I am interested in finding a job at a company that is having a positive impact in the world. I think this probably rules out FANG (MAMAA?) companies. Does your work make at least a small contribution to a better world? If so, where do you work?
There are also some orgs at tech giants that work on socially impactful products (e.g., sustainable hardware teams at AWS or Azure, like the folks who work on https://natick.research.microsoft.com/), so I wouldn't rule those out entirely.
We're hiring here: https://activatedinsights.com/jobs/software-engineer-remote/
Previously I worked at findhelp [2]. I loved the mission, helping people locate community resources, but leadership was really focused on chasing money rather than focusing on user experience. Occasionally customers asked us to do things that would actively hamper the ability of people in marginalized groups to find programs aimed at helping them, and we usually obliged. I know a few people that have moved over to their chief competitor Unite Us [3] and they seem happier there.
[1] https://jobs.lever.co/aledade?lever-via=4Oe9-BZLKF
https://80000hours.org/ & https://80000hours.org/job-board/
They are aligned with Effective Altruism which is focusing on effective ways to do the most good - https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
Finding such organizations is easier now than ever, since GiveWell has been working on this problem for over a decade: https://www.givewell.org/
And 10% seems like a good amount to give to charity - join the thousands of others already doing it: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/
The amount of good money can do is tremendous. For example, $3 donated to AMF (Against Malaria Foundation) results in a distribution of an anti-mosquito bednet protecting about 2 people from malaria for 3-4 years (evidence shows: prevents transmission, decreases malaria incidence in the area; kids don't miss school, parents avoid loss of income due to sickness; prevents death, and other good things).
The goal is to drive down healthcare prices using the levers that are available. Right now, there are often 10x price differences between two providers for the same service (or even between two patients at the same hospital) because all pricing is negotiated in a vacuum separately by every insurance company. It leads to a very distorted system with little downward price pressure.
We don't have a magic wand that we can wave to "fix healthcare", but we feel like we are driven by having a positive impact in the most pragmatic way possible. The premise will sound strange to people outside the US where heath care prices aren't defined by what insurance plan your job provides, but it is a huge market in the US where a ton of GDP is mis-spent on healthcare and ripe for disruption.
(And yes, we are hiring!)
Among traditional auto makers were one of the most serious and committed to full electrification by 2030 and 50% electric cars by 2025. We have the same schedule for selling cars online only, so software is not just a cost center or marketing channel, it’s the future of the company.
Volvo Cars creates a significant number of well paying jobs in manufacturing with good working conditions, benefiting local communities. For example, all employees across the globe, across manufacturing and offices, were recently given 24 weeks of paid parental leave (https://www.volvocars.com/intl/about/family-bond/).
We’re hiring in multiple locations https://jobs.volvocars.com
And yes we're profitable, demand is going up because of the push for electrification everywhere and we are hiring very aggressively. Roles have geographic designation, but can pretty much be from anywhere
Fintech:
Forage (https://www.joinforage.com), building Stripe for EBT, i.e. food stamps
Nearside (https://www.nearside.com), banking for small businesses
KeeperTax (https://www.keepertax.com), tax savings for independent contractors
Bio/Pharma/Healthcare:
Q Bio (https://q.bio), creating a more data-driven approach to health
Reverie Labs (https://www.reverielabs.com), accelerating drug development with ML
PathAI (https://www.pathai.com), increasing diagnosis accuracy
Benchling (https://www.benchling.com), cloud for biotech R&D
Mental Health:
Alma (https://helloalma.com), providing easier access to therapy
Headway (https://headway.co), same as Alma
Juniper (https://www.juniperplatform.com), workflow tools for autism providers
Real Estate:
Orchard (https://orchard.com), buy your next home before you sell
Ribbon (https://www.ribbonhome.com), cash offers to improve home access
Hardware:
Sofar Ocean (https://www.sofarocean.com), collecting ocean data
Climate:
Watershed (https://watershed.com), platform for enterprises to reduce carbon emissions
Sweep (https://www.sweep.net)
Pachama (https://pachama.com)
Defense (if you believe that Western influence is positive impact):
Anduril (https://www.anduril.com), building high-tech defense products and reducing gov waste
Palantir (https://www.palantir.com), building data products for government
| https://www.abine.com/ and https://joindeleteme.com/
WFH - full stack developers and other positions available.
