GiveWell was started by donors, looking to accomplish as much good as possible with our donations. Our staff, Board, and supporters share a commitment to complete openness in our decision-making, to help others with their decisions and create better dialogue on the difficult question of where to give.

Full-time staff

Holden Karnofsky graduated from Harvard in 2003 with a degree in Social Studies, and spent the next several years in the hedge fund industry. He founded GiveWell in August of 2006, as a part-time collaboration between 8 friends struggling with their personal donation decisions, and left his job in mid-2007 to work on the project full-time.

Elie Hassenfeld graduated from Columbia in 2004 with a degree in Religion, and spent the next several years in the hedge fund industry. He was one of the original 8 part-time volunteer members of GiveWell, and in August of 2007 he left his job to work on it full-time.

Board of Directors

Bob Elliott (Chair) currently works in the hedge fund industry. He was one of the original 8 members of GiveWell, as well as co-founder of the national nonprofit Global Justice (not eligible for a Clear Fund grant).

Tom Rutledge (vice-chair) is in the Structured Credit Group at Magnetar Capital, an Evanston, Illinois-based alternative investment manager. During his career, he has also worked in capital markets businesses at JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch. (Tom was added to the board at our meeting on 12/15/08. Audio from that meeting will be posted shortly.)

Greg Jensen (Treasurer) is co-Chief Investment Officer at a major hedge fund, the former supervisor of both Holden and Elie, and one of our project's major financial supporters.

Holden Karnofsky (Secretary) see bio above.

Tim Ogden is the former Chief Knowledge Officer of Geneva Global, a philanthropic consulting firm devoted to results-oriented grantmaking in the poorest regions of the world. He currently is an Executive Partner at Sona Partners and writes for Philanthropy Action, an online philanthropic research publication.

Lindy Miller Crane is a Manager in the Corporate Strategy consulting practice of Deloitte. She has worked with community organizations, at the local and state government levels, and with international governmental organizations. In 2007 she launched and ran the South Asia office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.

Ari Herman is an Investment Analyst at a New York-based hedge fund. He previously worked in Equity Research at Goldman Sachs. (Ari was added to the board at our meeting on 12/15/08. Audio from that meeting will be posted shortly.)