December 2025
Brief
Headlines
Updates from the consulting industry + the world's biggest problems
Top consulting firms freeze starting salaries for third straight year as AI reshapes traditional staffing models -Financial Times, archive
Breakthrough HIV prevention drug reaches Africa with first 1,000 doses amid "some of the most dramatic political and economic challenges in the AIDS response" -NPR
Europe backs off Big Tech regulations under Trump administration pressure -Wired
The EVERY Company closes $55 million Series D to scale lab-grown egg proteins into the mass market, launching in Walmart nationwide -Business Wire
Sudanese refugees at the Chad border rely on other refugees for food as international aid falls short -Reuters
Quick wins
Tools and resources to set you up for success in 2026
Feeling burnt out? Get free 1:1 coaching to support your wellbeing and build healthier habits -Overcome
Speak up for animal welfare by contributing to the EU's public consultation by December 12 -Anima International
Track global AI regulations and policies to see how different regions are governing AI (one of our members, Ifeoma, helped build this tracker with her Veritas Research Fellowship team!) -Global AI Regulatory Actions Tracker
Access millions of books, journals, and scientific papers in multiple languages for free -Anna's Archive
Find the right people in your network for sales, hiring, or fundraising using this AI tool-Happenstance
Deep reads
Nuanced takes worth your time
Debate: Should AI regulations aim to preempt risks or wait until the harms are visible? -Doom Debates
What's wrong with factory farming-and what can we do about it? -80,000 Hours
One analyst's take: 83 AI safety (and related) nonprofits worth giving to this year -Zvi Mowshowitz
Maybe we shouldn't wait for a pandemic to clean up indoor air -EA Forum
Some aid programs might be brain-draining the communities they support -Global Development and Economic Enhancement
Joe has spent his career at the intersection of strategy and impact, and now he's bringing that expertise to his role as Managing Director! Prior to joining our team, Joe worked as a consultant for 12 years, including 7 years at McKinsey & Company in Belgium, 3 years at a social impact consultancy he launched in South Korea, and 2 years as a freelancer in the US, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. He helped found and scale 10+ nonprofits and social ventures, and has served governments, NGOs, and corporations in 40+ countries across 6 continents. Prior to consulting, he worked in the nonprofit sector for 6 years, primarily in atrocities prevention, international development, and political advocacy for human rights. Now, Joe's channeling all of that invaluable experience into shaping our strategy and building programs that help consultants find their path to higher-impact work.
Read more about Joe and the rest of our team here.
More memes, more insights, less burnout Follow us on LinkedIn!
Coming up
Events worth changing your Slack status to OOO for
December
- AIM Connect Online 2025, December 4
- The Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law, December 4
- Foresight Institute: Vision Weekend USA 2025, December 5-7
- EA Connect, December 5-7 (Apply by December 3)
- EAGx Amsterdam, December 12-14
January and beyond
- Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit, January 30-February 1
- Sentient Futures Summit, February 6-8
- EA Summit Brussels, February 7
- EAG San Francisco, February 13-15 (Apply by January 25)
Meet the member
We caught up with AI security researcher (and McKinsey alum) Michael Jacob, who's busy applying consulting skills to critical policy challenges.
Why work on AI security? It's a high-leverage opportunity-small things we do to get AI right could have huge multiplier effects on the economy, public health interventions, and more.
Do you have to be a technical expert to make a difference? As a generalist, I rarely have the deepest expertise on any topic. Instead, I identify the people who do and help them present their ideas persuasively to decision makers. The best opportunities for impact come from working with motivated people who can have magnified effects together.
Jobs
Get paid to help solve the world's worst problems!
- Programme Manager, Chem/Bio Strategy and Delivery - UK Government, AI Security Institute (Apply by December 4)
- Operations Manager - Lafiya Nigeria (Apply by December 7)
- Global Campaigns Coordinator - The Humane League (Apply by December 8)
- Deputy Director, Giving Pledge - Gates Foundation(Apply by December 10)
- Head of Operations - The Good Food Institute Asia Pacific (Apply by December 10)
- Director, Global Challenges Project - Kairos (Apply by December 14)
- Operations Associate/Operations Specialist - Safe AI Forum (Apply by December 18)
- Project Development Lead - Future of Life Foundation (Rolling)
- Operations and Administrative Coordinator - Model Evaluation and Threat Research (Rolling)
- Program Coordinator - Constellation (Rolling)
End-of-year job hunting?
With 23+ years of consulting experience and hundreds of professionals advised, our team can help you gain clarity as the year wraps up. Apply for a 1:1 Career Conversation to speak with one of our advisors.
