Sam Celarek Sam Celarek Healthcare Data Analyst

Former Neuro ICU Nurse · Portland, Oregon

  • 3M+ IVF cycles in a database I designed
  • SQL Production SQL Server, Python and pipelines
  • 41% fewer central line infections after a QI rollout I led
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Community organizer · 6 years

Portland Effective Altruism & Rationality

PEAR · Portland, Oregon

For six years I've helped lead PEAR, Portland's home for effective altruism and rationality. I won an EA Funds grant to grow it, and PEAR is now community-funded through member donations.

1,166members on Meetup
547events hosted
4.6 ★from 107 Meetup ratings
13organizers on the team

🌱What I've done

  • Led the community for six years, now with a 13-person organizer team. The Meetup group has 1,166 members, 547 events and a 4.6-star rating from 107 reviews.
  • Won an EA Funds grant, administered by the Centre for Effective Altruism (Sept 2021 – Sept 2022), to expand meetups, grow membership and advertise locally. I tracked the spending and wrote the progress and final reports.
  • Moved PEAR to community funding: tiered member donations, from $15 to cover one person's attendance up to $250+ committee members, plus volunteer roles, so big events like the ACX meetup and Solstice no longer depend on grants.
  • Serve as a contact in the group's community health and safety process, alongside a feedback form and a direct line to the organizer team.
  • Host Portland's ACX Meetups Everywhere gathering, part of a worldwide meetup series, in 2024, 2025 and 2026: renting the event space, providing vegan food and running optional lightning talks.
  • Helped put on PEAR's Secular Solstice, held every December since 2022.
  • Bigger events have included an AI safety talk by Alex Turner (TurnTrout) and a joint meetup with the Los Angeles and Bay Area rationalist communities.
  • Kept the calendar running: weekly dinners, book clubs, article discussions, AI safety meetups and larger events.

📅Upcoming events

Synced from Meetup every few hours · last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Full calendar on Meetup →

🗓️What the community does

Thursday dinnersA weekly social, the easiest way for newcomers to join
Rationalist Book ClubMonthly non-fiction reading: economics, history, science, ethics and clear thinking
AI safety meetupsDiscussion groups on AI alignment and safety
Article discussionsRecent posts from the EA Forum, LessWrong and Astral Codex Ten
Secular SolsticeA yearly December gathering
“Had some great conversations with very open and thoughtful people… I always walk away with something new to understand.”— Spencer Stanford, Meetup review of a PEAR Dinner Social

✨A community of bright people

PEAR grew into a lively, member-led community. It's home to thinkers whose work reaches well beyond Portland, including:

🔗Join in

Meetup (1,166 members) Discord Public calendar Mailing list PEAR website Facebook group EA Forum group LessWrong group

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