About

Harnessing the power of philanthropy to protect our future.

Expert-led and research-driven, we devise bespoke strategies that maximise the impact of your giving.

How We Work

We work with donors in every stage of their giving journey, from brand new philanthropists to seasoned leaders of effective giving. Depending on your particular needs, we can introduce you to experts on the world’s largest and most neglected issues, bring you into our curated learning sessions on the principles of effective giving, or simply meet you in the trenches and share our current grant opportunities and the reasoning behind them. Everything we do is always completely free of charge or commission.

A sample donor experience:

We introduce you to the principles of effective giving through an individual seminar that explores how giving today can have an outsized effect on the decades, centuries, and millennia to come. We tailor each session to your needs, but frequently cover: the role of philanthropy in moral progress, why we should be optimistic about our ability to make an enormous difference, our radically impartial and reason-driven approach to giving, how we prioritise between different causes, what solutions to global problems might look like, and how best to take action given the current philanthropic landscape.
We introduce you to world-class experts in key cause areas who can answer any questions you have about their field. We are committed to clarity and transparency about our reasoning and research. While some of our philanthropists prefer to be more hands-off, you will be given the opportunity to know as much as we do about why we believe our grants are high-impact, and how that impact is achieved.
At the conclusion of this learning process, which can last anywhere from days to months, we will create a bespoke portfolio of grant recommendations. See our grantmaking page for more details on our process and focus areas. If this portfolio is approved, we do everything necessary to facilitate the transfer of the grant, including due diligence and processing.

For established donors who are already on board with our approach:

If you prefer to cut to the chase, we can immediately begin investigating grants that suit your needs. We share our recommendations and reasoning as soon as possible in written reports.
We also invite donors to contribute directly to the Longview Philanthropy Fund, which allows us to make timely grants to the very best opportunities as they arise. All contributors to the Longview Philanthropy Fund are provided with reports every six months. These reports detail the grants we made during that period, our reasoning for those grants, and major updates to our grantmaking programmes.

Featured Grants

SecureDNA

Preventing the creation of bioweapons, securely and automatically

Today, anyone can order DNA from private companies, and it will only become faster and cheaper to do so in the coming years. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have a safe and efficient way to screen for DNA that could be used to manufacture a bioweapon. Current methods involve comparing potentially-dangerous sequences to a database of harmful sequences — effectively creating a public recipe book for bioweapons. SecureDNA aims to avert this danger. Scientists from MIT and Tsinghua University are creating technology that can quickly, automatically, and securely screen incoming DNA synthesis requests for potential threats. If successful, this project could make it far more difficult for malicious actors to create and release bioweapons, and could avert future pandemics.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Supporting global cooperation on extreme risks

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a leading forum for international coordination on expert policy advice and best governance practices. Their work supports 38 member countries — including the US and the EU — and non-member partners, including China. Their data analysis underpins work by the UN and the G20. The OECD is especially consequential for multilateral cooperation on artificial intelligence. They host the dominant international institution for AI governance, the AI Policy Observatory. We have an ongoing partnership with the OECD to support their work on existential risk policy across several directorates, including the Strategic Foresight Unit, the High-Level Risk Forum, the AI Policy Observatory, and the Secretariat on Bio-, Nano-, and Converging Technologies.

Council on Strategic Risk

Avoiding inadvertent escalation to nuclear war

The Council on Strategic Risks is a nonprofit prioritising efforts to reduce the most extreme risks from nuclear weapons. They specialise in developing highly pragmatic policies consistent with national security requirements. One of the Council’s efforts aims to limit particularly destabilising weapons, such as missiles that have short time of flight and ambiguous (nuclear or conventional) payloads. Through its work, the Council seeks to preserve decision time and reduce the risk of inadvertent nuclear escalation.

Team

Natalie Cargill

Founder & Co-CEO

Natalie works with philanthropists individually to plan and execute their giving plans.

