The Kielburgers have also eschewed traditional charity with their grassroots development work. Craig Kielburger explains that Free the Children’s Adopt a Village initiative has four pillars: clean water, medical services, schools and alternative income programs.
Besides empowering people economically, the income programs create a sense of ownership because the local community must use a portion of its earnings to cover repairs and other operational costs, he says. “We exit the community – typically after about five years – with the knowledge that those projects will continue to run well beyond us.”
As Craig Kielburger notes, he and Marc set a goal early on to put themselves and Free the Children out of business. “We want be able to address change in a way that we no longer need to do this.”
Craig Kielburger on Free the Children’s early struggles
We never set out to start a charity. One of the first things that we did was call a very well-known charity and say, ‘We’re 12-year-olds who want to help. How can we make a difference?’ And the response we heard was, ‘Do you know where your parents keep the credit card?’ And that was the sentiment we kept hearing –‘You can fundraise a little, you can help support a charity,’ but really, that was it.
Marc Kielburger on leading the next generation
We once asked Nelson Mandela, ‘How did you do it? How did you have the tenacity and the focus to bring South Africa from where it was to where it is today?’ And he stopped and he said, ‘I led my sheep from behind.’ And that really resonated with us….Our leadership opportunities are very consensus-based, and we seek to empower people to make decisions so that they can be the best leaders of themselves.
When you look at the Millennial generation…they want to contribute, so meaning and purpose is really important to them. It’s important as a leader to tap into meaning and purpose, and to make sure that people feel a sense of connection to community, meaning and purpose. If you can do that as leader with this generation, you have an amazing ability to influence them in a very positive way.
