The effective altruism community, while strong in critical thinking and impact evaluation, currently lacks structured ways to recognize and celebrate valuable contributions. This gap means many important efforts go unnoticed, especially those outside major organizations, potentially missing opportunities to motivate contributors and highlight exemplary work for others to learn from.

How Recognition Could Work

One approach could involve creating a community-wide awards program that systematically identifies outstanding contributions across different areas of effective altruism. This might include:

• Multiple categories covering research, community building, and operational work
• A nomination process combining community input with expert review
• Clear criteria focused on impact and effectiveness rather than popularity
• Both digital recognition and in-person award ceremonies at major events

The program could particularly benefit those doing less visible but crucial work, while giving newcomers clearer examples of what valuable contributions look like in practice.

Making It Work in Practice

A pilot version might start with a small working group designing initial categories and running a test nomination process through existing EA platforms. Early versions could focus on learning what types of recognition the community finds most valuable before scaling up. To address potential challenges like bias toward well-known figures, some categories might use blind review processes or have separate tracks for different experience levels.

Building on Existing Efforts

While some EA groups and programs already highlight valuable work (like forum prizes or grant recipient spotlights), a more comprehensive awards program could complement these by recognizing a wider range of contributions. Unlike existing recognition that often focuses on written content or funded projects, this could systematically celebrate impactful work regardless of its format or funding status.

Such a program could strengthen community morale while maintaining EA's focus on impact - by making the recognition itself a tool for identifying and spreading particularly effective approaches to doing good.