Prior to founding Longview Philanthropy, she was a barrister at Serjeants’ Inn Chambers (London Chambers of the Year 2018), and has worked with the United Nations Human Rights Council. Natalie has presented on philanthropy at the University of Cambridge and King's College London, as well as at Web Summit, the world’s largest technology conference, on the BBC, and to several private family office groups. Natalie will be delivering a TED talk on effective philanthropy in April 2023. She holds a double first-class degree from the University of Oxford, where she was awarded the highest score across all humanities subjects at Lincoln College.

Simran Dhaliwal

Co-CEO

Simran coordinates Longview Philanthropy’s research, grantmaking, and advocacy work.

Prior to joining, she was a research analyst at Goldman Sachs, working on a two-person team recognised as the best sell-side stockpickers in London in 2018. While there, she also became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and was earning to give. Simran read philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford, where she first came across the concept of using evidence and reason to do the most good at a Giving What We Can talk.

Jonathan Huang

Chief of Staff

Jonathan provides research, communications, and executive support to Longview’s Co-CEOs.

Prior to joining, he worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, where he investigated the Division of Nuclear Security’s past efforts to combat illicit nuclear trafficking and nuclear terrorism. Before that, he worked for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the US Department of State, where he regularly briefed British and American officials on transatlantic economic issues. Jonathan graduated from Peking University and the London School of Economics, where he received the highest score awarded by the Department of International History on his dissertation.

Kit Harris

Existential Risks Programme Officer

Kit leads grant investigations in artificial intelligence and biosecurity and lays the groundwork for new lines of work.

Prior to focusing on high-impact philanthropic work, Kit worked as a credit derivatives trader with J.P. Morgan. During that time, he donated the majority of his income to high-impact charities. Kit holds a first-class degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford.

Carl Robichaud

Nuclear Weapons Policy Programme Officer

Carl co-leads Longview’s programme on nuclear weapons and existential risk.

For more than a decade, Carl led grantmaking in nuclear security at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropic fund which grants over $30 million annually to strengthen international peace and security. Carl previously worked with The Century Foundation and the Global Security Institute, where his extensive research spanned arms control, international security policy, and nonproliferation.

Matthew Gentzel

Nuclear Weapons Policy Programme Officer

Matthew co-leads Longview’s programme on nuclear weapons policy.

His prior work spanned emerging technology threat and policy assessment, with a particular focus on how advancements in AI may shape the future of nuclear strategy and influence operations and cyber attacks. He has worked as a policy researcher with OpenAI, as an analyst in the US Department of Defense’s Innovation Steering Group, and as a director of research and analysis at the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Matthew holds an MA in strategic studies and international economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS and a BS in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland.

Dr Tyler John

Existential Risks Programme Officer

Tyler leads Longview Philanthropy’s grantmaking in international policy, priorities research, and academic field building.

Prior to joining Longview, he was a PhD student in philosophy at Rutgers University—New Brunswick (#2 ranked faculty globally), where he was admitted with a Presidential Fellowship, awarded annually to the 10 most highly qualified applicants to PhD programmes in the entire university. While at Rutgers, Tyler contributed to leading academic publications such as Economics and Philosophy, Ethics, and the Oxford Handbook of Consequentialism. Tyler is a research affiliate at the Legal Priorities Project and has held fellowships with the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research and the National Institutes of Health. He has presented on philanthropy and advocacy strategy at Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Oxford, and all over the world.

Zach Frietas-Groff

Senior Programme Associate in Existential Risks

Zach conducts grant investigations in global priorities research and grantmaking strategy research.

He is also a PhD candidate in economics at Stanford University, where he has received support from the National Science Foundation and the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research. Zach has conducted research covered by the New York Times, Reuters, and, most importantly, Saturday Night Live. Before that, he was a research analyst at Innovations for Poverty Action and the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University.

Katie Hearsum

Head of Operations

Katie oversees operations systems and events at Longview.

