Impact Makers

Empowering students to start making an impact now

Impact Makers is a national program in the Netherlands connecting action-oriented and ambitiously altruistic students to impactful real-world projects. Guided by expert coaching students dive into company cases with significant potential for positive change. This hands-on experience equips you as a student with crucial skills and insights, empowering you to drive meaningful impact in your future career.

Currently ongoing project | ProVeg

The meat and dairy lobby

The meat and dairy sectors continue to exert a strong influence on society. However, it remains unclear which parties are involved, what budgets they have at their disposal, and which arguments and communication channels they use. This project focuses on mapping this so-called "counter-lobby" against plant-based alternatives in Belgium and the Netherlands. Through online literature research, interviews with stakeholders, and communication analysis, the playing field will be examined in detail.

Based on this mapping, ProVeg and other plant-based advocacy organizations can more effectively respond to these parties' strategies, identify opportunities for collaboration, and optimize their own communication efforts toward the public, businesses, and government agencies.

This project centers on three research questions:

Who are the main actors in the counter-lobby against alternative proteins in Flanders and the Netherlands?
What arguments and narratives do they use to portray alternative proteins in a negative light?
Through which channels and strategies do they disseminate their message to the general public

Duration: 10 weeks, start mid-January.
Kick-Off: In-person day to kickstart the project and meet your teammates and coach.
Format: Physical kick-off, mid-term and wrap-up meeting, with a hybrid setup in between
Availability: 8-10 hours a week for the entire project
Client: Direct contact with the client organisation, supported by your coaches.

Project setup

The upcoming ImpactMakers program spans 10 weeks. The upcoming project runs from mid-January till March. The program starts with an in-person kick-off day, giving you the opportunity to meet and connect with your interdisciplinary team, with whom you'll collaborate on the challenge. Following this initial meeting, the format will transition to a hybrid approach. Physical meetings will occur at least monthly, with the frequency potentially increasing based on team dynamics. Additionally, expect weekly online meetings.

Throughout the project, you'll meet weekly with a coach, who will provide you and your team guidance with obstacles that arise during the project. Your team will also work closely with the client organisation, sharing analyses, receiving feedback, and co-developing solutions.

In the end you will present your ideas and findings to the client. Ideas which will allow the client to increase/optimize their positive impact in the future.

Why join?

Learn how to apply the principles of EA in the real world, while gaining valuable impact-related skills

Taking real-world action on effective altruism can be hard when you are a student. Often, it's challenging to connect with the right organizations or feel skilled enough to contribute meaningfully. That's where ImpactMakers steps in. This initiative bridges the gap by identifying organizations facing challenges that, if resolved, could significantly amplify their positive impact. As a student, you'll collaborate with a team to tackle these challenges, engaging directly with the organization to tackle their open question or issue. If you're concerned about not being fully prepared, don't worry. We prioritize your development, offering tailored coaching and expert consultations to enhance your skills and align them with the project needs.

Who we look for

We're seeking motivated people for our upcoming project, eager to learn by doing and make a real-world impact! Ideally, you should have completed the Effective Altruism Introduction Fellowship or engaged substantially with EA materials, as this ensures you have the necessary knowledge. However, being a student isn't a requirement. The key criteria are your willingness and ability to dedicate an average of 8-10 hours per week to the project from mid-January to March. Additionally, living in the Netherlands is essential to facilitate our hybrid setup.

Our goal is to assemble a diverse, interdisciplinary team. Don't worry if your background seems unrelated to the project. Everyone has unique strengths and skills to contribute. If you're uncertain, we encourage you to apply! For any questions, feel free to reach out to us via email.

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Past projects

Increase cost-efficiency for a family planning NGO in Nigeria

Research which factors within the NGO are contributing most to their inter-organizational productivity, empowering the healthcare workers to make more impact. For this research, an internal qualitative and quantitative review has been performed.

Reduce agriculture water waste and increase yield & resilience

Explore the strategy to enter Africa for an agricultural water-saving solution. Evaluate market characteristics and dynamics to determine which countries are most impactful, financially viable and fast to enter.

About us

Impact Makers was co-founded by Gerard van Smeden, Kars ten Berge and Lotte de Lint, under the support and collaboration of EA Netherlands. As enthusiasts of Effective Altruism (EA), we recognized the need to empower hands-on students eager to translate EA principles from academic theory into real-world practice.

Gerard van Smeden is currently CEO of his own social enterprise Unifix Care focused on increasing the accessibility of safe basic surgical instruments in sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile supporting several impact-start-ups to start and scale and working at the TU Delft Impact Studio as a start-up consultant and coach.

Kars ten Berge is a just graduated Artificial intelligence student who is passinate about the pragmatic side of EA. He incorpareted the EA beliefs in his job and is now working in the clean cooking sector.

Lotte de Lint is engaged in researching how to encourage long-term plant-based dietary choices through her current PhD work. She founded and previously served on the board of the EA university group in Maastricht. In addition to her academic pursuits, Lotte contributes her expertise as a website designer at Doneer Effectief.