Marc Kielburger

Early life

Marc Kielburger was born in 1977 to school teachers Fred and Theresa Kielburger. When he was 13, he started pursuing environmental activism, founding clubs, and starting petitions. He later became the youngest person to receive the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship.

Kielburger traveled to Jamaica on a school program, where he then volunteered at a hospice for teenage mothers and at a leper colony. In 1990, Kielburger won the award for Best Junior Project at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, where he also went on to win another Canada-Wide Science Fair award in 1992.

Kielburger attended the Brebeuf College School in Toronto and Neuchâtel Junior College in Switzerland, graduating from both schools in 1995. During the same year, Kielburger was named a Loran Scholar and enrolled in Ottawa University before he transferred to Harvard University, where he earned a degree in International Relations. He graduated Maga Cum Laude from Harvard. In 2000, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and then attended Oxford University, where he earned a law degree with an emphasis on human rights law.

Career

An accomplished entrepreneur and philanthropist, Marc Kielburger has made meaningful contributions to the world of social justice. Through WE.org and its holistic development model, WE Villages, Kielburger and his team have helped over a million individuals escape poverty in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, WE Schools and WE Day events have provided service-learning programs to tens of thousands of schools and involved the efforts of over 3.5 million young people in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

As a social entrepreneur, Kielburger also co-founded ME to WE, a pioneering social enterprise. Its profits sustain the charitable work of WE.org.

The Kielburgers work has been recognized globally, with WE Day events attracting over 2 million live audience participants. WE day events have been broadcast on CBS and ABC, attracting a global audience of millions of viewers.

Kielburger has authored eight books on global change, including the New York Times bestseller Me to WE.. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2010, named one of the world’s Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum, and recognized as the Most Admired CEO in Canada’s public sector in 2015.

He has also been honored with 10 honorary degrees and doctorates for his work in education and human rights. His philanthropic work has been featured on high-profile media outlets, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and the BBC.

Net Worth

Marc Kielburger’s net worth has been speculated to be approximately around $825,000.

Achievement

• 10 Honorary Doctorates and Degrees
• Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship
• Order of Canada Award
• Order of St. Jean de Brebeuf
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal