Founded By:

Sponsored By:

Craig Kielburger

Craig first became a spokesperson for children's rights when he was 12 years old. Searching for the comics in the local paper, a front-page article caught his attention. He read about a young boy from Pakistan who was sold into bondage as a carpet weaver, escaped and was murdered for speaking out against child labor. Craig gathered a group of friends and founded the organization Free the Children.

Free The Children (www.freethechildren.com) has grown into an international child rights organization with hundreds of thousands of young people involved in its activities in more than 35 countries. Youth members of FTC have raised funds for the construction of more than 375 primary schools in the rural areas of developing nations, providing education daily to over 35,000 children. They have distributed more than 180,000 school kits and in excess of 5 million US dollars worth of medical supplies to needy families. FTC has supported potable water projects, health clinics, alternative income cooperatives and primary schools in 45 developing nations. Over the past nine years, FTC’s projects have improved the lives of more than one million children.

Free The Children’s advocacy campaigns have led Canada, Mexico and Italy to pass legislation in order to protect children from abuse relating to sex tourism. It has lobbied, in addition, corporations to adopt labels for child-labor free products. Free The Children was selected in 2001 by the United Nations and The Office of the Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict to be the lead NGO coordinating youth outreach for the decade of peace and non-violence towards children.

In 1999, brothers Craig and Marc co-founded Leaders Today, (www.leaderstoday.com). Teams of trainers travel to schools, communities and religious centers to host academies designed to empower youth with the leadership, teamwork, effective communication and self-confidence skills needed to become active global citizens.

Working in partnership with Canadian school boards, Leaders Today has created a comprehensive support program to introduce service learning and character education into the high school curriculum. Successful projects include the ‘Volunteer Now’ initiative providing leadership training and academic resource materials to all grade 10 students in the Toronto District School Board, the fourth largest school board in North America. In addition to its domestic leadership programs, Leaders Today operates summer and march-break trips for youth interested in volunteering in India, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Thailand, as well as leadership/ volunteer retreats in its own centers in Kenya and Arizona. Leaders Today annually provides leadership training to 200,000 young people throughout North America

Craig has traveled to more than 40 countries visiting street and working children and speaking out in defense of children's rights. He frequently addresses business groups, government bodies, educators, unions and students around the world. He has advocated on behalf of children in meetings with eminent political and religious leaders including Prime Ministers and Presidents, CEOs of major corporations, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, Queen Elizabeth II and the late Mother Teresa. Craig’s work has been featured on major television programs in North and South America, Europe and Asia, including CNN, the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes.

Craig’s first book, Free The Children was published by Harper Collins in the United States and has been translated into 8 languages. Craig and his brother Marc have co-authored the national bestsellers Take Action – A Guide to Active Citizenship for Youth and Take More Action!.

Craig is a student at Trinity College, University of Toronto, pursuing a Specialist Degree in ‘Peace and Conflict Studies’, along with a double minor in Psychology and Politics.