Robert Wiblin
It is only through clear thinking that we can figure out how to help others most effectively. The analytical skills I learned at ANU are incredibly valuable to me every day, as are the friends and colleagues I met studying there.
The act of philanthropy can be a difficult one. Where should your money go? What are the most effective ways to donate? For those lucky enough to be in that position, Robert Wiblin is on hand to make life easier.
Rob is currently Executive Director for the Centre for Effective Altruism, a centre affiliated with and located in the University of Oxford that promotes well-directed selflessness as a social movement. In this role, Rob briefs experts on what changes to British policy could most raise people’s wellbeing and he helps high net-worth individuals determine how to help others as much as possible when they make their donations. One of the Centre’s projects has convinced 800 people to pledge 10 per cent of their income to charities which help others the most.
Rob’s passion has always been to help those less fortunate and to help people determine how to best use their limited resources. His drive and enthusiasm has led him to become a global leader in the effective altruist movement and to be invited to speak at major global events, including the 2014 Effective Altruism Summit. The person who followed Rob on stage was Peter Thiel, the billionaire founder of PayPal.
It’s been a quick rise for Rob, who left ANU less than three years ago. While he was studying a double degree, he worked at the Department of Innovation and The Treasury. After graduating, Rob took up a prestigious Research Economist role in the Productivity Commission Graduate Program, first working on demand management in electricity networks.
Within a year, he had been head-hunted to do research for the Centre for Effective Altruism. He was quickly made Executive Director and the centre has grown rapidly to include 11 staff and have influence greater than its size may suggest.
He has been named as an Oxford Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and has been a presenter at the Australian Conference of Economists.
Rob is a proud graduate of ANU. He is involved in the ANU alumni community in the UK, attending events in Oxford and London, and was a key part of the ANU College of Business Economics’ ‘Honours Lab’, participating in email chains across the globe discussing economic policy.