We are a growing profitable company focused on better, easier, online privacy.
We make two products. Blur is a password manager foundation with privacy aliasing / tokenization built-in from the ground up to help people mask / control their PII credentials like email addresses, phone numbers, and credit cards. DeleteMe is a service for removing private information from many data broker sites that list and sell consumers personal profile data.
We're looking for strong talent across the board as we are growing over 100% y/y and expanding both B2C and B2B divisions. Leaders and mid-level people who are interested in making a difference in the fight for privacy are encouraged to apply. Developers, product managers, growth marketers etc. are encouraged to apply.
Please contact us at jobs at getabine dotcom. 1. no recruiters (please, really, please) 2. helpful if you can include both a full CV and desired comp range
thanks!
We are a VC-backed for-profit company, not a charity. But I wouldn't work here if I thought we were having a negative impact on society, and I genuinely believe we have a net positive impact. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say about our financials, but from my perspective they seem healthy. I believe it's a positive and sustainable business.
ODK is an open-source mobile data collection platform. The common use-case is a data collector in the field fills out a form while offline. Whenever a connection is found, the data gets sent to a server where it can be seen and acted on.
ODK is basically the Land Cruiser of mobile data collection apps. It's designed to be very reliable in challenging settings and it's trusted for that reason. ODK is unique because the tool is generic, but it's primarily used by organizations working in humanitarian aid and global health. It's also unique because it's got a very friendly community of developers and users who hang out at https://forum.getodk.org.
You asked about impact? The impact of ODK on global health alone is pretty wild.
* ODK was a key tool in the eradication of wild polio in Africa (https://www.africakicksoutwildpolio.com/the-top-five-tech-so...)
* ODK was used to collect the clinical trial data for the recent malaria vaccine (https://forum.getodk.org/t/odk-s-role-in-the-first-malaria-v...)
* ODK is used to measure the global burden of disease through verbal autopsies (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/health/death-records-afri...)
And that's just global health...
* Jane Goodall Institute uses it to track the health of apes (https://www.google.com/nonprofits/success-stories/jane-gooda...)
* Red Cross uses it in most crises they respond to (https://americanredcross.github.io/2019/01/08/odk-collect-im...)
* Carter Center uses it for election monitoring (https://getnemo.org/)
* Honduras uses it to track education progress of students (https://proceso.hn/imperdonable-invisibilizar-casi-2-millone...)
* Sierra Leone is using it to monitor the planting of millions of trees (https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/freetownthetre...)
So yeah, if you want to work on something that is objectively having positive impact, ODK is a great option!
Based on the question though, the OP's goal might either be to (1) maximize impact or (2) just earn a living while also feeling good about their company's impact. If (1) is the goal, I'd say listen to that podcast, look into effective altruism [2], and find the highest paying job you can. If (2) is the goal, I'd recommend including GoFundMe and Rivian in the list of companies to check out!
[1] https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/271... [2] https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
They certainly have problems. Tesla and oil companies have material and process (environmental) risks. Tesla also has the risks associated with poor societal and governance stances.
So back to my original comment - you'll have to look into the companies themselves because their "benefits" are debatable, including Tesla's.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/18/why-tesla-was-kicked-out-of-...
Edit: wow getting a lot of hate without any reply. I guess just because I'm critical of Tesla?
The company is very social/environmental-impact conscious, and has an incredible culture.
We are hiring remote US-based software engineers: https://hustle.applytojob.com/apply
https://www.saildrone.com/careers
Our many and varied missions include measuring CO2 in the ocean for global climate science, and patrolling marine protected areas to prevent illegal fishing.
