Free The Children’s co-founder Craig Kielburger was the main headline at this year’s Soar! Student Leadership Conference led by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).
Kielburger, who opened the conference Jan. 23, told stories of his work with building schools in the Ecuadorian Highlands and encouraged Carleton students to work together with residence and faculty staff to achieve collective social good.
“I would love to see the day that everyone has to take the skill set they are learning and apply it to make a tangible impact on the world,” Kielburger said. “How wonderful would it would be if Carleton would become the first university in Canada to comprehensively build out that type of program.”
This is the second annual Soar! conference, hosted by Carleton’s Student Experience Office (SEO) and the Residence Housing and Life Services.
Fahd Alhattab, CUSA president, said the association has a responsibility to give students opportunities to grow outside of academics and develop important leadership skills for post-graduate life.
“We settled on Craig as the keynote speaker because of his youth, his story, and his ability to truly connect with an audience,” Alhattab said. “I think Craig has an amazing ability to share his message.”
Alhattab also said Kielburger was a great fit to help inspire students to participate in alternative spring-break trips, for which the SEO partners with Free The Children.
Kielburger, 33, challenged Carleton students to benefit their communities by volunteering to help student refugees and said he would be in favour of university students having to complete mandatory service hours in order to graduate.
“There is no single solution to end poverty,” Kielburger stated. “Only small contributions for a collective cause.”
Hayley Kirsh, a residence fellow, said Kielburger’s speech was appreciated by conference attendees.
“Craig really set the tone for the whole day,” Kirsh said. “I find his servant-style approach to leading Free The Children similar to working in residence life. We are taught to lead through support, and I try to do that in my everyday role.”
