Canadian activist for the rights of children who co-founded the Free the Children charity. “A question I ask myself now,” she said in a recent email to Canadaland, “is, why did he need to ask to stay with me?”, “But I was 18,” she continued, “and I probably didn’t question it because ME to WE/Free The Children was already this weird organization where boundaries were crossed all the time. Financial tip: Be conservative with money estimates.

Two dozen former employees open up about WE. loop_range = seconds['day']; }; Students will be “volunteering” for a stunted salary, paid by taxpayers, to become progressive social influencers for two brothers that are financial donors to Justin Trudeau’s political campaign.

var seconds = {

This language has been communicated by WE to employees since at least 2009. var delimiter = ' '; They have retained lawyers from six different firms; sent two notices of libel; announced an intention to commence litigation against Canadaland in Manitoba (a province that, unlike Ontario, where both WE and Canadaland are based, does not have anti-SLAPP laws); enlisted a retired judge, the aforementioned Justice Goudge, to review our reporting and render a “verdict” on it; and stated that they possess a video recording of what they suggest is a Canadaland representative visiting a house belonging to Kielburger family members — “trespassing on their property and stalking people who live at houses owned privately by these individuals, in an effort to get additional information and scaring the families living therein.” They said that they have “concern for their safety” and that they may “contact the authorities” if the incident they alleged should recur. Support us. “A lot of people…their lifestyles were reliant on the fact of them having free housing,” remembered Keenan, who did not live in the housing but described those who did as having been “kind of dependent” on the organization. abs_diff = Math.abs(diff); Canadaland first reported on WE in March of 2015, after a documentary critical of the organization was pulled from the CBC’s television schedule the day it was set to air.
} He also co-founded the Me to We social enterprise. WE’s emphasis on keeping overhead low and costs to a minimum sometimes had an impact on employee safety, according to former employees. Education: The education details are not available at this time. diff = start2 - today; WE said that no such reporting took place. If Craig is WE’s face, his older, Harvard and Oxford-educated brother Marc is considered its brains. } else { WE will pay student "volunteers" 33 per cent below minimum wage in some cases to support the efforts of the left-wing charity. Born in Markham, Canada, on December 17, 1982, Craig Kielburger is best known for being a activist. var large = !

} text += (text.length ? 6. WE said the program was fully phased out over five years ago. The brothers, who are promoted publicly as inspiring leaders, were said by some to be prone to angry outbursts towards staff in private. });

When Dan Mossip-Balkwill left his job as a WE manager in 2009, he also lost his home. years: 365.25*1000*60*60*24, months: 30.41666667*1000*60*60*24, weeks: 7*1000*60*60*24, days: 1000*60*60*24, hours: 1000*60*60, minutes: 1000*60, seconds: 1000 “Managers were put in an untenable situation where they were just at their wits’ end,” she said. if(start2 > today) { “So they used every and all tactics to try and get their staff to raise more and raise more, and the bar was always shifting higher and higher.”, WE Charity’s Al-Waheidi told Canadaland in a statement that WE fundraises to support entire villages, and that “there is no building of ‘one specific school’ in isolation in a village.” Additionally, two WE Schools executives said in joint statements that the former coordinator’s claim was “nonsensical,” “incorrect,” and “misleading,” stating that school groups can visit the villages they support, but some construction projects “may require a couple years until construction is complete.”. WE told Canadaland that if either brother wanted to take a job in the for-profit sector, their education and experience is such that each would likely be paid “more than four to five times” their current salary.

© 2020, I think you should be getting our newsletter. In a statement, WE accused Canadaland of “leading the sources” to compare it to a cult, and said that “Canadaland is simply underscoring its bias and malice by attempting to incorrectly portray WE as ‘cult-like.’” They also cited a 2018 review by HR consultancy Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbridge [pdf], which found that staff described WE as “having a strong culture with contagious energy stemming from employees’ unified passion to make a difference.”. !0; “[Marc] is very concerned about loyalty,” said a former member of Marc’s executive support team. According to FamousDetails, he was born in the Year of the Dog. Michelle Douglas, the chair of WE Charity’s board, said that “Craig and Marc are among the most compassionate people I know.” WE consultant David Baum said the brothers “are tireless, working harder than anyone else, bringing passion, smartness, and an extraordinary vision to almost every endeavor.…I have been most impressed with their central humility.”, “Craig and Marc are among the most compassionate people I know.”, WE provided a reference letter for Marc signed by 10 current and former employees, which said that “he has proven again and again to be a dedicated, level-headed leader who treats colleagues of all levels with respect and humility. var expire = !

The school hadn’t even been built yet.”. According to one former volunteer, the practice of WE employees and volunteers lending each other a couch when needed had at least one bad outcome. In a statement provided by WE concerning staff attrition, chief people officer Victoria MacDonald said that these days, “new entry-level employees stay with the organization, on average, for 2.4 years,” which she said is “significantly longer than the industry norm,” citing data from LinkedIn. Salaries vary based on many factors such as gender, education, industry, and geographical location. 's' : '') + '