Prior to joining Longview, Katie was an associate vice president at Citibank working on financial risk advisory. During this time, she also led a global initiative leading to a fourfold increase in the philanthropic giving of the department. Katie graduated from Oxford University with First Class Honours and subsequently spent seven months leading the provision of basic needs to the 750 residents of Ritsona Refugee Camp.

Andrew Player

Head of Grants Management & Compliance

Andrew manages Longview's grants system and ensures compliance with regulatory and legal requirements.

Before joining Longview, he led the operations team at Charity Entrepreneurship. Previously he worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, providing humanitarian aid to remote regions of Myanmar, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He graduated with Distinction from the London School of Economics, where his dissertation was awarded the highest score in the international relations department.

Ruth Wallis

Operations Analyst

Ruth supports the team at Longview by ensuring the smooth running of internal systems.

Prior to joining Longview, she was the operations administrator at the Centre for Effective Altruism and an intern with the British Red Cross, working on a family reunion project. She has volunteered in refugee support in Palestine, France, and the UK, and she was part of an initiative to transform maize harvesting methods in Rwanda. She holds a first-class degree in French and Arabic from the University of Exeter.

Tildy Stokes

Events Director

Tildy designs and delivers Longview events.

Prior to joining, she consulted on research and communications for clients including the Centre for Long-Term Resilience and Lord John Bird, MBE. She co-founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Future Generations, which continues to engage dozens of Members of Parliament in efforts to tackle short-termism in UK policymaking. She studied at the University of Cambridge where she focused on metamodernism and emerging technology policy.

Fin Moorhouse

Head of Research at Longview Media

Fin sets strategy for impactful creative content and advises on media grantmaking.

Previously, Fin was a research scholar at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute. His work has included foundational research on the governance of outer space, policy engagement with the United Nations, working extensively with the philosopher Toby Ord, and co-hosting an ongoing podcast about impactful ideas. He received a Double First in philosophy from Cambridge University.

Huw Thomas

Media Associate

Huw does research and writing to support the media team’s strategy.

Before joining Longview, he worked on various projects aiming to recruit talented individuals towards work on the world’s most pressing problems.

Hamish Hobbs

Policy Advisor to OECD Strategic Foresight Unit

Hamish is a policy advisor at Longview.

He is currently embedded within the Strategic Foresight Unit of the OECD leading a project determining how the OECD could better help Member and Partner states manage long-term, extreme risks. Prior to joining Longview, Hamish was a research scholar at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, where he researched the governance of emerging technologies and long-term risks. Hamish has worked as a policy advisor within multiple governments, including as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Australia at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as an advisor to the UK Government’s Office for AI.

Liv Boeree

Ambassador

Liv is an Ambassador at Longview, communicating about topics and concepts central to Longview’s work.

She conducts speaking engagements worldwide and creates online content, educating people on existential risks, rational decision making, and effective philanthropy. Liv, a former #1-ranked female poker player, co-founded Raising for Effective Giving, a nonprofit that has raised $14 million for effective charities and advises gaming professionals on how to maximise their impact. Her science reporting has appeared in media such as TED, Vox, Vice Motherboard, and Nature.

Partners

Giving What We Can

Giving What We Can is a community of effective givers who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to high-impact cause areas. Longview has partnered with Giving What We Can to create their Longtermism Fund, which funds grants chosen by Longview with input from the Giving What We Can research team.

Introductions to other communities

Longview also introduces our donors to other philanthropic communities wherever valuable. We’re proud that, to date, we have connected three donors with the Giving Pledge, and those donors have gone on to become Giving Pledge signatories.

Advisors

Prof. Will MacAskill

PROFESSOR IN PHILOSOPHY AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Will is an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford, author of the New York Times bestseller What We Owe the Future, and a co-founder of the Global Priorities Institute and three international nonprofits.

Will’s research focuses on the prioritisation of interventions to improve the long-term future and on the optimal timing of philanthropic action. Upon publication of his bestselling book Doing Good Better, Will was described by Bill Gates as “a data nerd after my own heart." Watch his TED talk here.

