Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative
Mission
To improve human civilization’s long-term prospects for survival and flourishing.
Ruling year
2017
Executive Director
Sawyer Bernath
Main address
340 S Lemon Ave #2374
Walnut, CA 91789 USA
EIN
81-4820272
NTEE code
Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services (M20)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Human civilization currently lacks a sufficiently coordinated and influential effort to ensure the continued existence of our species. There are several university research groups working at this problem, and we want to make sure they are fully supported in every way.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Collaborations program
BERI’s primary work is with university institutions and researchers focused on mitigating x-risk. We collaborate with our partners in a variety of ways. Sometimes, we can quickly provide funding for an activity that is difficult to fund through university mechanisms. Other times, we provide researchers with a service that they need.
Read more at http://existence.org/collaborations/
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of active university collaborations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Researchers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Sum of √$ ("root dollars") spent across all university collaborations.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Researchers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We start by finding the square root of spending on each of our collaborations, and then we sum those square roots together.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our mission is to improve human civilization’s long-term prospects for survival and flourishing.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Currently, our main strategy is to take on ethical and legal responsibility, as a collaborator, for projects deemed to be important for reducing existential risk. These projects mostly revolve around reducing risk from technologies that may pose significant civilization-scale dangers, as determined by research collaborators who have adopted existential risk reduction as both their primary career ambition and their primary area of intellectual focus.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
BERI provides free support and services to research groups interested in existential risk reduction. As a small, independent organization, we are able to flexibly adapt to the needs of each collaborator. Typical services we provide include (but are not limited to): funding and coordinating travel and meals, hiring contractors and support employees, and helping to run events.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
BERI collaborates with more than 10 organizations, all of which can be seen here: https://existence.org/collaborations/. We've hired hundreds of contractors: research assistants, graphic designers, copy editors, and more. We help put on CHAI's Annual Workshop, we fund summer internship programs and CHAI and SERI, and much more. For more detail, see our 2020 annual report here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_RaAGhZh2O1FH3vEQhSZw1MwYHFJBpoM49vcR__gB4/edit
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.),
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Andrew Critch
Sawyer Bernath
Eric Rogstad
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
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