Craig Kielburger, head of both a successful non-profit organization and a burgeoning social enterprise, urged Ivey students to put their business education to work doing good rather than in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
Kielburger, founder of Free The Children, a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of children, and co-founder of Me to We, a social enterprise that donates half its annual profits from selling products such as organic, fair-trade clothing to Free The Children, spoke to Ivey students about his leadership in those sectors as part of the J.J. Wettlaufer Distinguished Visitor Lecture Series. The lecture was sponsored by RBC Foundation and Ivey’s Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership and Centre for Building Sustainable Value. Kielburger, paired with Ivey Professor Oana Branzei, also spoke to executives in Toronto later that evening about business lessons from the non-profit world, as part of the Ivey Idea Forum series.
“There is enormous potential right now for you to influence change,” he said. “I want to respectfully put out a challenge to you to see these next couple of years (business school) as a place, not only of higher earning, but truly of higher learning and maybe I’ll be so bold as to say of higher values.”
Kielburger stressed everyone has a spark – something they want to change in the world – and a gift – special skill or ability – that when combined makes each person a force for change.
His own spark arose when he was only 12 years old and he read about the death of a child slave. He founded a group with 11 of his classmates called “Twelve-Twelve-Year-Olds,” which later was renamed Free the Children and grew to be one of the world’s most influential children’s organizations. Under Kielburger’s leadership, the organization has helped to deliver innovative programming that educates, engages and empowers hundreds of thousands of youth in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
“We need more people from the business world in the non-profit space. So often people in business school head straight into the business sector, but we need that same skill set in the non-profit sector,” he said. “This is our world and it needs our help. I urge you to follow whatever cause is close to your heart and to take action.”
Kielburger also urged those entering the profit sector to considering joining a social enterprise or transforming their organization into a social enterprise – a revenue-generating business that redirects its surpluses in pursuit of social and environmental goals.
“You can make a lot of money and do good at the same time,” he said. “It’s not always the easiest choice, but it can be done. Today, young people are changing the world every single day.”