A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDERS Dear Friends and Supporters, This has been an exciting and monumental year. Through our domestic programming, tens of Not only did we celebrate our 20th anniversary, but thousands of youth across North America and the we also evolved into WE—a movement that unites UK have become empowered with the skills and our family of organizations: WE Day, ME to WE resources they need to lead the change in their and Free the Children (now called WE Charity). communities and abroad. And last August, WE Day had its first American broadcast on ABC, attracting This evolution has been 20 years in the making. more than two million viewers. Prime Minister What started as a group of twelve 12-year-olds Justin Trudeau also helped us celebrate by taking coming together against child labor in 1995 has the WE Day Ottawa stage to speak to 16,000 youth grown into a powerful movement of dedicated about the power they have to change the world. change at home, abroad and within each and every one of us. With an incredible year of work behind us, we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead for the Together, we have been able to achieve more than WE Movement. We look forward to sharing more we ever imagined possible. In 2004, we launched heartfelt moments with you as we continue to grow Adopt a Village (now called WE Villages), a and evolve along this journey. sustainable development model partnering with communities in eight countries, and in 2011 we saw From all of us here at WE, thank you for your the launch of WE Schools, an experiential service- continued friendship and support. We are learning program now present in over 12,000 profoundly grateful for your encouragement and schools and groups in North America and the UK. belief in our work. Our achievements over the past two decades have Together we change the world, been like a dream realized, and 2015 did not fall short. Our Year of Empowerment helped equip families with the skills and resources they need to take charge of their future—a remarkable feat! Craig Kielburger Marc Kielburger 2 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 A NOTE FROM OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dear Friends and Supporters, We are delighted to report to you on another Another proud and exciting moment for us this year successful and high-impact year. Your commitment was solidifying our WE Schools’ partnership with to our work contributes greatly to a movement of the College Board. We have created an Advanced deep domestic and global impact, a movement that is Placement pilot program called AP® with WE growing stronger every year. Service, launching in September 2016 that will bring service-learning curriculum to hundreds of thousands Free the Children has also transitioned to a new name, of students. WE Charity, as part of our effort to unify our identity under the banner of WE. WE Charity will continue The Board of Directors has worked hard and has been to do the same amazing work we have always done for highly engaged over the past year with our incredible the past 20 years. team of dedicated staff. We ensure that our governance is of the highest caliber and integrity and that all of With your support, we were able to expand our the necessary systems are in place for the sustainable international programming by developing a new growth and impact of our organization. presence in Tanzania’s Arusha region. Over the coming years, we aim to work together with thousands We would not have been able to achieve any of these of community members in rural Tanzania to build a milestones without your support and generosity. community leadership center that will support our international development projects. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are grateful for your support, passion and constant encouragement as we continue to grow our international and domestic programs to new heights. Michelle Douglas, Jonathan White, Chair of Canadian Chair of U.S. Board of Directors Board of Directors FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 4 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 This year we embarked on an WE Charity (formerly Free The Children) exciting new chapter of our 20-year empowers change with resources that create journey. With millions of passionate sustainable impact. We do this through change-makers involved in our domestic programs like WE Schools and internationally through WE Villages (formerly programs, we decided it was the Adopt a Village). right time to unify all of our work under one name: WE. WE Day will continue to celebrate all great change-makers. These are powerful, life- WE is a movement that brings changing experiences with world-renowned speakers and performers, mixed with real people together and gives them inspirational stories of change. the tools to change the world. Our partner, ME to WE, is a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences that allow people to do good through their everyday choices. This is the annual report for Free The Children, which is the name WE Charity operated under during 2015. FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 5 Celebrating 20 years 6 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8. Our Story 10. Our Milestones 12. Why We Are Different 14. Annual Financials 16. ME to WE Partnership 50. Awards 18. Where We Work 51. Our Core Values 20. WE Villages 52. Celebrity Ambassadors 34. WE Schools 54. Our Vision for the Future 42. WE Day 56. 20th Anniversary 48. Our Team 59. Board of Directors 60. WE Day Co-Chairs 62. Outstanding Partners and Supporters 70. Official Educational Partners FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 7 OUR STORY A CONNECTION A WORLD AWAY Two boys, both 12, were born into very different circumstances. The first: Craig Kielburger, a Canadian comics-enthusiast and the son of two educators. The second: Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani child laborer, killed for speaking up for human rights. Worlds apart, their lives intersected one morning when Craig stumbled across a shocking headline: “Battled child labor, boy, 12, murdered.” In that moment, Craig knew he had to take action. But he was only one person, and a kid at that. What possible difference could he make? What he needed was a collective voice. So Craig convinced 11 of his classmates that together they could make an impact, and Free The Children was born. Craig and his team set out on a bold mission: to free children and their families from poverty and exploitation. Over the past two decades, we’ve grown into an international charity that helps empower youth from every corner of the world to lead change in their communities and beyond. 8 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 9 The launch of our holistic, 10 MILESTONES IN sustainable Adopt a Village (now known as WE Villages) development model, partnering with communities 20 YEARS in eight countries. 2004 APRIL 19 OCTOBER 19 1995 1998 2007 Free The Children is Children’s donations from The first-ever WE Day founded after Craig around the world help us to in Toronto celebrates Kielburger recruits 11 construct our first schools in young people’s potential classmates to join his Nicaragua and India, then to change the world. quest to end child labor. Kenya and Ecuador. 10 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 AP® with WE Service, a partnership with The first WE Day in the College Board, is announced—bringing Europe rocks Wembley service-learning into the classroom for Arena in London, UK. students across North America. 2014 2016 AUGUST 21 2011 2015 2015 The launch of WE Schools, a student- The organization celebrates 20 years, WE Day has its first led program designed to increase announcing their plans for a American broadcast academic engagement, improve WE Learning Centre that will provide on ABC, attracting university and workplace readiness millions of youth from around the world more than two and encourage active citizenship. with service-learning opportunities. million viewers. FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 11 WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT GLOBALLY WE Charity (formerly Free the Children) only takes a multi-pronged international development approach with a focus on - - 9% the creation of sustainable communities. of donations91% support goes toward our our programming administrative costs Our development model empowers communities by leveraging members’ strengths, rather than focusing on their its challenges, to mobilize their talents and skills in order to create sustainable solutions in alignment with our five Pillars of Impact: Education, WE Charity honors every type of donation—from school Water, Health, Food and Opportunity. Instead of bake sale money to corporate partnerships—with industry- treating communities as passive recipients of aid, we leading policies of financial responsibility and strong engage them as active partners in the transformative governance that ensures all contributions are spent effectively development process so that they are empowered to to create ecosystems of sustainable change. lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty. We are respectful We do our research We are local We invest in a community, not a resource We partner with communities to develop sustainable programs 12 FREE THE CHILDREN / WE CHARITY ANNUAL REPORT 2015 LOCALLY WE Charity continues to develop programming around the premise that TRANSFORM YOUTH youth are not problems to be solved, & COMMUNITIES but rather, are solutions to the problem Develop inspired agents of change as future change-makers.