“In an age when you can track everything on your smartphone—caloric intake, daily steps, coffee purchases, stock portfolios—you should be able to track your social impact.”
Craig Kielburger is a Canadian author, activist, columnist, public speaker, humanitarian, and children’s rights activist. He co-founded the charitable organization “Free the Children” as a young teen along with his brother, Marc Kielburger, and school friends.
Craig’s passion for the protection of children began when he was only twelve years old when he read a news story about the death of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy the same age who escaped from child labour. It’s suspected the young man was murdered for speaking out against the practice of child labour. The incident had such an impact on Craig that he presented a speech in class and recruited his fellow classmates to form an organization called “Free the Children.” The organization’s goal was to face several initiatives for saving innocent children from the dark reality of slavery and labour.
Free the Children would eventually become WE Charity, but the organization saw success before changing its name. When the organization was still headquartered in the Kielburger family home, Craig and his brother sent a petition to have Kailash Satyarthi released from imprisonment.
Kailash Satyarthi was a child labor activist in India. The petition was signed by thousands of people and sent to the Indian prime minister. This action resulted in the release of Kailash Satyarthi, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
“In an age when you can track everything on your smartphone—caloric intake, daily steps, coffee purchases, stock portfolios—you should be able to track your social impact.”
“It’s not a hand-out, but a hand-up that breaks the cycle of poverty.”
“We learned that we needed to help communities become sustainable and economically self-sufficient”
“Although we had no shortage of good intentions, we quickly learned that it’s much harder to achieve lasting impact. Over time, we understood the difference between doing good and making scalable, sustainable change” 39
“In countless conversations, I’ve heard that my own desires to better the world are far from unique. But it’s not easy for people to meaningfully engage with the old-school model of charity that, for the most part, is just a transaction. We wanted to empower individuals to make a real difference through everyday actions. In… Continue reading “In countless conversations, I’ve heard that my own desires to better the world are far from unique..” Read More
“Business is not the opposite of charity”
“But the real heroes are the boys and girls who work in darkness, alone and forgotten. The real heroes are the children who have only their hands, their hearts and their dreams.”
“Freeing children is never a question of money. Free children is a question of political will. We simply do not believe that world leaders can create a nuclear bomb and send a man to the moon but cannot feed and protect the world’s children. We simply do not believe it.”
“Adults need to believe in the potential of children. They need to believe in the young people they encounter every day. Free The Children has grown because the children involved are lucky enough to have parents and friends who believe strongly in the abilities of young people A child with adult support and one without… Continue reading “Adults need to believe in the potential of children. They need to believe in the young people they encounter every day..” Read More
“It was the dreamers of the world who thought that one day the Berlin Wall would fall, that apartheid in South Africa would end, and that a human would walk on the moon Because we are young, full of ideals, and full of dreams, we are not afraid of taking an idea that to some… Continue reading “It was the dreamers of the world who thought that one day the Berlin Wall would fall, that apartheid in South Africa would end, and that a human…” Read More