{"slug": "the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in", "title": "The Alphabet Institute now has a physical facility to host our Effective Altruism and 80,000hrs workshops in Zambia.", "summary": "The Alphabet Institute has secured a physical facility at Cavendish University in Lusaka, Zambia, to host weekly Effective Altruism and 80,000 Hours workshops starting July 4. Founder, who also works with Zambia's Presidential Delivery Unit on digital inclusion, aims to help students and professionals make better career and contribution decisions.", "body_md": "[Cavendish University](https://www.cavendishza.org/) has generously allowed us to use its residential property, which is located near several universities and high schools in Lusaka. Starting **4 July**, we will begin hosting weekly workshops for students, graduates and young professionals who are trying to make better decisions about their education, careers and contribution to society.\n\nThis is a big milestone for us.\n\nAbout two years ago, I began my journey as an effective altruist. I was excited, ready to learn, and ready to get to work. I applied for free [career guidance](https://80000hours.org/speak-with-us/), EA-related opportunities and did not get through. I also applied for the [charity entrepreneurship charity incubation](https://www.charityentrepreneurship.com) which did not work out either, and all that was just a humbling experience. I really recommend reading @[ Experience of a 'generalist' transitioning into AI safety in 2026](https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/enecQaYfieyzn9ou9/experience-of-a-generalist-transitioning-into-ai-safety-in) because this article needs to be pinned on some \"Beginner's Guide to EA Work\" board.\n\nThe lessons from Effective Altruism and **80,000 Hours** made it difficult for me to simply stay quiet and do nothing in my own country so here is update #3 from @**I have started a local community in Zambia for students, graduates, and professionals based on the principles outlined in the 80,000 Hours book. In this thread, I will keep you updated on its progress.**\n\nOne unexpected outcome of talking to fellow Zambians about Effective Altruism is that it eventually led me to work with the [ Presidential Delivery Unit](https://www.pdu.gov.zm/), where I work closely with the Tony Blair Institute and Delivery Associates to support the Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema’s digital inclusion priority of connecting 80% of citizens to affordable internet and enabling 20% participation in the digital economy by 2031. Only 33% are currently connected.\n\nThis was not work I had planned for. I was unemployed, post graduate student, anxious about AI, and trying to figure out what skills I need to build to afford rent.\n\nTo my surprise, it's been exciting.\n\nAt the PDU, I work on issues such as mass adoption of government e-services, change management for civil servants, delivery coordination among private sector partners, efficient and effective value chains especially crops, livestock and mines, tax-related advocacy, and monitoring, evaluation, communications for impact reporting. I also found myself using my master’s degree in behavioural research methods in very practical ways.\n\nThe work i am doing is voluntary, so my income suffered. But I am fortunate to have a supportive family and community. I also learned that I enjoy work that sits at the intersection of human behaviour, systems, technology and public impact whether in public service or for profit.\n\nMy time at the PDU also taught me something important: if you want to change systems, it is very difficult to do it entirely from the outside or entirely form the inside.\n\nThe PDU itself was created to accelerate high-impact Government priorities, improve coordination, unblock implementation challenges and support delivery of results for citizens. Its work is built around prioritisation, performance tracking, problem-solving and accountability. That experience gave me new energy for the Alphabet Institute.\n\nWhen I quit my previous job, before the PDU, I believed that EA principles and the Alphabet Institute would be easily welcomed. I used all my savings to pay the exorbitant registration and affiliation fees. I believed that formalizing the work would help the government move our work faster. But things did not move the way I hoped.\n\nGovernment processes are soo slow. Promises made to me as a young Zambian trying to contribute to youth development were never fulfilled. So I started with what I had. I hosted different versions of the workshop for different audiences. The response was positive, but traction has slow because the challenges are bigger than my resources.\n\nYou can read the case studies [in these slides.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jcUQ67ZlaUNdNaTJqJo-ahGAyc34jFGo/view?usp=drive_link)\n\nOne major issue with the students we interacted with was iliteracy, and this was also reported by the school management. Another was access to resources because there are alot of free resources on the internet, *duhh, *but few people find and utilise them. Another was that students and young people needed content that felt relevant to Zambia, not just imported from elsewhere. So I began localising the ideas from 80,000 Hours to the Zambian context.\n\nOver time, I learned that the strongest multiplier may be the school teacher.\n\nIf we want young people to make better decisions about their future, we need to support the people who are already in classrooms, guiding learners every day. This became even more important with Zambia’s policy shift to the Competence-Based Curriculum (from the outcome-based) in 2025, which focuses more on practical skills, learner-centred education and real-world application starting from early childhood education.\n\nFrom working both outside and inside the system, these are some of the lessons I have learned:\n\nThis is why the Alphabet Institute is now focusing on operationalizing the competence based curriculum.\n\nMy 4 friends and I will be running with the goal of hosting **500 students** over a period of 12 weeks and publishing a report that answers five questions:\n\nWe are now fundraising and looking for sponsorship partners to help us cover workshop delivery, learning materials, facilitation, student outreach, reporting and documentation.\n\nTwo years ago, I just wanted to be pointed in the right direction and get to work.\n\nToday, the work has a home.\n\nAnd we are ready to welcome the next 500 young people.\n\nI look forward to sharing sharing update #4\n\nThank you.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in", "canonical_source": "https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dWtDdm976S9KMi4i6/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host", "published_at": "2026-06-23 15:59:41+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-24 00:17:18.996647+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Alphabet Institute", "Cavendish University", "Effective Altruism", "80,000 Hours", "Presidential Delivery Unit", "Tony Blair Institute", "Delivery Associates", "Hakainde Hichilema"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-alphabet-institute-now-has-a-physical-facility-to-host-our-effective-and-in.jsonld"}}