Global Health Corps fellows stretch across a variety of organizations, but share one common trait: we all want to make a tangible difference towards social justice and health equity. We are committed to the right to health because the vast majority of current power structures deny millions from living healthy lives. This is no accident — millions of lives are cut short by gender and racial disparities in access to health services — and we should not be content with policies that allow this status quo to persist. In my current fellowship at IntraHealth International, I help build health equity by convincing members of Congress to support global health legislation. One way for us to improve the impact we are having as we fight for health equity is to consider a movement called “Effective Altruism,” which aims to increase our impact by combining the head and the heart.

I discovered Effective Altruism in high school, when I decided to work in global health. A book from the Center for Global Development, Millions Saved, showed the impact of global health efforts like smallpox eradication and convinced me that I could do more good for the world in global health than in any other field. As I read further, I became convinced that prioritizing the best interventions really matters: on average, deworming can lead to nearly 20 times as many additional years of schooling per $100 invested compared to free uniforms in primary school. This central point — that some causes can be much more effective than others — is arguably one of the most important considerations that Effective Altruism asks us to weigh as we select our careers, advocate for causes, and donate to nonprofits.

An easy way to see this difference, especially as we approach the holidays, is in where we donate to charity. GiveWell is an organization that recommends nonprofits with the strongest evidence that they can improve the world. GiveWell’s best estimates suggest that their top recommendation, the Against Malaria Foundation, can save the life of a child for less than $3,000. Certainly, this number is a very rough estimate. But the focus on rigor, accountability, and emphasis on interventions with a solid evidence base can help us decide where we can more effectively put our resources — both time and money. The “science of doing good” is an important tool for us to consider in our holiday donations.

Considering this, it was easy for me to see how becoming a Global Health Corps fellow could be a high-impact decision. Several career questions common among Effective Altruists led me to GHC: am I building up flexible career capital? Is global health a pressing cause? Is this an area where I could excel? The skills that I am building at IntraHealth will allow me to build support for health equity in US politics and understand how political power is used for better or worse. I decided to take my fellowship at IntraHealth because I believe that disparities in health outcomes are ultimately a political, rather than technical decision that we make.

From these examples, Effective Altruism does not believe in solving global problems through “charity.” Some of my favorite Effective Altruist organizations include the Open Philanthropy Project, which aims to find the best long-term strategies for changing policy and The Humane League, which is building up the animal rights movement with a mind towards effectiveness. All of this is to say that Effective Altruism believes in a diversity of approaches to changing the world.

So what should we do? Everything we do in global health should ultimately be rooted in equity, justice, and the right to health. Any project lacking this understanding is severely deficient. But our moral obligation is not to live out a set of values that we like to see — it’s to improve life for others as much as we possibly can. This is what Effective Altruism has to offer — a rigorous, tough minded approach to doing good that isn’t content with aspiration. We are morally compelled, as activists who believe in social justice and health equity, to use every possible tool in our possession to do the most good. Over the holidays, we should consider whether we can have a greater impact by donating to Effective Altruist organizations, like those recommended by GiveWell.