates with donors about our research and donation processes and manages donor events. Erin previously worked at an insurance and benefits brokerage. She holds a B.A. in psychology from UC Berkeley. She loves costume parties and is a big fan of Frida Kahlo.
Gaby Quintana | Operations Associate. Gaby helps develop, codify, and scale our processes and systems across operations, with a focus on people operations. Gaby previously worked in arts and education nonprofits in the Bay Area and independent film production. She holds a double B.A. in art history and English from Stanford University. In her spare time, she is an obsessive horror movie watcher.
Grace Hultquist | Research Associate. Grace focuses on grantmaking to GiveWell's top charities. She previously worked for a global health financing nonprofit. She holds a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University. Right now, she’s either overestimating the number of books she can read at once or underestimating how long it will take her to walk somewhere.
Hannah Bell | Program Associate. Hannah supports task and knowledge management on our New Interventions team. Prior to joining GiveWell, she worked in medical anthropology research and as an English teacher and academic editor. She holds a B.A. in anthropology and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of South Florida, and an M.A. in cultural anthropology from Michigan State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and staying busy with creative projects.
Isabel Arjmand | Special Projects Officer. Isabel manages GiveWell's internal communications and other special projects. Previously, she worked on top charity research and external communications at GiveWell. She holds a B.S. in management science and engineering (policy and strategy focus) with honors in education from Stanford University. She enjoys reading lots of fiction, occasionally wobbling on roller skates, and never missing a day of the NYT crossword.
James Snowden | Program Officer. James leads GiveWell's work on policy and advocacy. Prior to joining GiveWell, he worked as a researcher at Giving What We Can and in strategy consulting. He holds a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and an M.Sc. in philosophy and economics from the London School of Economics. In his spare time, James writes songs about his cats. He used to be quite good at chess.
Jason Anderson | Donor Engagement and Retention Specialist. Jason manages donor communications and engagement. He started his career in database marketing, helping build a small world-class agency and a successful loyalty program for a major retailer. After consulting for a few years, he landed at Columbia Business School in communications and donor relations. He obtained his B.S. at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration and completed significant coursework toward an M.S. in strategic communications at Columbia. In his spare time, he enjoys philosophical discussions, photography, travel, and (tandem) skydiving.
Jenna Shelby-Glick | Donor Relations Assistant. Jenna fields donor inquiries, helps with data entry and donation processing, and corresponds with top charity representatives. Prior to GiveWell, she provided patient health care and education services in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Center City Philadelphia. She holds a B.A. in neuroscience and Hispanic literatures & cultures from Wesleyan University. Outside of work, Jenna enjoys working on puzzles, baking for her family, and meticulously and lovingly caring for her lemon tree.
Jeremy Rehwaldt | Content Editor. Jeremy makes GiveWell's research more transparent and accurate. In addition to spending more than 20 years as a college professor and copy editor, Jeremy has worked as a community organizer, grantwriter, and board member for nonprofits addressing social issues including homelessness, police misconduct, sexual assault and domestic violence, and capital punishment. He holds a B.A. from Macalester College, M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School, and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. When not working, Jeremy enjoys traveling with his son and his partner.
Josh Rosenberg | Senior Advisor. Josh advises on and leads projects relevant to GiveWell's research, recruiting, and management. He has spent most of his career at GiveWell working on managing the research team, leading work on GiveWell Incubation Grants, and hiring for the research and content editing teams. Outside of GiveWell, he currently spends part of his time on forecasting projects supporting Phil Tetlock's research. He holds a B.A. in philosophy and economics from Pomona College. Beyond work, he enjoys immersing himself in music, exploring meditation practices, and climbing.
Julie Faller | Program Officer. Julie researches new interventions that GiveWell is considering, including evidence assessment and grant evaluation, and also works to expand into new areas of research. Previously, she held multiple roles using applied social science research, including as the director of research at a social enterprise working on issues of violence that disproportionately affect women and as a research advisor helping design randomized controlled trials with government and nongovernmental partners. Julie holds a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University and a B.A. in international relations from Stanford University. She loves books, birds, and backpacking.
Justin (Loiseau) Labeille | Senior Research Associate. Justin focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. Prior to GiveWell, Justin managed global research and led Burkina Faso expansion efforts for Living Goods. He has previously worked at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT, Innovations for Poverty Action, and The Motley Fool. He holds an M.A. in economics from the University of Auckland and a double B.A. in economics and environmental studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his spare time, Justin enjoys rhyming and climbing.
Kameron Smith | Program Associate. Kameron supports task and knowledge management on our New Interventions team. They previously worked in higher education in faculty development and enrollment management. They hold a B.A. in anthropology from Indiana University and an M.Ed. in counseling and personnel services from the University of Louisville. Outside of work, Kameron plays video games, attends comic conventions, and co-parents a total of 10 kids and pets.
Katie McCulloch | Content Editor. Katie makes GiveWell's research more transparent and accurate. She previously worked as an educator and non-profit program manager. She holds a B.A. in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University, an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University, and an MS.Ed. in Special Education from St. John's University. In her spare time, she likes to read, run, and bake.
