Marc Kielburger
Encyclopedia
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, OMC
Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship
The Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship is an honorary medal produced by the Canadian Province of Ontario. It was established by the Government of Ontario in 1973 to recognize people who, through exceptional long-term efforts, have made outstanding contributions to the well being of their...
(born 1977) is a Canadian author, humanitarian and activist for children's rights. He is the co-founder of Free The Children
Free The Children
Free The Children is an international charity and youth movement founded in 1995 by children's rights advocate Craig Kielburger. The organization is largely youth-funded, based on the concept of "children helping children." It specializes in sustainable development in countries of Kenya, Ecuador,...
, an international development and youth empowerment organization.
Kielburger is also the co-founder and Director of Me to We. The goal of Me to We is to make ethical living become the norm while helping Free The Children achieve financial sustainability.
After attending Brebeuf College School
Brebeuf College School
Brebeuf College School is a Roman Catholic all-boys' high school in Toronto founded by the Jesuits in 1963 and associated with the Presentation Brothers since 1984...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Kielburger graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, completing a degree in International Relations. He won a coveted Rhodes Scholarship and went on to complete a law degree at Oxford University with an emphasis on human rights law. He has also received two honorary doctorates for his work in the field of education and human rights.
He is the co-author of national bestsellers Take Action! A Guide to Active Citizenship, Take More Action and most recently, the New York Times Best Seller Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World.
With his brother Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
, Marc is a syndicated columnist carried by the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Vancouver Sun and Huffington Post, as well as for Canada’s most widely-read women’s magazine, Canadian Living
Canadian Living
Canadian Living is a monthly Canadian lifestyle magazine, which publishes articles relating to food, fashion, crafts, and health and family advice....
.
Marc is the recipient of many honours, including the Order of Canada and selection by the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders. His work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as well as many other news and print media.
In the fall of 2009, Marc and his brother Craig organized We Day
We Day
We Day is an annual event organized by the Canadian charity Free The Children that, according to founder Craig Kielburger, is designed to “motivate young people to help fight injustice by convincing them that fighting injustice can be hip”-Background:...
, an event held in Vancouver on September 29 at GM Place and Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on October 5 involving 30,000 students in two large arenas, which became a Canadian national television special on CTV on October 10, 2009.
On November 17, 2009, Marc appeared on The Colbert Report during a segment discussing child labor.
Marc is set to receive an honorary degree at the University of Toronto convocation ceremonies in Spring 2011 in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to society along with other outstanding scholars, innovative thinkers, humanitarians, dedicated public servants and leading philanthropists. President David Naylor of the university said “These extraordinary people ─ public servants, social activists, philanthropists, researchers, teachers, writers, leaders - have asked difficult questions, offered new ways of looking at the world and made significant contributions to Canada and the world. They reflect the values and strengths of the University of Toronto and will be a tremendous inspiration to our graduating students.” Marc's brother Craig graduated from U of T in 2006, and both brothers will receive honorary doctor of laws degrees June 8, 2011 at 2 p.m.
He also spoke Saturday, February 19, 2011, at NAIMUN XLVIII, to a group of nearly 3000 high school students.
Awards
- Youngest person ever to be awarded the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship
- At the time (2004, aged 27), he became the youngest to be selected as one of Canada’s "Top 40 Leaders Under Forty" (In 2006, aged 23, his brother Craig became the youngest.)
- Honorary doctorate from Nipissing UniversityNipissing UniversityNipissing University is a public liberal arts university located in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, on a site overlooking Lake Nipissing. The university's unique character is defined by its location in Northern Ontario, and a large and highly respected faculty of education...
for his work in leadership development - Toronto Catholic District School Board Alumnus of the Year Award, 2005
External links
- Free The Children Official website
- Me to We
- Craig and Marc Kielburger Interview on The Hour with George StroumboulopoulosGeorge StroumboulopoulosGeorge Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...