Sandbox member Tori Hogan is a 27-year-old globetrotter, aid critic, social entrepreneur, and filmmaker. She is from the United States, but considers herself to be a citizen of the world having worked, studied, and traveled in over 75 countries. She is the founder and director of an organization called Beyond Good Intentions that uses film and educational programs to uncover innovative approaches to transforming the field of international aid. She graduated from Duke University in 2004, was a Fulbright scholar in Egypt, and obtained a graduate diploma in Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo and a Masters degree in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She feels most alive when she is deeply engaging with people around the world, attempting the impossible, dancing, learning new things, hanging out with kids, and encountering intense joy, hope and passion in all corners of the globe.
Tori on Facebook and Twitter.

Tell us a story about your latest project / occupation

My latest project is a ten-part film series about aid effectiveness that I shot in eight countries around the world. Each episode in the Beyond Good Intentions film series highlights a different topic in international development and encourages viewers to critically question how aid can be more innovative and effective.

What are you doing and how did you get there?

Beyond Good Intentions was inspired by the many frustrating experiences I had while working in the field of international aid. I had worked with refugee crises in East Africa and the Middle East, education projects in China, and child development projects in Uganda and Togo. However, despite all these efforts, I saw very few improvements as a result of the aid. In some cases, I even saw organizations doing more harm than good. I finally decided that I would either quit and never do aid work again, or I’d spend my life trying to uncover how aid could be more effective. Fortunately, I chose the latter and I launched Beyond Good Intentions in 2006 as the first film and education organization dedicated to reforming the aid regime. We currently focus on producing short films, presenting educational trainings and workshops for young people, and sponsoring the only global undergraduate summer fellowship on aid effectiveness.

Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?

In my “work life”, my biggest success is probably completing a project that I deeply believed in but was totally unqualified for (I had zero filmmaking experience when I started the Beyond Good Intentions series). I’m proud to say that the film series has now been seen in 149 countries and it’s starting to transform the dialogue about aid effectiveness. The project reminded me that anything is possible with the right mix of determination and passion.
My biggest failure to date is probably taking life a little too fast. This seems to be a common problem for young changemakers—we burn the candle at both ends because we can’t rest until our ideas are realized and the problems of the world are fixed. But a wise friend of mine named Sammy recently told me, “Tori, you don’t want to wake up when you’re 50 and realize you sprinted through life without enjoying it.” So now I’m starting to shed a lot of my old commitments, slow down my pace, and savor every moment. Sometimes less is more.

What do you want to achieve in the next week, the next year and the next 10 years?

In the next week I’d love to reconnect with as many friends and family as I can. I’m only in the U.S. for a short period before I set off again for five months of travels, so my time at home is always precious.
In the next year I’d like to write my first book. I’ll be doing the research for the book in East Africa this summer and I’m hopeful that the writing process will be smooth.
In ten years I’d love to have found my soulmate, have a beautiful family, continue traveling the world, and be working passionately on

1) transforming the aid industry,

2) creating economic opportunities in the developing world, and

3) inspiring young people to live with passion and purpose.

What was your most inspiring moment during the last two weeks?

The most inspiring moment last week was when my bus from Boston to NYC caught on fire, filling the entire bus with smoke. It was incredible to see the power of human compassion as people helped total strangers escape out of the windows to safety.

How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them.

If anyone has incredible stories about effective (or ineffective) approaches to aid that they’ve encountered in the field, it would be great to hear about them! I’m always eager to highlight new ideas and projects.
Also, if any Sandboxers will be on my upcoming travel route in the next five months (which includes parts of Western Europe, Scandinavia and East Africa), I’d love to meet up!
It would also be wonderful to connect with anyone out there who

1) has written a book before (I need all the advice I can get at this stage!),

2) is interested in giving suggestions/insights on the best strategic “next steps” for Beyond Good Intentions so that we can more powerfully transform the aid industry, or

3) has successfully gotten off of the “fast track” of life and can share ideas on how to have more balance while still working to improve the world.

Tori’s favorites:

book: Give me the World by Leila Hadley
place on earth: Top 5 are probably Colombia, Madagascar, Antarctica, Egypt, and Uganda.
drink: Martinis
quote: “Successful people live well, laugh often, and love much. They’ve filled a niche and accomplished tasks so as to leave the world better than they found it, while looking for the best in others, and giving the best they have.”  — Ralph Waldo Emerson