Ergo Impact

Ergo Impact is a philanthropic advisory organization and fund incubator based in San Francisco, California. It was incorporated as a US nonprofit (EIN 99-2339731) and received 501(c)(3) status in July 2024. The organization describes its mission as finding, funding, and scaling the most promising people and solutions to the world's most pressing problems, with a particular focus on emerging technology risks including AI safety. Ergo Impact is the successor to Effective Giving, a Dutch philanthropic initiative founded in 2016 by Kellie Liket at the Erasmus Centre for Strategic Philanthropy in Rotterdam. The original Effective Giving organization worked with ultra-high-net-worth philanthropists across Europe to identify and fund high-impact causes. The rebranding to Ergo Impact, completed around early 2024, reflects a shift toward a broader US-based organizational structure and expanded scope. The organization is co-founded and led by Max Henderson (CEO) and Kellie Liket (President), with Nancy de Ruiter serving as Founding Board Director. Max Henderson previously served as CEO of Effective Giving before founding Ergo Impact, and also leads Covid Act Now and holds an affiliate role at the Center for Health Security at Georgetown University. Kellie Liket is a social scientist and the Netherlands' leading voice on high-impact philanthropy, holding degrees from the London School of Economics and Erasmus University, and having defended a PhD thesis titled 'Why Doing Good is Not Good Enough.' David Teter served as COO from the organization's founding through mid-2025, before joining Coefficient Giving and Open Philanthropy. According to the organization's 2024 Form 990, Ergo Impact received $1,858,577 in contributions during its first fiscal year and had total expenses of $921,676, resulting in net assets of $936,901. The organization's approach centers on rigorous problem prioritization, identifying where philanthropic capital can achieve the highest returns, and mobilizing top talent around strategies with a defined theory of victory.