- Name: Ben O’Bright
- Age: 26
- Current location: Toronto, Canada
- Home town: Ottawa, Canada
- Education: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and Legal Studies; Masters of Science in Politics and Government of the EU, London School of Economics; Current: PhD Candidate, Political Science Dalhousie University
- Current position: Associated Doctoral Researcher, Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative
- Organization description: Committed to the fight against child soldiers, the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative works with military, police and peacekeeping forces, to help keep children safe through training, research and advocacy.
- Bio: Ben O’Bright is currently a PhD candidate at Dalhousie University studying the politics and policies around emergent technologies. He also serves as an Associated Doctoral Researcher with the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, and is a program manager at the Institute for Natural Resourced and Sustainable Development.
- Countries I've worked in: Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, United Kingdom, Burundi, Chad, Sierra Leone, Zambia
- Sector / subsectors: International Development, Humanitarian, Child Protection, Research
- Areas of expertise: ICT4D (information technology for development); science and technology policy; natural resource governance; international development; human security; study of collapse
- Country: Burundi, Chad, Sierra Leone, Zambia
- Region: Africa
- Sector: Humanitarian, International development
- Degree subject: Political science
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Who are you and what do you do?
Meet Ben O’Bright.
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Describe an average week or day in your life.
Ben wears so many hats, working for several organizations, that his week could include project monitoring in Sierra Leone, or researching resource opportunities in Botswana, oh, and working on his PhD of course.
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How did you get involved with the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative?
Ben talks about how he went from assisting in report writing, to travelling to Sierra Leone with the organization.
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Tell us about your career trajectory. How did you get to where you are now?
Ben says his trajectory was aided by someone telling him to look outside of the bubble of his own city, and how the work he ended up doing wasn’t even close to being on his radar.
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You’ve completed field work with various organizations. What were the challenges?
Ben talks about learning how to pack a “go bag”, and being thrown in the deep end during his first field work experience in Chad.
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What do you enjoy most about this work?
A little “joie de vivre” goes a long way.
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Are there certain abilities or traits that you need to succeed in this line of work? Do you have examples?
Ben tells us the story of a bus, and a speed boat ride, to illustrate the traits that you need to succeed in this field.
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What’s your best advice for someone looking to get into this field?
Ben gives his best advice on how and where to get your foot in the door, why you shouldn't write off your local organizations, and the importance of volunteering early and often.
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Are there specific skills, certifications or education that might help someone get ahead?
Ben gives it to us straight: Learn how to string good sentences together, you don’t need an international development degree to work in international development, and if you get a chance during university to do proposal writing, or grant management, take it.
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What’s the big picture in international development work, as far as streams or entry points? What’s available?
Ben says as appealing as the big name international organizations are, the most fun and creative projects he’s worked on are with smaller NGOS and non-profits that want millennials on their team.
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Any tips for interviewing in this sector?
It’s all about your skills base, and how you can apply them to a scenario you might face in the field, but Ben warns traditional interviews might not be the way of the future.
