I spent three days at the Effective Altruism EAGx Conference 2026 in Oxford, which made me reflect on what it means to build a meaningful career.
My career has always been influenced by Effective Altruism (see more here: https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/introduction-to-effective-altruism) principles. If you haven’t come across it before, Effective Altruism is a movement and philosophy that identifies the most pressing global issues, the solutions for them, and the values behind them. This is used to identify which roles could have the highest impact and the most effective ways to have a positive impact on the world. This is one of the influences on my career in global health research. These principles influenced how I optimised my career and career portfolio overall, for impact.
I had the privilege of being selected for the EAGx Conference in Oxford in 2026 and was fortunate to have my attendance funded by Effective Altruism. Oxford is incidentally where the movement was first formalised, so it was extra special to attend the conference in its founding city.
Over three days, I met fellow professionals in several high issue areas, including artificial intelligence, global health, medicine, entrepreneurship, and income inequality.
One of my takeaways was that everyone has something that they are the best in the room at. The conference included the option to book one-to-ones with other attendees who you find interesting and/or want to learn from. So I was touched that so many people reached out to me in this capacity. There were some themes coming up in the one-to-ones people booked with me: career advice, advice on getting into a prestigious university, building a career in research, my experience working in technology, my expertise in health, as well as some questions on career transitions. I was happy to share this with other people and also very grateful to the people I got to book one-to-ones with and learn from. This experience made me reflect on each of our unique selling points: maybe someone sees something in you that you don’t see yourself, maybe it’s a strength or quality, and mentorship (giving and receiving) can help uncover those.
I also loved learning about the Effective Altruism priority areas for the future, from changemakers in those areas. These people didn’t just chase a hierarchy; they chased knowledge and a vision, and this made the conversations powerful. For example, in global health and wellbeing, the priority area I work in as a researcher, I met others who led ambitious medicine projects in fragile countries, providing pregnant women with a new life after illness, or people intersecting artificial intelligence safety and governance with health technologies, whilst others built evidence and capability capacities. This gave me some insightful takeaways for upcoming actions in my own career in health.
The conference made me reflect on what it means to build a meaningful career. What actually happens when we optimise for impact instead of a fancy job title? My own career has not followed a linear path and has been interdisciplinary. Rather, I discovered things meaningful for me and found ways to move towards that meaning. It was refreshing to be around other people who also pursued the path less trodden: people with a vision that sometimes or often veers from the norm. Communities like this are where new ideas can be generated and innovation can happen, and I’m excited to see what emerges from connections made there. Maybe these Effective Altruism principles, with optimisation for impact, could be the way forward for careers that make a positive impact on the world.
