TLDRManifund co-founder Austin Chen announced on Sep 11 that former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has joined the charity as a full-time staff member.Ellison worked under the pseudonym “Carol” for two months before her identity was revealed, starting as a trial hire on July 13 and converting to full-time on Aug 10.Ellison served 14 months in confinement related to her role in the FTX collapse before her release on Jan 22, 2026.Chen said Ellison built a reconciliation tool that found several misregistered transactions in Manifund’s database.The announcement drew criticism from EA community members, including former Astera Institute CEO Cate Hall.Caroline Ellison has taken a new job at Manifund, a charity focused on effective altruism funding. The announcement came from Manifund co-founder and CEO Austin Chen in a Substack post published Sep 11.Ellison was the CEO of Alameda Research, the trading firm tied to the collapsed FTX exchange. She pleaded guilty in December 2022 to conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering charges.She later testified as a government witness against former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried during his 2023 trial. Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the scheme.How Ellison Started Working Under a PseudonymAccording to Chen, Ellison began a trial role at Manifund on July 13. That trial turned into a full-time position on Aug 10.For about two months, she published work and supported Manifund users under the name “Carol.” Chen said he made the decision to keep her identity private during this period.Chen explained that Manifund tries to operate with transparency. He said the choice to use a pseudonym was a compromise on that value, though he still stands by the decision.Chen said he first connected with Ellison after enjoying her writing online. He invited her to a conference called Manifest 2026, where she later asked about joining the Manifund team.Chen also pointed to a personal connection with FTX. He said the collapsed exchange had helped fund Manifold, the platform that grew into Manifund, along with a retreat that drew him into the effective altruism community.Ellison’s Time in Confinement and Public ResponseEllison spent time in a Connecticut prison before being moved to a community confinement home in 2025. She was released on Jan 22, 2026, after a total of 14 months in custody.Chen said Ellison has already contributed technical work to Manifund. He pointed to a reconciliation tool she built that identified several misregistered transactions in the charity’s database.Not everyone welcomed the news. Cate Hall, the former CEO of the Astera Institute, responded in the comment section of Chen’s post.Hall wrote that the hire showed “truly terrible judgment” and said it could harm the reputation of Manifund and other effective altruism organizations. Other commenters raised similar concerns in the thread.Effective altruism is a movement that uses logic and data to guide philanthropic decisions. Several former FTX executives, including Bankman-Fried and Ellison, were known supporters of the philosophy before the exchange collapsed in 2022.Ellison addressed the criticism directly in the same post. She said she is “deeply sorry” for her actions and said she understands why some people may not want to work with her.She added that she feels lucky to have a job at an organization whose mission she believes in. Chen said he does not plan to respond to every comment on the announcement but welcomed public questions by email.The post Caroline Ellison Joins Manifund Charity After FTX Prison Sentence appeared first on Blockonomi.