Effective Altruism Summit 2026: Programme & Content Lead

About the Summit

On Sat, 31 Oct 2026, EA Summit: South Africa returns to Cape Town for its third and most ambitious year $250+$ leaders, professionals and students from across Southern Africa, for a day of evidence, ideas and action on the world’s most pressing problems. The summit exists to introduce people to effective altruism properly, connect newcomers with experienced mentors, and help capable people take their next high-impact step. It’s hosted by Effective Altruism South Africa and run in partnership with the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA). therole

You shape what the day says - and what people do next.

You own the agenda end to end: the speakers, the workshops, the mentors, the opportunity fair. Your job is to make sure every attendee - from first-contact newcomer to seasoned community member - leaves with a correct understanding of effective altruism and a concrete next step. The content is the summit’s theory of change; you’re its architect.

Read this before you apply

This is real responsibility, not a side gig you can let drift. Expect roughly 2-10 hours a week, ramping up steadily towards October - and $40^{+}$hours during event week itself. Deadlines are real, the pay is fair but modest, and the work is sometimes unglamorous. The reason to do it is the impact: a talk that ends with a clear next step can redirect a career; a programme full of them can redirect dozens.

What You’ll Do

• Curate the speaker line-up: build the longlist with the team, prioritising local experts across global health, animal welfare, Al safety, biosecurity and effective giving - and clear every name through CEA’s sign-off process.
• Run speaker relations end to end: inquiries, invitations, onboarding, speaker calls, slide deadlines and day-of liaison - politely relentless.
• Design the agenda: a strong EA-101 opening, cause-area talks, at least $25 \%$ interactive sessions, structured 1-on-1 time, and a closing session built around next steps.
• Make every session action-oriented: work with each speaker so talks end in concrete options - roles, programmes, donations, introductions.
• Recruit and brief the mentors: experienced community members $(20 \%+$ of the room $)$ who guide newcomers, plus dedicated space for them to connect.
• Build the opportunity fair: solicit organisations, fellowships, pledges and groups; run expressions of interest; coordinate stalls with the production lead.
• Keep one source of truth: the agenda lives in the event app, accurate and current, always.

COMMITMENT 2-10 hrs/week, Jul-Nov ⋅ 40+ hrs event week

REPORTS TO Project Lead (EASA Executive Director)

COMPENSATION [RATE] per hour, paid contractor role TEAM Core team of 3-4, plus contractors and volunteers

LOCATION Remote ⋅ on-site in Cape Town for event week

WORKING WITH CEA’s events team and the Southern African EA community

ABOUT YOU

You Might Be a Great Fit If

• You have meaningful context on effective altruism - its causes, debates and organisations - and can represent it accurately and without hype.
• You’ve curated content, run programmes, or managed many-stakeholder projects before.
• Your written outreach gets replies: professional, warm, specific, brief.
• You’re comfortable saying no - to a weak talk idea, a panel, or a speaker who doesn’t fit.
• You sweat the attendee experience: pacing, breaks, decision fatigue, what a newcomer feels at 3pm.
• You’re organised: deadlines for slides, confirmations and the agenda hold because you hold them.

You don’t need to tick every box - capable people often rule themselves out too early. If you hit most of this and the mission resonates, apply.

Why Do This?

Because the summit is EASA’s highest-leverage event of the year, and you’d be one of a handful of people who make it happen. You’ll take real ownership early, work closely with a small team that cares about doing things excellently, and learn how high-quality EA events are run - with guidance from CEA’s events team and a network of organisers across Africa.

It’s also how people grow here. Summit organisers are how we find the people we trust with bigger things strong team members are first in line when future roles, projects and community-building opportunities come up, and we actively refer good people onwards, whether or not those opportunities are ours.

How to Apply

Three short steps, designed to respect your time. We reply to every applicant.