A different look at the WE controversy.

Kielburgers too eager to give platforms to wealthy and powerful

But WE is also very much about “me.”

I want to look at the WE controversy from a different angle. I want to reflect not so much on the conflict of interest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and of federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

Instead, let’s look at WE itself and what it stands for.

It’s definitely not fair to expect any one charity or social enterprise to transform the world.

But the “WE Movement” promotes a kind of secular theology – a sweeping line of thought. It presents itself as a relatively easy path to change the world, while embracing the wealthy and the powerful.

The WE Movement consists of an overlapping charity and social enterprise. The social enterprise is “ME to WE,” which partners with corporations on lines of products and offers international volun-tourism expeditions.

The WE Movement is fuelled by corporate partnerships, profits from the social enterprise, government grants and youth fundraising. WE boasts a network of WE Schools, WE Teachers, WE Villages, WE Companies and WE Families.

The WE philosophy, if we examine it, comes close to this: Service doesn’t really require sacrifice. You can change the world and advance your career at the same time.

According to WE’s founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, big corporations can develop a “halo.” They can recruit young “brand ambassadors” or even “fanatics”, notably by tapping into WE partnerships and big WE events (sometimes publicly subsidized) to reach youth and their parents.

This sounds a bit harsh. But the Kielburger brothers essentially reveal it themselves in their 2018 book “WEconomy.”

The Kielburgers wrote the book with Holly Branson of the Virgin Group of Companies (and daughter of business magnate

Richard Branson). In addition, Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, provided the book’s foreword.

The Kielburgers seem like decent people. I know they have inspired young people to volunteer their time. They have gotten projects off the ground. They have useful insights about how creative capitalism can lift communities up.

But their very rapid “scaling” (their term for growth) might have hurt them. They became too comfortable with celebrities and politicians. They move in those elite circles.

When he was 12 years old, Craig Kielburger had a meteoric rise to stardom by bringing together fellow seventh-graders in his suburban community near Toronto. He wanted to rescue children abroad who had been forced into hard labour and exploitation.

The outspoken young activist was noticed by American media. Meetings with important people quickly followed. Craig then spent much of his adolescence travelling around the world advancing the cause and connecting with politicians, CEOs and audiences on behalf of his organization, Free the Children. It later became WE.

WE now positions itself to be about all kinds of good things. “WE makes doing good, doable” its promotional material says. The stadium-sized, motivational “WE Days” are part of that.

But WE is also very much about “me.”

Writes Craig Kielburger: “I’ve never met a chief executive who feels they get enough credit for doing good.”

WE is happy to oblige CEOs with a platform. The book documents how big companies that have partnered with WE, like TELUS and the Royal Bank of Canada, have boosted their business and generated new customers as a result.

Meanwhile, young people “want to be heroes of their own stories in which they right the wrongs they see in the world.”

Volunteering can help your career, the Kielburgers emphasize. You can “get noticed by upper management.” Volunteering is also a “résumé builder.”

“Purpose pays,” they claim – for both workers and businesses.

“Maybe you want to inject a social mission into your business, as long as it doesn’t hurt the bottom line.”

In the WEconomy you can, they insist.

So I can see why WE was attractive to Justin Trudeau. He could appear to be changing the world, in the company of young people and celebrities, without really breaking a sweat or reforming systems. It was easy adulation.

Finally, a note to the quiet, burdened, unrewarded volunteers in our communities, whose motivation is actually love for others and selfless caring: Please persevere.

Your sacrifice matters. It’s people like you who will renew the face of the earth.