Kelly Kopish | Data & Technology Project Manager. Kelly supports Givewell's data and technology infrastructure. She is a certified Salesforce Admin and has niche experience in nonprofit technology processes, stemming from previous roles managing data and tech for the Marfan Foundation and the Epilepsy Foundation. She has a B.A. in English Lit, Spanish Language, and Integrated Liberal Studies from the University of Wisconsin. When not working, you can often find her with her nose in a book, foraging for mushrooms, or rehabbing her 100-year-old farmhouse.
Laura Portko | Content Editor. Laura makes GiveWell's research more transparent and accurate. Prior to GiveWell, she worked in fund development at a Federally Qualified Health Center, served as a stagiaire at the European Commission, and developed secondary school curricula as a Fulbright grantee in Santander, Spain. She is also an enthusiastic AmeriCorps alumna. Laura holds B.A.s in anthropology and professional writing from Michigan State University and an M.Sc in European Union government from the London School of Economics. In her spare time, she can be found climbing, recording slapdash Pixies covers, or trying to grow an even larger tomato.
Madison Stieg | Research Analyst. Madison focuses on analyzing program costs and GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness models for top charities. Prior to joining GiveWell, Madison worked in the health insurance industry. They hold a B.A. in English from Hamline University. In their free time, Madison enjoys learning new skills, like playing chess and programming video games.
Maggie Lloydhauser | Philanthropy Advisor. Maggie advises donors on how to achieve their philanthropic goals. Prior to GiveWell, she worked in education and civil rights advocacy. She holds a B.A. in religion from Carleton College. Maggie spends her time outside of work on personal writing projects and connecting with her robust hometown community.
Marinella Capriati | Program Officer. Marinella focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. Prior to GiveWell, she worked as a researcher at the Centre for Effective Altruism and as a Research Director at Founders Pledge. She holds a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics and a D.Phil. in philosophy from Oxford University. She has re-watched all episodes of The Great British Bake Off more times than she is comfortable to admit publicly.
Meika Ball | Research Associate. Meika focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. Prior to GiveWell, she worked as an analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia in areas covering the global economy, banknote counterfeiting and international relations. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from Nagoya University. In her spare time, she can be found searching cafes for the perfect hot chocolate.
Miranda Kaplan | Communications Associate. Miranda writes about GiveWell's work for donors and other external audiences. Before taking her current role, she worked at GiveWell as a Content Editor; prior to GiveWell, she spent several years as a freelance editor, then as a staff editor at the food website Serious Eats. Miranda received her B.A. in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College. In her spare time, she likes to run, cook, pretend to garden, and play all the time-wasting word and trivia games she can find.
Natalie Crispin | Program Officer (Vice President). Natalie leads GiveWell's grantmaking to top charities. Natalie has spent her career to date at GiveWell. She holds a B.A. in economics from Swarthmore College. While she's not working, you can find her instilling a love of board games in her kids.
Nicole Zok | Content Editing Lead. Nicole leads the Content Editing team. She previously worked as a Research Analyst and Content Editor for GiveWell. She holds a B.A. in English from Whitman College. She's really grateful to have conscious experiences and enjoys boggling at the universe, like looking at very small things under a microscope and standing next to redwoods.
Olivia Larsen | Philanthropy Advisor. Olivia advises donors on how to achieve their philanthropic goals. Olivia was a summer intern before joining GiveWell full time. Prior to joining GiveWell, she founded Effective Altruism @ Williams. She holds a B.A. in economics and English from Williams College and is currently pursuing her M.B.A. at Yale School of Management. She would love to be on Survivor, so if Jeff Probst is reading this, please reach out!
Parker Blackiston | Senior Operations Associate. Parker helps develop, codify, and scale GiveWell’s processes and systems across operations, specifically leading our efforts in finance. He previously worked in a variety of roles across corporate finance and consulting, with roles domestically and internationally. He holds a B.A. in economics from Wake Forest University. Outside of work, he enjoys yoga and hikes with his pup.
Robin Dey | Content Editor. Robin makes GiveWell’s research more transparent and accurate. Prior to his role as a Content Editor, Robin was a Summer Research Analyst at GiveWell. He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University. He spends his free time digging for jazz records and eating pie.
Roman Guglielmo | Donor Relations Assistant. Roman fields donor inquiries, helps with data entry and donation processing, and corresponds with top charity representatives. Before GiveWell, he worked as a teacher and curriculum developer for an after-school and summer youth program serving low-income communities in the South Bronx. He holds B.A.s in physics and Italian studies from Vassar College. Outside of work, Roman enjoys calisthenics, martial arts, audiobooks, and, most importantly, creating and consuming delicious food.
Sade McDougal | Donations Processing Assistant. Sade supports GiveWell's grantmaking, bookkeeping, and donor relations needs. She previously worked as a producer and editor in news, digital media, and documentary filmmaking. She holds a B.S. in communication from Cornell University and a master of journalism from UC Berkeley. In her spare time, Sade sings in a choir and enjoys spin classes, true crime series, and nature walks with her rambunctious border collie.
