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Marc Kielburger    

Social Entrepreneur, NYT Bestselling Author, Humanitarian

Social entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and speaker Marc Kielburger inspires millions to improve their communities and the world through their actions and everyday consumer choices.

Over the past two decades, he, along with his co-founder and brother Craig Kielburger, have grown the WE movement to engage over 4 million people annually in service, including 250,000 who annually earn their ticket through volunteerism to attend WE Day celebrations filling stadiums. Kielburger co-founded Free The Children, an international charity, and Me to We, a social enterprise that offers socially conscious and environmentally friendly products and leadership programs. His innovative approach to social entrepreneurship has enabled the construction of more than 650 schools and school rooms, providing education to over 55,000 children daily.

Kielburger graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in International Relations. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and completed a law degree from Oxford University. He has received 11 honorary doctorates and degrees for his work in education, culture, and human rights. Kielburger is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Order of Canada, and was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the world’s Young Global Leaders. He was also inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame for his humanitarian efforts and his work to empower youth to change the world.

Kielburger is also a celebrated author, having written several books, including the New York Times bestseller "ME to WE: Finding Meaning in a Material World." His charisma and ability to engage and inspire audiences make him a sought-after speaker for topics such as leadership, philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility.

Speech Topics


Making Caring Cool Again: Engaging and Inspiring Next Generation Philanthropists

Thought-provoking and informative for intimate conversations or large audiences of philanthropic individuals, YPO families, and Giving Pledge families.

In the age where selfies and the “me” not “we” mentality is more prevalent than ever, how do parents raise caring and compassionate children and set them on a life path for success and start a family tradition of giving back?

WE is the answer. In this speech, leading social activist, New York Times best-selling author and co-founder of the WE movement, Marc Kielburger will share an insider’s perspective on empowering today’s youth and offer tips that will help families find their North Star in values that will engage kids in philanthropy for a lifetime.

With a lifetime of first-hand experience working with young people, combined with a wealth of research and interviews with experts from the philanthropic and education worlds, and by learning from expert partners such as Foundation Source, Marc will help give families the tools to inspire families to find their cause, rally together and set up young people to become stewards of their family’s legacy and become the next generation of world change-makers today.

Inspiring the next generation to find their place and change the world.

Unconventional Leadership: Lessons l learned from Oprah, Nelson Mandela, Grandma, and more

In this highly interactive keynote that pushes the boundaries of traditional speeches with stunning videos, visuals and a choose-your-own-adventure delivery allowing audience members to pick the stories they want to hear, Marc shares actionable leadership lessons that anyone can relate to and employ in their work, education or personal life.

Over the course of Marc’s dynamic presentation, he will share powerful stories and lessons of leadership he and his brother Craig have learned from their mentors and some of the world’s greatest leaders, from Mother Teresa to Nelson Mandela. Relevant whether you are a company, association, community group, planning an educators conference or student leadership conference, participants will walk away with thought-provoking ideas and tips for creating personal and organizational change.

Weaving the journey of starting a charity in his parents’ living room with his brother Craig Kielburger, to becoming the leader of a global enterprise with over 1,000 employees spanning five continents, Marc will share intimate stories that helped shape the strategic decisions that were made along the way. Marc will provide insights and lessons from the extraordinary leaders who have coached and mentored him in some of the most important leadership lessons one can receive – from taking big risks, to accountability, emotional intelligence and being a shameless idealist. This multimedia-rich speech asks the audience to pick which stories they want Marc to tell, creating an engaging experience that will resonate for large or intimate audiences, tailor-made to be relevant for the audience, whether it’s the C-suite or junior employees, educators or business students.

This true choose-your-speech journey takes audience interaction to a new level. Featuring surprise gifts for participating audience members, this interactive experience lets the audience pick from over 100 well-known Nobel Laureates, heads of state, titans of industry and more to hear the stories they most want told.

Unlike any speech you’ve ever seen before, Unconventional Leadership mixes inspiration with strong educational value. This engaging and visually rich keynote experience delivers important lessons that everyone – from the C-Suite to the intern – from the educator to the student – needs to know.

As Marc weaves the tale of his journey to becoming leader of a global enterprise spanning five continents, employing over 1,000 people, his savvy insights and advice are peppered with accounts of the extraordinary leaders who have coached and mentored him. Whether it’s an anecdote involving President Clinton or Kid President, Sheryl Sandberg or Richard Branson, Mohammad Ali or Magic Johnson, Mother Teresa or one of the many top CEOs who have shared their wisdom, attendees will be entertained, inspired and come away with actions and advice they can apply to their own professional and personal lives.

The WEconomy: How Your Company Can Profit from Purpose

Based on the revolutionary book by Craig and Marc Kielburger and Holly Branson, WEconomy: You can find meaning, make a living, and change the world.

Thought-provoking and informative for all levels of your company as well as business students. Great for professional development sessions, company retreats to celebrate the company’s purpose and CSR efforts.

Purpose and profit are the greatest human motivators. WEconomy is the definitive roadmap for bringing the power of both forces together—achieving purpose with profit in your career, company, and changing the world.

We all inherently know that purpose is powerful, but in this speech, based on the revolutionary book, released March 2018, by Craig and Marc Kielburger and Holly Branson, WEconomy: You can find meaning, make a living, and change the world, Marc will share how to unleash purpose within your career, company, and life goals. This speech will help you profit with purpose, whether you’re the one calling the shots or a junior employee looking to advance.

