Spring convocation: International children's activist receives honorary degree from Augustana

(Camrose) On June 5, the University of Alberta's Augustana Campus conferred an honorary degree to the founder of international children's charity Free the Children.

Craig Kielburger, 28, is a leading Canadian children's rights activist who founded Free The Children, the world's leading youth-driven charity. Free the Children provides active citizenship programs in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reaching 3,500 schools annually. The organization's We Schools In Action program includes tens of thousands of young leaders who provide more than one million hours of community service each year.

Kielburger founded the organization when he was just 12 years old.
One of the youngest recipients of the Order of Canada, Kielburger is also the co-founder of Me to We, a social enterprise designed to help support the work of Free The Children. Offering socially responsible products and services, including international volunteer trips and leadership training programs, Me to We annually donates half its profits to Free the Children and reinvests the other half to grow the enterprise and ensure its sustainability.

Kielburger is a syndicated columnist and New York Times bestselling author of five books. His work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, 60 Minutes, the Today Show, and in periodicals that include Time and The Economist.

Read Kielburger's address here.