Shahid Ahmad | Research Analyst. Shahid focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. Before GiveWell, Shahid engineered datasets and visualizations at Our World in Data and led product development at Jasmine, a conversational AI startup. Shahid holds a B.S. in computer science from the University of Michigan. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking, climbing, and skiing.
Stephan Guyenet | Senior Researcher. Stephan focuses on researching new interventions for potential funding. His background is in biomedical science, with a focus on neuroscience, obesity research, and science communication. He is the author of The Hungry Brain and founder and director of Red Pen Reviews, a nonprofit organization that publishes expert reviews of popular books on nutrition and health. He received a B.A. in biochemistry from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Washington. He enjoys growing food and woodworking.
Stephanie Stojanovic | Director of Development. Steph leads donor relations and fundraising. Prior to GiveWell, she worked in development for arts and education nonprofits. She holds a B.A from the University of Technology Sydney and an LL.B. from the University of Sydney. When she's not working, you can find her at the park with her fairly well-mannered human baby and not-so-well-mannered dog baby.
Taylor Smith | Philanthropy Advisor. Taylor advises donors on how to achieve their philanthropic goals. He previously worked at GiveWell as a Content Editor. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Middlebury College. In his non-work time, he's a touring folk musician.
Teryn Mattox | Senior Program Officer. Teryn leads GiveWell’s research on, and grantmaking to, new giving opportunities. Prior to GiveWell, Teryn spent 12 years as a quantitative public policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She holds a B.A. in economics from Pomona College and an M.P.A./I.D. from Harvard Kennedy School. She is a mom, animal lover, and studious devotee of knowing all of the flora and fauna around her home in the Pacific Northwest.
Tracy Williams | Senior Marketing Analyst. Tracy manages GiveWell's podcast advertising, website experiments, and other marketing projects. He previously worked on donor communications, operations, and hiring at GiveWell. He holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University. Tracy watches a lot of movies and is also the reigning champion of his fantasy baseball league.
Whitney Shinkle | Director of Operations (Secretary). Whitney oversees GiveWell’s HR/people, finance, donations, legal, facilities, and IT domains. Prior to GiveWell, she worked on education, food security, conflict management, anti-human trafficking, and economic development initiatives both domestically and internationally. She has also been an adjunct professor at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. She holds a B.A. in history and women's studies from Princeton and an M.S. in foreign service from Georgetown. When not working, she can be found fixing her 100-year-old house or “encouraging” her kids to love the great outdoors.
Willa Gruver | Operations Assistant. Willa supports GiveWell’s facilities, procurement, and social cohesion work. She holds a B.A. in environmental studies from Carleton College. She can often be found befriending neighborhood cats and dancing to ABBA in her kitchen.
Zoe Mahony | Program Associate. Zoe does research for and communicates about grantmaking to our top charities. Prior to GiveWell, she worked as a grant writer for a health clinic. Zoe has a B.A. in history from Stanford University. In her free time she loves to hike, run, and write stories.
Other contributors
David Roodman | Senior Advisor. David graduated from Harvard College in 1990 after majoring in theoretical math. He spent eight years at the Worldwatch Institute, rising to Senior Researcher, and eleven at the Center for Global Development, where he became a Senior Fellow. David spent academic year 1998-99 in Vietnam on a Fulbright. In 2013, he served the Gates Foundation as a Senior Economic Advisor. David has written two books, The Natural Wealth of Nations: Harnessing the Market for the Environment and Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance.
John Birchall | Website Technical Support. John Birchall made his first web page in 1997, for internal use while on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary. After building his first Drupal website in 2008, he quickly started building and supporting Drupal and Wordpress sites professionally, and took over support of GiveWell's sites in 2012. He studied at King's College London and UCL (Ph.D in ancient Greek, 1996), and is a member of the English Bar.
Board of Directors
Cari Tuna is the President of Good Ventures, a San Francisco-based charitable foundation. She is also the President of Open Philanthropy.
Elie Hassenfeld see bio above.
Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell Co-Founder (Vice Chair). Holden graduated from Harvard University in 2003 with a degree in social studies, and spent the next several years in the hedge fund industry. He co-founded GiveWell in mid-2007. Holden is the Chief Executive Officer of Open Philanthropy.
Julia Wise is Community Liaison at the Centre for Effective Altruism. She writes about effective altruism at Giving Gladly.
Norma Altshuler is a Program Officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, focused on advancing governments' use of evidence to improve social and economic policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Previously, Norma helped found the Global Innovation Fund and has served as a portfolio manager at USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV). Norma has also worked in several research organizations and nonprofits, including GiveDirectly.
Timothy Ogden (Chair) is Managing Director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research center focused on financial services for low-income households around the world, and an adjunct professor at NYU-Wagner. He is also founder and executive partner of Sona Partners, a thought leadership communications firm, and a senior fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program. Formerly, he was managing director of the US Financial Diaries project, Chief Knowledge Officer of Geneva Global, a philanthropy advisory firm, and a vice president at Gartner.
See a list of former board members here.