Custom building from your company’s unique mission, vision and values, Marc will celebrate with your team the inherent purpose of your company and the power you have to make a difference in the world. In this talk, he will outline strategies to:

• Find a cause that drives your company and your career goals to new heights • Boost employee productivity and their love for the company and mission • Inspire brand fanatics to stay loyal to you, your company, and your cause • Add a halo to your product, grow your geographic reach, innovate for “the next big thing”, engage Boomers to Gen Z, and much more!

Your audience will walk away feeling inspired and empowered with a road map of tips that can be implemented in your office today—either simple steps or a comprehensive plan, tailored to your needs. This is your blueprint for living by your personal values, achieving career success, and changing the world.

Marc will share his story about how he and his brother Craig founded WE, an organization with a start-up mentality that grew from 12 kids in the suburbs to a $50 million a year charity that makes doing good, doable. WE has partnered with some of the biggest companies in the world, helping them tap into their purpose, including KPMG, Unilever, Microsoft and Virgin. Marc will share learnings from some of WE’s biggest supporters, from world-class business leaders like Sheryl Sandberg and Sir Richard Branson, to the methods of megastars he has encountered like Oprah Winfrey and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who make the world a better place through purposeful—and highly profitable—business strategies. These cross-sector relationships aren’t just good for the charity—WE partners are proven to gain increased brand recognition and intent to purchase.

More than MBA = BMW: What For-Profit Companies can learn from High Performing Social Enterprises, and Non-Profits.

Craig and Marc Kielburger, founders of Me to We, are pioneering social entrepreneurs who have shown that you can make good and make money.

Marc, with a law degree from Oxford University, and Craig, the youngest-ever graduate from the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program, are leading a revolution in business.

They are the founders of Me to We, a social enterprise that measures the bottom line by the number of lives changed and the positive social and environmental impact it makes.

Me to We partners with the world's leading companies such as KPMG and Virgin Atlantic to build robust corporate citizenship programs to engage employees and clients. Me to We provides socially-responsible products and experiences for hundreds of thousands of consumers every year, including international volunteer travel programs, a sweatshop-free clothing line, internationally-acclaimed jewelry and accessories providing economic empowerment to women in developing countries, a publishing house, and inspirational speakers service.

A new generation of business leaders increasingly wants to make an impact beyond the bottom line. In this speech Craig and Marc will show:

  • How they built one of the largest social media followings in the world with 2.4 million Facebook followers. And how your company can leverage social media.
  • How to attract and retain some of the best talent in the marketplace, especially the millennial generation of employees who are looking for meaning and a paycheck.
  • How to differentiate your product to highlight and celebrate its social values and to reach the rapidly-growing socially-conscious market.

They will also share six simple teachings while running the non-profit Free The Children that will help for-profits improve their work places and their bottom lines: Trust, Empathy, Community, Gratitude, Celebration and Legacy.

The World Needs Your Kid: How to Raise Kids Who Care and Contribute

Insights and tips on guiding young people to be engaged global citizens. Ideal for social workers, coaches, families, educators, communities, parents, caregivers, ECE workers, and anyone who cares for children.

Raising kids in a complex, fast-paced social world can be challenging. In this speech based on their international bestseller, The World Needs Your Kid: Raising Children Who Care and Contribute, Marc will reflect on deep, personal stories about his parents – both educators – and provide key insights on guiding children to be compassionate and engaged global citizens.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are experts in creating opportunities to engage young people in service learning. Through their charity’s WE Schools program, they annually engage over 25,000 educators and 15,000 schools around the world and give young people tangible ways to make a real difference locally and globally.

He will also share tips, stats and facts that he’s learned through extensive research, over a thousand interviews with experts on mentorship and early childhood development, and methods to engage kids in service learned from over 20 years of experience working with students engaged in WE Schools programming. These tips will have huge benefits that not only help them succeed academically, but become leaders and active change-makers with an understanding and empathy for the issues that face the world today.

Me to We: Making Doing Good, Doable

In this uplifting, inspirational, and deeply personal speech that will bring forth laughter and emotions from all audiences, Marc will share his moving story about how he and his brother Craig started a movement to change the world at the young ages of 12 and 17, after Craig brought a newspaper clipping to class about a young boy in Pakistan who was killed for speaking up about child labour.

Their group of twelve 12-year-olds led to Oprah Winfrey’s couch where she vouched to help build 100 schools, changing thousands of lives around the world. Over two decades later, Marc and Craig are the leaders of WE, an organization responsible for building thousands of schools and school houses around the world, helping millions of people lift themselves out of poverty.

In their two decades of humanitarian work, Craig and Marc Kielburger have visited dozens of countries, meeting people from all walks of life. They have learned from some of the greatest leaders of our time, including Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, and have shared simple meals with families struggling in the world’s slums and war zones. Along the way, they have discovered a simple but profound truth—that anyone has the power to change the world, and that real fulfillment starts with having the courage to reach out and help others.

By sharing the ME to WE philosophy, described in their New York Times bestseller, ME to WE: Finding Meaning in a Material World, Marc will provide your audience with, - The inspiration for you to discover your own purpose and help you start your own journey to make a difference; - Provide tangible tips for anyone to make a difference – whether as a parent, student, front-line staff or CEO.

News


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By Craig and Marc Kielburger Have you heard about the next big food trend? ... Craig Kielburger Co-Founder of WE, social entrepreneur, author and speaker.
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Craig Kielburger Co-Founder of WE, social entrepreneur, author and speaker. Marc Kielburger Co-founder, Free The Children. For Jay Coen Gilbert, it felt like ...
Marc Kielburger suggests two novels that could change Canada ...
Since Canada Reads is about finding novels to inspire change, we thought we'd turn to people actually making positive change in the world to share their book ...

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