Our product has helped millions of people gain access to clean and affordable energy for their household or microbusiness. We've also expanded our platform to support other impactful consumer products, such as smartphones.
We have U.S. and East African teams. We're still a small, less than 100 people, but we support customers in Africa, Asia, South, and North America. Recently, I've been helping our customers in Sierra Leone handle a currency redenomination by the country's central bank.
One last thing; my team is looking for a full-stack senior software engineer. Here's the job description: https://jobs.lever.co/angaza/8e4f159d-4085-4766-a813-0657eb5.... Good luck with your job search! There are a lot of great social impact companies out there.
Another issue is that these problem domains are constrained by government policy, not by private investment. For example, the US solar industry is really hurting right now because of tariffs and a recent anti-dumping investigation[1]. Imagine working at a company in this space and watching all your projects get put on hold over an issue that has bipartisan support in the Senate (a very rare thing), but an executive branch that wants to be "tough on China" (yes, believe or not I am talking about Biden). We are literally putting an entire industry on hold so we can prop up a handful of domestic manufacturing businesses.
If you really want to help, you have a few options. Make a lot of money and become a customer of companies that are doing good. Buy an EV, put solar on your roof, buy clothes and goods that are manufactured sustainably. I am personally not a huge fan of carbon offsets, but even if I don't think they are effective in their current form, supporting that industry does allow for motivated professionals to spend their time on that problem.
You can also volunteer in your free time. Lots of organizations out there that could use some help. I regularly volunteer for beach cleanups. But if you want to use your technical skills I am sure it would be easy to find someone in need of those as well.
And thinking outside the box. It is possible that one of the biggest contributors to reducing our CO2 footprint in this current century was Netflix. "Netflix and chill" was a fun meme, with the idea being that you would hang out at home and watch Netflix (among other things) instead of going out. Imagine the number of vehicle miles avoided because of that meme! So if you want to have your cake and eat it too, consider working on projects that keep people in their home (especially if it keeps people working from home, imagine all those commute miles avoided).
And another outside the box idea. Join a company that is doing bad things (whatever that may mean for you). Then work your way up the ladder and change the company for the better from the inside. If ladder climbing is not for you, simply become an internal advocate for change. Or more cynically, make them less efficient. You could do this by simply being ineffective at your job. Or you could more actively steer projects in suboptimal directions.
[1] https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/05/america-first-c...
Similarly, I just left Element, which is doing really compelling work around decentralized encrypted communication (Matrix chat protocol). Absolutely necessary for free society. https://element.io/careers
You can find a list of global openings at: https://jobs.lever.co/octoenergy
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I went through a similar journey after feeling incredibly guilty and unhappy working for a company that helped others extract even more oil and gas from the planet. It completely changed my outlook on what I wanted from a job, and made me determined to refocus my career toward things that have a tangible benefit on society and the planet. I could spend the rest of my life working on stuff, or I could spend it on things that actually matter.
It turns out that there are surprisingly few companies around that not only do something "good", but also deliver on that with tangible results.
Renewable energy is a fantastic area to be involved in right now, we're just at the start of a monumental shift toward not only more renewable generation (eg. wind farms), but also the surrounding technology, infrastructure and policy that's required to make it happen in a reliable and cost-effective way (eg. batteries, EVs, smart energy grids, change in consumer behaviours).
I've been working at Octopus Energy since January doing visualisation (eg. 3D graphics, dataviz), who are involved in nearly every aspect of the transition to a modern and clean energy system around the world. They started in the UK but are now spread across many other countries (eg. Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, US and others).
What I love about the Octopus Energy Group is that there's something for everyone. Want to work with electric vehicles? Check out Octopus Electric Vehicles [3]. Want to work on the core software that is already in production, enabling the transition to smarter energy systems? Check out Kraken Technologies [4] and Kraken Flex [5]. Want to be involved with the physical assets of a smart and clean energy system? Check out Octopus Energy Generation [6]. And there's plenty more.
