Why would anyone leave a lucrative career in finance to create a charity for shrimps?

Yesterday, I interviewed (watch the full interview here) Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla, one of the two co-founders of the Shrimp Welfare Project, to find out. An edited transcript is below.

Walter Veit: Let us start with your background. Who are you, and how did you first become interested in shrimps?

Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla: I was born and raised in Mexico. I married my high school sweetheart; we have been together for more than 20 years and have two kids. I studied economics, then spent more than 15 years in finance: investment banking, private equity, and so on. I have launched five ventures, some for-profit and some not-for-profit, including Shrimp Welfare Project, and I have lived a nomadic life across three continents for half my adult life.

I launched Shrimp Welfare Project for two reasons. I cared about animals, and I had found effective altruism and bought into the idea that evidence, reason, and scope sensitivity matter enormously. Put those together, and you arrive at caring a great deal about shrimp welfare.

WV: Did you always have an interest in animals?

AJZ: Not really. I liked animals the way most people do. I grew up with a dog, and my family had a farm, but animals did not occupy much mental space, and certainly not my career. My wife was different. She is a very caring........

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