Marc Kielburger is a social entrepreneur with a vision of changing the world. Together with his brother Craig, he founded WE Charity, a movement dedicated to eradicating child labour and promoting sustainable change, both domestically and around the world.
On the domestic front, WE Charity implements programs like WE Day and WE Schools, which are designed to get kids excited about global issues and to encourage them to take social action. On the international front, the WE Villages program seeks to address the five main causes of poverty in global communities – water, health, food, education, and economic opportunity. WE Villages then implements a development model based on sustainability so that people can help themselves break the cycle of poverty, as opposed to relying on outside sources. WE Villages operates in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and rural China.
Marc Kielburger is also a co-founder of ME to WE, a social enterprise designed to create a source of funding for WE Charity. ME to WE is a revolutionary idea; it was created from the realization that if a charity lacks funding, its good work stops. Therefore, it needs an independent, continual source of funding. ME to WE is the answer to that problem. The social enterprise sells products like handmade bracelets and chocolate, and also organizes and leads trips to global destinations. Half of the profits are donated to WE Charity and the other half get reinvested back into ME to WE.
Marc holds a degree in International Relations from Harvard University, a law degree from Oxford University, and is a former Rhodes scholar. Due to his continual work in the field of education and human rights, he has received 10 honorary doctorates and degrees.
Marc is a New York Times bestselling author and a nationally syndicated columnist. He was named one of the world’s Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum and was also inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. In 2015 he was named Canada’s Most Admired CEO in the public sector, along with his brother Craig.
In 2018, Canadaland reporter Jesse Brown began his vendetta against WE Charity, along with Marc and Craig. Brown published a number of false allegations against the organization, all of which were dismissed by retired Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Stephen Goudge.
I was in Toronto in early May for the 2019 Toronto Watchdog Workshop on investigative journalism. The weekend event included several excellent panel discussions including Julian Sheer on Mastering the Investigate Interview, and Writing the Investigative Narrative with Susanne Craig from The New York Times. A draw for me was the final session of the … Read more
From a senior school administrator in Ontario: Thank you for your recent article concerning the journalism of Canadaland, especially as it related to its articles about and against Free the Children and WE. I am particularly concerned by what seems to be a blatant and biased attack on the organization and on its co-founders by … Read more
Yes, it’s a very snappy headline. Lawyers should have flashbacks to law school and the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. Journalists and other people who read this might wonder why I would risk my money. Because there is no risk. I’ve been following the back and forth between Canadaland and the WE organization since last fall … Read more
Yes, it’s a very snappy headline. Lawyers should have flashbacks to law school and the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. Journalists and other people who read this might wonder why I would risk my money. Because there is no risk. I’ve been following the back and fourth between Canadaland and the WE organization since last fall … Read more
This is the first of a three-part assessment of Canadaland Jesse Brown, in his March 17, 2019, podcast of Canadaland spent much of the hour pressing the NewsMedia Council to remove a member paper for irresponsible reporting. Brown was right: the Toronto Sun’s reporting on migrants living in a Toronto hotel was biased and full … Read more