Craig Kielburger

Co-founder of Free The Children (the world’s biggest youth-driven charity), Craig Kielburger is pushing forward the boundaries of charity, philanthropy, social justice and creating change. Passionate about enabling the voices of oppressed children from all over the world, he is a leading global voice on corporate social responsibility, social activism and youth empowerment.

Co-founder of Free The Children with his brother Marc, Craig Kielburger heads up the world’s biggest youth-driven charity, whose activities have so far reached over 1.7 million children. The brothers are passionate about enabling the voices of oppressed children from all over the world, to be heard.

At the age of 12, Craig came across a story in a newspaper about the plight of a young kid called Iqbal who was sold into slavery at the age of 4, and when he decided to speak out against his captors he was killed. Naïve but outraged, Craig rallied his school friends together to take action, and Free The Children was born.

To date, Craig has shared his moving and educational messages to our clients, field sales groups and employees on fourteen separate occasions. Each time, Craig greatly exceeds our expectations and seldom have our events created the level of positive feedback and excitement that we have seen with these events. Perhaps, more importantly, at every event Craig has made himself available to spend time with each audience member who desired to speak to him after each presentation. Based on Craig commitment and powerful message, we have already committed to another 25 presentations in 2008 and plan to do many more in 2009.

Vice President, Marketing, Investors Group

Free The Children has built more than 500 schools in South America, Asia and Africa, providing over 50,000 kids with access to education. Health and clean water initiatives, and the Adopt A Village project are other offshoots of the foundation, as well as the creation of over 23,000 alternative income projects put in place to help women and their families to maintain a steady income.

Once Free The Children was established, the brothers started the Me To We project. With its aim to promote ethical living and social responsibility, the organisation comprises volunteer based leadership workshops, a publishing house, clothing line, speaker bureau and a music label.

Craig has written 10 books and writes a weekly column about world problems. His book ‘Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World’ is a New York Times best seller.

Craig’s efforts and achievements have been lauded by many organisations including the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, The World Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child (often called the Children's Nobel Prize) and The Order of Canada. He has been awarded 13 honorary doctorates and degrees.

In 2013 Craig and his brother Marc were inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame for for their humanitarian work and their efforts to emower young people to change the world.

Speaking Topics

How do non-profit corporations attract and retaining the best talent in the marketplace?
Why do graduates and seasoned employees move into nonprofits at the expense of the corporate sector?
What can for-profit companies learn from non-profit organizations in terms of resource allocation, staff retention, strengthening morale and building a motivated workforce?
What are the latest trends in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
How can your company stay ahead of this cutting-edge area of corporate engagement?
How can cause-related marketing help you connect with customers in a more meaningful way

For further information or to book Craig Kielburger, please call us on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

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What people said about Craig Kielburger

I have hosted Craig for special events at two separate occasions and he has in both cases been enormously successful, not just in educating, exciting and entertaining a group, but much more uniquely in inspiring a group to action. One of the audiences was the San Diego Chapter of YPO, and this particularly discerning group rated Craig and his team our strongest event in the entire year.

Young Presidents Organization, San Diego

Craig and Marc are speakers who empower students to change the way they live their lives. I have heard them speak on dozens of occasions, both together and separately, and they are truly the two most inspirational speakers I know. Whether speaking before a high school audience, a corporate gathering, or delivering the commencement address at a top American college, they always deliver powerful and poignant talks that leave the audience mesmerized and wishing for more. I have also heard them speak to thousands of educators and have been awed by their ability to provide tangible, thoughtful suggestions and action plans on how to nurture a generation of socially engaged students. Unequivocally, the take home value of their speeches has far-reaching and long term affects on all who have the privilege to hear them speak or participate in one of their workshops. Craig and Marc are important world-leaders, a gift to the educational community, and inspirational in urging a generation to continue to change the world.

Professor Jonathan White, Bridgewater State College

Craig and Marc speech at Google was exceptional. My high expectations for the talk were widely exceeded and my colleagues enjoyed the talk tremendously. They outlined concrete actions any company can take to help motivate their employees through meaningful corporate social responsibility. They were able to inspire young and old alike through their powerful stories, cutting-edge ideas and practical tips to help create personal and organizational change. They are the best and most passionate speakers I have ever heard.

Google

At this year's Clinton Global Initiative, Richard Branson grabbed headlines by pledging to invest all future proceeds of his Virgin Group airline and train businesses to fight global warming. But other commitments with smaller budgets were similarly designed to have a real impact [. . .]. The Sanam Vaziri Quraishi Foundation partnered with child-rights activist Craig Kielburger to Adopt a Village in the Maasai Mara of Kenya. With an investment of only $68,000 in the first year, they will help change the lives of 1,000 children and adults.

Bill Clinton and Laura Bush, Time (2006)