1. Craig Kielburger is the co-founder, with his brother Marc Kielburger, of the WE Charity, as well as We Day and the independent, social enterprise Me to We.
19 Facts About Craig Kielburger
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Craig Kielburger was born on December 17,1982, in Thornhill, Ontario to Fred and Theresa Kielburger, two teachers and real estate investors.
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Craig Kielburger attended Blessed Scalabrini Catholic School, in Thornhill, and Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, Toronto.
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In 1995, when Craig Kielburger was 12 years old, he saw a headline in the Toronto Star about a Pakistani child labourer named Iqbal Masih who was killed for speaking out against the carpet industry.
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In December 1995, Craig Kielburger travelled to Asia with Alam Rahman, a family friend from Bangladesh to see the condition of child labourers.
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Craig Kielburger advocated for Canadian action on the issue of child labour, making headlines across Canada and internationally.
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Craig Kielburger's trip was documented in the Judy Jackson documentary It Takes a Child.
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In 1999, Craig Kielburger collaborated with novelist Kevin Major to write Free the Children, a book detailing his trip and the founding of Free The Children.
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Craig Kielburger's parents supported the early stages of the organization, which was initially headquartered in the Craig Kielburger family home.
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Craig Kielburger's charity fundraised for organizations that raided factories and freed children from forced labour situations.
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In July 2019, Craig Kielburger opened an educational facility WE College in Narok County, Kenya with former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell, Margaret Trudeau and Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta attending the event.
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Craig Kielburger said that the decision to close WE Charity would preserve life-saving projects, including hospitals, boarding schools, colleges for women, and food security programs.
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In 2008, Craig Kielburger co-founded ME to WE, a social enterprise that offers socially conscious products, leadership training and travel experiences.
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Craig Kielburger contributes a regular column called "Global Voices" for the Vancouver Sun, Halifax Chronicle Herald, Edmonton Journal, Victoria Times Colonist, Waterloo Region Record, Winnipeg Free Press, Huffington Post and Huffington Post Canada online.
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Craig Kielburger is the author of 12 books, several co-written with his brother Marc Kielburger Their latest publication is WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make a Living, and Change the World, co-authored with Holly Branson, daughter of business magnate Richard Branson.
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In 2000, Craig Kielburger was awarded $319,000 in damages as settlement for a libel suit launched against the now-defunct Saturday Night magazine.
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In 2007, Craig Kielburger was inducted into the Order of Canada.
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In 2013, Craig Kielburger was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, alongside his brother Marc Craig Kielburger.
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Craig Kielburger participated in the 2015 edition of Canada Reads, advocating for Thomas King's book The Inconvenient Indian.