It's the first time in 10 years (since working at Mozilla) that I've felt part of a shared mission for good. It's both fulfilling and highly addictive. And it also helps that the Octopus ethos is to treat people like adults, so the trust and work-life balance is fantastic. We're all here to work together towards the same goal, and it genuinely feels that way.
Long story short, there's something for everyone and I've never been happier. Come join us!
[1] https://octopus.energy [2] https://octopusenergy.group [3] https://octopusenergy.group/octopus-electric-vehicles [4] https://kraken.tech/ [5] https://octopusenergy.group/kraken-flex [6] https://octopusenergy.group/octopus-energy-generation
Fair enough, but not only is a company pushing us towards renewable energy better than a company resisting that better in the abstract, the real issue is the specific companies that the ESG index kept while booting Tesla.
https://slate.com/technology/2016/12/exxon-mobil-is-the-wors... https://www.npr.org/2019/10/22/772241282/exxon-is-on-trial-a... https://www.vox.com/22429551/climate-change-crisis-exxonmobi...
The list goes on and on and on, and this isn't even taking into account all of their lawsuits from employees about inappropriate workplace things. Again, it's not that Tesla is some pristine company, but that it's extremely hypocritical for booting Tesla from a list but keeping at least one other company that is far worse in pretty much every way, and that's what really calls into question the legitimacy of the ESG ratings.
> [criticism about criticism about Tesla relying on oil-based roads] > Well I guess I'll like to evaluate from a systems thinking standpoint. N-order impacts are relevant.
Of course they are relevant, but dinging a company because they don't solve every tangential issue seems defeatist, and every ESG index company has at least as many ways in which they could theoretically do much more if we start connecting the dots to everything in the system they're a part of. So it's just back to the original point: the ESG scoring seems, at best, pretty inconsistent.
I love working for a small college that is truly dedicated to educating the next generation. I find it very rewarding to know that my tasks and goals at work are not driven by profits and there are no overpaid executives sitting at the top of my org. There are no shareholders to answer to.
Yes, I am well aware that colleges still have bottom lines, still have 'customers', and are often run similarly to many businesses. I regularly see faculty and staff giving their all to the students. I've been here long enough to see students graduate and begin to make their own positive impact on the world.
There's always a trade-off... In exchange for not 'working to make a rich guy richer' and an almost unheard of balance between work & life, I accept lower pay than I'd make elsewhere. Without hesitation I can say that every member of our IT team could easily make more money working in the private sector.
I rarely work over the 37.5 hours per week expected of me, minus a few hours on the half-day Fridays we get during most of the summer. No org is perfect, but after nearly 20 years at this institution I'm still growing, learning, feeling appreciated, finding new ways to contribute, and am happier than I've ever been.
Sound good? We're currently searching for an experienced Network Engineer. https://jobs.reed.edu/positions/2022/network-engineer.html
We work with providers in value based care arrangements[1] so helping providers and patients is the same thing that increases revenue for us. We're a small team so everyone definitely sees and feels the impact of their work.
You can check out our jobs page[2] or reach out for more info (even if there's not an open position that's a great match at the moment).
[0] https://picasso.md [1] https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Ass... [2] https://apply.workable.com/picassomd/
Meanwhile, Tesla and Musk have a very recent historical pattern of not caring about environmental regulations, with no indication of any change in belief or practice.
So one is at least putting up money to try to improve things, while the other DGAF about the environment if it gets in their way of their business.
https://tyt.com/stories/4vZLCHuQrYE4uKagy0oyMA/6qN1EZx2r1p7a...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/exxon-te...
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/28/california-subpoenas-exxon-f...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/11/exxon-ad...
https://grist.org/beacon/did-exxon-know-about-plastics-too/
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-labor-board-impou...
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/mass-top-court-skep...
When a company has literally decades of bad behavior (including multiple instances of being caught and then promising to do better and then being caught lying about it), it's a little hard to immediately accept at face value their most recent good deeds (especially since even some of them are already looking shady).
