Thursday, September 6, 2007

This will be cool!! --> Founder of Free the Children Lecture Sept. 10 "Me to We"

Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development in Public Service

Date: September 10, 2007
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Kennedy Hall-Call Auditorium
Department: FLDC
Speakers: Craig Kielburger
Speaker Title: Founder of Free the Children
Contact: jl638
Additional Information:
Iscol Lecture 2007Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material WorldReception and book signing following the lecture.
Craig Kielburger will speak on how university students can create positive social change.
This event is presented in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Speaker Series (AEM121).
Craig Kielburger is an accomplished child rights advocate, leadership specialist, New York Times best-selling author and a speaker with a powerful message. He is the founder of Free The Children, the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, and the co-founder of Leaders Today, a world renowned youth leadership organization. He has a degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of Toronto and is the recipient of two honorary doctorates.
Craig has received many awards for his work, including the Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award, the World Economic Forum GLT Award, the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, the State of the World Forum Award and the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, also known as the Children’s Nobel Prize.
When Craig was 12, he was shocked to learn about the murder of a child laborer-turned-child rights activist. Eager to take action, he established Free The Children to help free children from poverty, exploitation and powerlessness . The organization began as a small group of classmates and quickly evolved into an international phenomenon.
Under Craig’s leadership, Free The Children has now changed the lives of more than one million young people around the world. The organization has built more than 450 primary schools, providing daily education to more than 40,000 children.
Free The Children’s many accomplishments in the areas of education, alternative income, health care, water and sanitation provision and peacebuilding have earned three Nobel Peace Prize nominations and facilitated high profile partnerships with organizations such as the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.
Convinced of the importance of leadership development in empowering youth, Craig co-founded Leaders Today in 1999. Leaders Today empowers young people through leadership education, providing them with the inspiration and tools to affect positive social change. The organization delivers one-of-a-kind local and international training experiences, reaching more than 350,000 youth every year.
Now 24, Craig has traveled to more than 50 countries, visiting underprivileged children and speaking out in defense of children’s rights. An internationally renowned speaker, Craig frequently addresses business groups, government bodies, educators, unions and students. He has shared the podium a number of times with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, as well as with such world renowned leaders as Nelson Mandela, Queen Noor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
Craig’s first book, Free The Children, won the prestigious Christopher Award and has since been translated into eight languages. He is co-author of the bestsellers Take Action!—A Guide to Active Citizenship and Take More Action. His most recent book, Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World, is a New York Times best-seller co-authored with his brother Marc and published by Simon & Schuster. This inspirational volume empowers people of all ages to live the Me to We philosophy of volunteerism, service to others and social involvement. Together with Marc, Craig now writes a regular column for Canada’s largest newspaper, the Toronto Star.
Craig has shown the world that no one is ever too young to make a difference. His work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, BBC, 60 Minutes and profiled in The Economist, Time and People magazines and numerous newspapers.
CLICK HERE to download poster