WE Charity
We Charity (stylized as WE Charity), formerly known as Free the Children, is an international development charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburger. The organization implements development programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, focusing on education, water, health, food and economic opportunity. It also runs domestic programming for young people in Canada, the U.S. and U.K., promoting service learning and active citizenship.
This includes WE Day, a series of large-scale motivational events held in 17 cities throughout the school year.
We Charity promotes a philosophy of socially conscious living, embodied in the phrase "ME to WE" – the title of a 2004 book by Craig and Marc Kielburger. That brand theme "we" is reflected in the organization's programs such as its WE Day events, launched in 2007, leading up to an updated branding of "We Charity" in early 2015.
The organization has received high ratings from independent third-party charitable sector evaluators including Charity Navigator, and Charity Intelligence Canada GuideStar,
WE Charity (formerly Free the Children) was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger when he was 12 years old. Craig says he was reading through the Toronto Star newspaper before school one day when he came across an article about the murder of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy named Iqbal Masih, a former child factory worker in Pakistan’s carpet trade who had spoken out against child labour. However, both local police and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan determined that Masih's murder was unconnected to his anti-child labour activism and the carpet industry. There are also reports that Masih was 19 and not 12 at the time.
One of the group's first actions was to collect 3,000 signatures on a petition to the prime minister of India, calling for the release of imprisoned child labour activist Kailash Satyarthi. The petition was sent in a shoe box wrapped in brown paper. On his eventual release, Satyarthi said, "It was one of the most powerful actions taken on my behalf, and for me, definitely the most memorable."
Shortly afterward, Kielburger spoke at the convention of the Ontario Federation of Labour, where union representatives pledged $150,000 for a rehabilitation centre in India. The Bal Ashram centre was built by Satyarthi.
In December 1995, Kielburger embarked on an eight-week tour of South Asia to meet child labourers and hear their stories first-hand. It was on that trip that Kielburger had a meeting with then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in which Kielburger convinced Chrétien to take a public stand against child slavery.
In 1999, at the age of 16, Kielburger wrote Free the Children, a book detailing his trip to South Asia four years earlier and the founding of his charity.
Free the Children initially fundraised for organizations that raided factories and freed children from forced labour situations. When it became clear that the rescued children were being resold by their impoverished families, the organization changed its approach. Free the Children started building schools in Nicaragua, Kenya, Ecuador and India. The organization later evolved an international development model with projects related to education, water, health care, food security and income generation.
In 2007, at age 25, Craig Kielburger was inducted into the Order of Canada. the second-youngest Canadian ever to receive the honour. His brother Marc Kielburger was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2010.
In 2008, EY and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum, presented the Social Entrepreneur Of The Year award in Canada to the Kielburgers for their work with Free the Children.
In 2016, Free the Children rebranded as WE Charity. The charity runs domestic programs for young people in Canada, the US and the UK, and international development programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In September 2017, WE Charity moved to a new headquarters in downtown Toronto, Canada. Named the “WE Global Learning Centre”, it provides office space for staff and features technology-enabled facilities for use by public groups such as educators, school groups, and youth wishing to start non-profits or social enterprises. The official opening of the WE Global Learning Centre on September 27, 2017 was attended by international figures including former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and actor and activist Mia Farrow. The Centre features a theatre, broadcast studio, and an open concept design. WE Charity is also looking to integrate its new headquarters into the Toronto Corktown community by offering programming and outreach projects to residents.
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