We're here to fix that! We are based in Mexico City and are working to show that insurance can be different, not only by being trustworthy and paying out claims when they happen but also by making the products more accessible and friendly for our customers. For example, we simplified our earthquake product by designing it to require NO ADJUSTORS. If you have a policy with us and live within a certain radius of where an earthquake originated, you will get a payment even if there is no damage to your home. It's that simple.
I am the CTO of Súper and would love to tell you more about what we're trying to accomplish! Feel free to email me at stephen.wooten@super.mx - i'd love to chat!
Aside from donating time and money, the company's service is also seen as a fundamental piece of the global economy today. Providing a common baseline of financial data and price transparency of assets creates liquidity and helps keep asset prices low. It also allows smaller players to enter the financial services industry without needing to be in the "Old Boys' Club". It also helps developing countries and other emerging markets to list their sovereign debt and manage investors.
We've expanded our work beyond COVID to support these organizations addressing the critical needs of the public and bring the best technology has to offer to these problems. We've partnered with more than 230 government and nonprofit partners on 300+ projects, impacting more than 42 million people across 36 states and territories. As one example, we helped the city of Memphis and Shelby County distribute almost $14M in rental assistance (https://www.usdigitalresponse.org/case-studies/keeping-famil...) in a matter of weeks at very low cost.
One of the things I like about this work is that we are tied directly in with local experts who understand the problems very well, and we can bring the lens of understanding how modern tech can be helpful, rather than trying to lead with solutions.
In doing this work, we've discovered a number of common problems that have scalable solutions that we're working on in both access to benefits and election administration (e.g. our poll worker management tool - https://www.usdigitalresponse.org/projects/poll-worker-manag...) and are starting to scale our team to tackle these challenges.
In addition to our full time roles (https://us-digital-response.breezy.hr/), we are always looking for more volunteers to join projects (https://usdigitalresponse.org/volunteer).
I understand you don't mean that literally, but (to minimize disinformation among others): There is absolutely some number of lives saved which would compensate for that.
https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
Before writing off an entire industry, I beg you to consider that $45,000 could save 10 lives and improve many more (Yes; it's not precise. No; it's not out of their ass - read their extensive discussion of the calculations)
For a large tech company I find it extremely impressive how much everyone at the company–from senior leadership to L1 engineers–sincerely believe in the mission and what we’re doing.
I’ve got several openings on my team. I’d encourage you to read more about our values. If it aligns with what you care about feel free to reach out.
We get users who write in thanking us for our work every day, so I feel very good about the positive impact we've had (made the apps free for 3mm+ people during the lockdowns in 2020, all apps free for students & teachers forever, etc).
And we're hiring! https://www.downdogapp.com/jobs
Internally, employees are driven by ecological reasons, but also by taking care of each other : non violent communication and kindness are very important values we put into action every day, it's been quite transformative to me.
Hope you'll find a job that you'll enjoy!
https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
ps - A humble thought. As tempting as it is to help within one's community, it's worthwhile to recognize that given the inequality in the world, and that it's just a luck-accident that you were born in this community rather than another, and that it very likely is the case that you can do a lot more good by focusing on individuals living in less-well-off-areas than what is nearby, it is good to reflect and see if you'd be willing to direct some of your philanthropic actions towards the more-effective endeavors.
Well, yes, helping one's community instead of helping individuals in less well-of areas seems selfish to the point of evil, but at the same time, it's easy to feel like https://xkcd.com/871/. If I volunteer or donate in my community, I can personally verify that something has changed, in a way that I can't on another continent.
Also, I don't personally value the years of my own life that highly. There are plenty of things that I'd happily sacrifice my own life for or rather die than endure, so it makes sense to dedicate some of my donations to helping others avoid those fates.
So yes, rationally, I think GiveWell is an amazing organization and I'm a terrible person for not donating all of my philanthropic work to malaria eradication, but realistically I'm likely to donate more in total if I also find other organizations helping with causes I'm personally invested in.