What began as a casual conversation between Craig Keilburger, champion of youth leadership and service learning and co-founder of WE, and Hartley Richardson, CEO of James Richardson and Sons, in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, turned into the realization of a long-term vision. The WE Global Learning Centre is the product of an initial landmark gift, many supporters and the actualization of a “campus for good”.
The WGLC is a unique space and a place to collaborate. “By bringing the WE organization together under one roof, the WE Global Learning Centre offers young people a dedicated learning and shared community space in a global classroom environment,” said Richardson who was drawn in to the WE cause of making doing good doable through his daughter’s involvement with the organization. Hartley was on the panel that greeted the media at the press conference before the ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 27, 2017. Craig expressed his gratitude to “…Hartley Richardson, the Richardson foundation, David Aisenstat and all of the visionaries and organizations who believe in the ability young people have t create and lead meaningful change through service-learning opportunities…” This space is a welcoming, state-of-the-art facility to engage local and global communities and empower people to make a difference.
There we many aspects of this heritage building and transformed furniture store at the corner of Queen and Parliament that make this Corktown addition so inviting. Some of the highlights of the space that we toured included:
WE Connectivity Hub- These Skype rooms allow youth and educators across Canada and the World to have a space to connect with and learn from each other.
The Legacy Room: In collaboration with Gord Downie and the Wenjack foundation and in honour of Chanie Wenjack, the subject of Downie’s album and film titled Secret Path, this room reflects WE’s commitment to improving the lives of First Peoples and contributing to Canada’s collective journey towards reconciliation.
WE Wall of Fame: This is a plaque to honour some of the many heroes, celebrities and inspirational speakers that have supported WE on the WE Day stages and throughout their various campaigns.
The Incubation Hub: This is a space for social entrepreneurship. Students can submit action plans which, once approved, allow them the physical space for collaboration and assigns them a mentor to incubate and accelerate social enterprises by young people, for young people. They are beginning with a small local group and looking to expand to support as many students as possible, both in person and virtually.
The Hartley T. Richardson Empatheatre (to promote empathy): This space offers an area for interactive events, speeches, films and workshops.
Gratitude Wall- There is a screen with an acacia tree showing many messages of gratitude and pledges of next steps.
Filming and Broadcast Studios: As a platform for real-time storytelling opportunities, WE’s filming and broadcast studies allow for sharing stories as broadcasts or webcasts live on social media and, hopefully one day, a place to podcast and share on VoicEd Radio Canada.
WE has already done so much for so many. Craig and Marc reported an increase in volunteerism and service learning among young people since they first began this journey, for which they can easily be recognized as key catalysts. They have brought over 1.5 million people permanently out of poverty who are now self sufficient in sustainable industries, and they plan to add another million to that statistic. They have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and school rooms overseas and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. This a movement born from the heart and soul of its co-founders and propelled through meaningful connections and deep engagement . The launch of the WE Global Learning Centre is the beginning of the next phase of this amazing offering.
When Craig, at the age of 12, read an article about Iqbal Masih’s murder by the “carpet mafia”, he wanted to take a stand and end child slavery. 20 years later, he and his brother have built the WE organization as a beacon of possibility and a movement worth joining. Today is WE Day in Toronto and my first year in 5 not being there with my students during the day or, as of last year, my daughters for We Day Family. Although I will miss the day of inspiration, I am so glad that I got to represent VoicEd and bare witness to the launch of this permanent physical space. It is a place to connect people from the community, across the country and throughout the world in meaningful civic action and help them work together to create positive changes in our world.
There is an open house this Saturday from 1-5 if you want to check it out.