Claire Zabel

PROGRAM OFFICER AT OPEN PHILANTHROPY

Claire oversees a substantial part of Open Philanthropy’s grantmaking to reduce global catastrophic risks and leads their work to grow the community of people focused on long-term issues.

With Claire’s guidance, Open Philanthropy's team has made over $250 million in grants addressing global catastrophic risks since 2015. Claire previously led Open Philanthropy’s grantmaking in biosecurity and geoengineering research, and she worked as a research analyst at GiveWell.

Prof. Kevin M. Esvelt

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROFESSOR AT MIT AND LEADER OF SECUREBIO

Kevin is an associate professor at MIT’s Media Lab, where his research lab focuses on advancing biotechnology safely.

Kevin helped pioneer the development of CRISPR, a powerful new method of genome engineering, and invented its use in gene drive, a way of causing engineered genes to spread through wild species. Recognizing the implications of this technology for the environment, he quickly became a public advocate for safety and transparency in the field of biotechnology to reduce the risk of accidents and misuse. Kevin now leads SecureBio, a nonprofit that incubates projects working to prevent and prepare for extreme pandemics.

Prof. Hilary Greaves

PROFESSOR IN PHILOSOPHY AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Hilary is a professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford and the former director of the Global Priorities Institute.

Hilary’s current research focuses on issues of global prioritisation, including evaluating the strength and robustness of the argument for longtermism, and the extent to which reliably influencing the long-run future is tractable given our radical uncertainty about the long-term effects of our actions.

Charlotte Stix

FELLOW AT THE LEVERHULME CENTRE FOR THE FUTURE OF INTELLIGENCE AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

Charlotte leads OpenAI’s policy engagements with the EU and is a fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.

Previously, Charlotte coordinated the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, oversaw €18 million in projects, and contributed to the formulation of EU-wide AI strategy at the European Commission's Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Unit.

Dr Andrew Snyder-Beattie

PROGRAM OFFICER AT OPEN PHILANTHROPY

Andrew leads Open Philanthropy’s programme on biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, which has made grants totalling over $100 million.

Previously, Andrew was the director of research at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. He holds a PhD from the University of Oxford. His dissertation dealt with issues around existential risk, with publications in Nature Scientific Reports and Astrobiology.

Cate Hall

FOUNDER AND COO AT ALVEA

Cate Hall is a founder and Chief Operating Officer of Alvea, which set the record for the fastest start-up to take a new drug into phase 1 clinical trials.

She is also a founder of Juniper Ventures, a biosecurity and pandemic preparedness incubator. With Natalie Cargill, she is editing a collection of fiction writers’ positive visions for the future. Previously, she was the #1 female poker player in the world. Before that, a full-time lawyer with a degree from Yale Law School.

Longview Philanthropy is the best resource in the world if you want to do the most good with your giving.

William MacAskill

William MacAskill, Professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford and author of 'What We Owe the Future'

Working with Longview takes the stress and guesswork out of giving, leaving us confident that our donations make a clear and measurable long term impact.

Tara Mac Aulay

CEO of Lantern Ventures

Longview Philanthropy is deeply committed to channelling the time and money of their advisees to the efforts that will make the greatest difference.

Max Tegmark

Professor of Physics at MIT & author of 'Life 3.0' and 'Our Mathematical Universe'

Where you put your money as a philanthropist matters, and Longview Philanthropy is excellent at helping donors accomplish as much good as possible with their giving.

Holden Karnofsky

Co-CEO of Open Philanthropy and Co-Founder of GiveWell

If all goes well, humanity has a vast future ahead of it — but very little of our philanthropy takes the scale of this future seriously. That’s why I am so excited about Longview Philanthropy. They really get it, and are finding opportunities for lasting impact.

Toby Ord

Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Oxford & author of 'The Precipice'

Longview Philanthropy are the leading philanthropic advisors on work to protect the long-term future, and have enabled multiple donors at scale to have a truly outsized impact.

Jaan Tallinn

Philanthropist, Co-Founder of Skype, and Co-Founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge