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The Amsterdam hub is open to anyone in the Netherlands. You do not need to be Dutch, but we do insist you primarily live here.
Table of contents
- What is Sandbox
- Sandbox retreats
- What are Sandboxers like?
- Show me some Sandboxers
- What is the Amsterdam hub like?
- The yearly regional retreat
- How to apply to the Sandbox Amsterdam hub
What is Sandbox
Sandbox is a group of people who share values, enjoy spending time together, and help each other. We started as a leadership and entrepreneurship community, but over time evolved to care more about shared values than about shared interests.
Sandbox is:
✅ a global community of people ✅ free and volunteer based ✅ about personal growth
Sandbox is not:
❌ a networking club ❌ an interest group ❌ about professional achievement
If you are looking for networking opportunities or interest groups, here are some you can look at:
- Sigma Squared (young entrepreneurs)
- Global Shapers (young impact-makers)
- One Young World (future leaders collective)
Sandbox retreats
Our retreats are the heartbeat of our community. Once a year we organise a global retreat for 200-300 people, and throughout the year we host smaller local ones for 10-30 people as well. Retreats are organised by local members, and do not turn a profit.
We’ve held global retreats in Croatia, Portugal, Panama, Kenya, and Mexico. More local retreats have happened than we can count. Every retreat has it’s own flavour, from hiking in the mountains (Lisbon hub) to a cabin in the woods (Berlin hub) to ski trips (Leman hub).
Most retreats feature an exchange of ideas, often in the form of workshops. While we tend not to talk about our professional life a lot, we do love sharing what we have learned.
What are Sandboxers like?
The Amsterdam hub members share three key characteristics, we are:
- 🔥 Passionate about what we do, either in our professional or personal lives
- 🤔 Thinkers, who enjoy having interesting and intense conversations
- 🫂 Kind & nonjudgemental by default, both in actions and in words
While we do not admit members based on professional achievement, many of us are highly engaged in our fields. Some of us work in larger organisations and some run our own businesses.
Show me some Sandboxers
Below are a few initiative leading members from our local hub.
Arjun Mali
Arjun is a co-ambassador of the Amsterdam hub, he works as a UX designer, runs a side-business in glasses-replacements, and has a passion for yoga.
Mylene Zambon
Mylene works as a project manager in the sustainability field. Her passions lie in facilitating a sustainable future for humanity, and boardgames.
Mentor Palokaj
Mentor is a co-ambassador of the Amsterdam hub, he’s a biologist turned programmer with a passion for blockchains (he hopes you don’t hold it against him).
Bas van den Bergh
Bas is an entrepreneur, a teacher, and lover of trees. His love of nature expresses itself in many ways, including starting and selling a plant-based air quality business.
Liesbeth van den Berg
Liesbeth is a medical informatics UX lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. She’s a core contributor to sandbox events and loves mountains.
Fran Palokaj
Fran is a personal development aficionado that focuses on digital tools that help people choose meaningful work and get it done efficiently.
What is the Amsterdam hub like?
The Amsterdam hub is a small but tight-knit group that hosts local dinners, workshops and retreats. We are also very active visitors of retreats all over the world and enjoy connecting with the Sandbox family wherever we go.
We like to ask big questions about who we are, who we'd like to become, and how to have a positive impact on the world.
We support each other professionally as well as personally. No matter if you are looking for an accountant, a good restaurant or a book recommendation, we have each other covered.
The yearly regional retreat
Once a year we invite 76 fellow Sandboxers to come spend time with us for a weekend at our yearly regional retreat. There we spend time connecting with new people, catching up with old friends, and doing workshops.
How to apply to the Sandbox Amsterdam hub
We aim to recruit new members when they are younger than 33 years old, but are happy to make exceptions for members that are aligned with our community.
Our application process isn't about judging whether you are "good enough" but rather to see if you feel at home in our group.
The process is as follows:
- Fill out our short application form
- Be invited for a coffee or online conversation
- Get invited to a local event like a dinner
- Join a retreat (local or international)
- Create a "WOW", a creative project that showcases who you are or what you want to contribute to the community
👉 Click here to fill in the application form We usually respond within a week