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Social entrepreneur, author and change-maker Craig Kielburger will speak at UNB’s Fredericton campus on Thursday, Feb. 5 as part of International Development Week at UNB.

The university will welcome over a thousand school-aged and university students from from across the region. The event, hosted by UNB’s Global Learning and Engagement office, is also an opportunity for the university to showcase the international development and engagement opportunities available to students.

Date: Thursday, Feb. 5  
Time: 6:15 – 7:15 (International Engagement Expo)  | 7:30: Craig Kielburger
Location: Richard J. CURRIE CENTER | UNB Fredericton

Media and the public are invited to a community International Engagement Expo from 6:15-7:15 p.m. in the CURRIE CENTER Long Hall to explore the activities and opportunities of local groups in support of international initiatives.

About Craig Kielburger

Craig Kielburger is a social entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author and captivating speaker, inspiring millions to improve their communities and the world through daily actions.

Craig, along with his brother Marc, are co-founders of the world’s leading platform for social change: Free The Children, an international charity, Me to We, an innovative social enterprise, and We Day, a signature youth empowerment event.

Craig’s journey as a child rights activist began at the age of 12, when he reached for the morning comics and noticed the newspaper’s front page. The headline read, “Battled Child Labor, Boy, 12, Murdered.” Being 12 himself, Craig felt an immediate connection and took the story with him to school. When he asked his class for help to tackle the issue of child labor, 11 students raised their hands. Free The Children was born.

What began as a group of a dozen kids has grown into an international charity. Free The Children programs have empowered more than one million beneficiaries. To date, Free The Children has built more than 650 schools and school rooms in developing countries, providing education to more than 55,000 children every day. Inspired by Craig’s life mission, Oprah’s Angel Network partnered with Free The Children to fund 68 schools.

Through Me to We, Craig and Marc are advancing a new vision of philanthropy that connects business to a social purpose. Every year, Me to We reaches hundreds of thousands of socially-conscious consumers. It provides full-time employment to over 1,000 women artisans in Kenya, and has created a global market for their work through partnerships with leading retailers, including Nordstrom, Virgin and PacSun. Half of Me to We’s annual net profit is donated to Free The Children, while the other half is reinvested to grow the enterprise and its social mission.

Through We Day, a series of inspirational stadium-sized events, Craig and Marc connect with 200,000 students from 5,000 schools every year. These students earn their entry to the celebration through service programs. Speakers and performers include Prince Harry, Richard Branson, and Jennifer Hudson. With more than 5 million followers on Facebook, We Day has become one of the largest charitable causes in the world.

Craig and Marc have authored 12 books, including the New York Times bestseller Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World. Their weekly columns are syndicated in over 30 newspapers across North America. Craig is the youngest-ever graduate from the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program.

For his work to advance human rights, Craig has been awarded 15 honorary doctorates and degrees, and has received the Order of Canada, the Roosevelt Freedom From Fear Medal, the World Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, and the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. His work has been featured through multiple appearances on 60 Minutes, as well as in National Geographic, TIME and The Economist. 

Tickets: Veronica McGinn

Media inquiries: Kelsey Seymour