Lauren Martin

WE Charity (formerly Free the Children) was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger when he was 12 years old. Craig was reading through the Toronto Star before school one day when he discovered an article about the murder of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy named Iqbal Masih, a former child factory worker who spoke out against child labour. Iqbal Masih was sold by his parents to a factory when he was only 4 years old and worked there until he was 10. Masih was later killed his activism on the issue of child labour, and it was a story that moved Craig to want to do more to support this cause. WE Charity empowers people of all ages to make meaningful differences in the world through programs such as WE Schools and WE Villages. ME to WE is a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences that enable people to change their lives through their everyday choices. WE Schools is an engagement tool in the education space, working to bring service-learning into every single classroom. The WE Schools program is aligned with the Ministry of Education and Common Core guidelines. WE Day is a series of stadium-sized youth empowerment events organized by WE Charity. WE Day events host tens of thousands of students and celebrate the impact students have made on both local and global issues. Students can earn their tickets by participating in WE Schools and completing a year-long service learning program.