In
1995 when he was 12, Craig Kielburger read a newspaper story about
another 12 year old in Pakistan who had been murdered because
he brought attention to the terrible reality of child slave labor
in his country. Even though he had never heard about it before,
Craig Kielburger read that, like this Pakistani boy who had been
forced to work in hazardous conditions since the age of 4, child
slave labor existed all around the world. He decided to do something
about it and started an organization with his friends in his Toronto-suburb
that would become Free The Children, an international network
of young people working together to end child slave labor, everywhere.
Young Craig Kielburger met with world leaders, urging them to
address this serious issue, and his organization began to receive
international attention. Partnering with Oprah Winfrey's Angel
Network, Free The Children has successfully developed programs
in 45 countries, and has helped build over 650 schools and classrooms.
In 2008, Craig and his brother Marc Kielburger started the social
enterprise, Me to We, which sells socially responsible products
and services and donates half of its profits to Free The Children.
