Marc Kielburger

Marc Kielburger (born 1977) is a Canadian author, social entrepreneur, columnist, humanitarian and activist for children's rights. He is the co-founder, along with his brother Craig, of the We Movement, which consists of the WE Charity, an international development and youth empowerment organization; Me to We, a for-profit company

Early years and education Kielburger was born in 1977 to schoolteachers Fred and Theresa Kielburger. At age 13, he became involved in environmental activism, founding clubs, starting petitions and eventually becoming the youngest person ever to receive the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. He traveled to Jamaica on a school program, where he volunteered at a hospice for teenage mothers and at a leper colony. In 1990, Kielburger won the award for Best Junior Project at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, going on to win another CWSF award in 1992.

Kielburger attended Brebeuf College School in Toronto, Ontario, and Neuchâtel Junior College in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, graduating from both in 1995. In the same year, he was named a Jostens Loran Scholar and enrolled in the University of Ottawa before transferring to Harvard University, where he later received a degree in International Relations. In 2000, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and attended University College, Oxford, where he received an undergraduate law degree (BA).

Activism and social entrepreneurship While Marc Kielburger was studying at Harvard, his younger brother Craig read a story in the newspaper about the murder of a former child labourer in Pakistan. The story inspired Craig to urge world leaders to oppose the practice of child labour. Marc's work with Free the Children has included co-creating ME to WE, a social enterprise organization that supports WE Charity with half its profits, and WE Day, an annual youth empowerment event held in large stadiums in cities across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Kielburger later co-founded Leaders Today, an organization that trains young people to develop skills and confidence to effect social change.

In 2008, the Kielburgers appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where they launched a partnership with Oprah's Angel Network.

Kielburger's work has been recognized through an Ashoka fellowship. He was named Most Admired CEO in Canada in the Public Sector 2015.

Kielburger is a member of the board of directors of Freshii. Kielburger also contributes a column to The Globe and Mail.

On September 9, 2020, WE Charity announced that it was winding down its operations in Canada and selling its assets to establish an endowment that will help sustain ongoing WE Charity projects around the world. The announcement also said that the existing board of directors, the existing Canadian employees, and the Kielburgers would leave WE Charity Canada. The decision to wind down Canadian operations was attributed to the financial condition of the organization caused by the controversy surrounding the CSSG program and COVID-19.

On January 15, 2024, Martin Luther King's 95th birthday, the National Football League announced a five-year commitment to Realizing the Dream, a partnership between the Martin Luther King III Foundation and a charity Kielberger co-founded called Legacy+, in which the NFL said that all of its teams would be participating. The initiative calls youth, teachers and communities across the United States and the world to perform 100 million hours of community service by Martin Luther King's 100th birthday in 2029.

That night, King's oldest son and former Southern Christian Leadership Conference president Martin Luther King III appeared at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium for the NFC Wild Card Game, where he and his family stood at midfield for the pregame coin toss. Before the coin toss, King III was interviewed about the project, with Tampa mayor Jane Castor and former mayor Pam Iorio in attendance, where he said, "Certainly (the elder King) wanted to eradicate what he defined were the triple evils: poverty, racism and violence. But he also believed in civility and being together, and we could disagree without being disagreeable. Unfortunately, our nation is at a divided point. That’s sort of why football games and championships are so important, because they bring people together, from every walk of life." On January 13, 2025, the National Basketball Association team Washington Wizards and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation announced that they, too, would join the partnership with Realizing the Dream.

Kielburger and his brother Craig wrote a book with Martin Luther King III and his wife Arndrea Waters King titled What Is My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Fulfillment. Contributors to the book include the Dalai Lama, Julia Roberts, Yara Shahidi, Jay Shetty, Al Sharpton and Sanjay Gupta. The book is scheduled for release on January 14, 2025, the day before what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 96th birthday. Excerpts from the book were republished in People magazine.

On January 13, 2025, iHeartMedia announced that it had partnered with Legacy+ and The Martin Luther King III Foundation to produce a podcast series called My Legacy. The first episode of My Legacy aired on January 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with a new podcast scheduled to appear each Monday thereafter. Hosted by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Legacy+ founders Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger, the podcast is to feature guests including Billy Porter, David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins and Martin Sheen joined by their family members and friends to discuss their lives.

Canada Student Service Grant program

In June 2020, the Canadian government announced it had chosen WE Charity to run its new Canada Student Service Grant program. The selection of WE Charity led to accusations of favouritism, since the government would be outsourcing a massive federal aid program to a private organization with ties to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family. Kielburger said the outreach came instead from officials at Employment and Social Development Canada.

Kielburger described Unlimited Life as an answer to what he perceives as a crisis of purpose among executives and entrepreneurs, 50% of whom, he says, face mental health challenges. "They are chasing a version of success", he says, "that doesn't resonate with their identity". In addition to physical components, the program is said to include emotional and psychological elements, such as immersion in experiences related to patients' values and communities as well as brain optimization. They have two daughters.

Publications Kielburger, Craig; Kielburger, Marc (2002). Take Action! A Guide to Active Citizenship. John Wiley & Sons. . OCLC 51566318. Kielburger, Marc (2004). Take More Action. Thomson Nelson. . Kielburger, Craig; Kielburger, Marc (2004). Me To We: Turning Self-Help on Its Head. John Wiley & Sons. . OCLC 55510177. Kielburger, Craig; Kielburger, Marc (2006). Me To We: Finding Meaning In A Material World. Fireside. . OCLC 71126899. Singh, Lekha; Kielburger, Marc (2007). The making of an activist. Friesens Corporation. . OCLC 319758042. Kielburger, Craig; Kielburger, Marc (2010). Global Voices. Greystone Books. . Kielburger, Craig; Branson, Holly; Kielburger, Marc (2018). WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make A Living, and Change the World. John Wiley & Sons. .