Three decades after starting Free The Children as two brothers from Thornhill, Marc and Craig Kielburger are co-hosting a podcast with the King family and rethinking what legacy means.
Long before most Torontonians knew their names, Marc and Craig Kielburger were two brothers from Thornhill, just north of the city, with an unusually big idea. In 1995, 12-year-old Craig read a newspaper story about Iqbal Masih, a former child labourer his own age who had become an activist, and decided to act. With his older brother Marc, he founded Free The Children, built on the belief that young people could drive change on the issues they cared about.
Three decades later, the Kielburger brothers still work as a pair. What they work on has changed.
What are the Kielburger brothers doing now?
Today, Marc and Craig Kielburger, the Kielburger brothers from Thornhill, Ontario, co-lead Legacy+, a team of strategists, creators and storytellers that helps companies, foundations and individuals build purpose-driven movements and legacy projects. The brothers also serve as chancellors of Legacy College, co-host the My Legacy Podcast with Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King in partnership with iHeartMedia, and have a new book with the Kings due in November 2026.
Instead of fronting a single cause, Marc and Craig Kielburger now work largely behind the scenes, helping other leaders shape their impact and tell that story well.
What is the My Legacy Podcast?
The My Legacy Podcast is the most public part of the brothers’ current work. Craig and Marc Kielburger co-host the show with Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King, in partnership with iHeartMedia, and its conversations return to one theme: legacy, and what people choose to build with the time they have.
The partnership with the Kings began on the page. Together, the Kielburgers and the Kings co-wrote What Is My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Fulfillment, which carries a foreword by the Dalai Lama. A second book with the Kings, focused on happiness and fulfillment, is due in November 2026.
What is Marc Kielburger focused on today?
Marc Kielburger, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, focuses his work on helping people live fulfilled lives. His framework for it, the Longevity Trifecta, has three parts: the science of healthy aging, everyday habits and a sense of purpose, built on the idea that a longer life matters most when it is also a fulfilled one.
What is Craig Kielburger focused on today?
Craig Kielburger has spent three decades building movements, starting with Free The Children, which grew from a 12-year-old’s idea into a global youth movement. Today, through Legacy+, he helps companies, foundations and individuals build purpose-driven movements of their own. A father of three, Craig has also spoken about how parenthood reshaped the way he thinks about legacy.
Side by side, the brothers’ two focuses share one question: what makes a life meaningful, and how do you build one on purpose? Marc Kielburger answers it by helping people live fulfilled lives, Craig Kielburger by building movements around a shared purpose.
How have the Kielburger brothers been recognized?
Marc and Craig Kielburger are both Members of the Order of Canada and inductees of Canada’s Walk of Fame. Together, the brothers have written more than a dozen books, several of them New York Times bestsellers.
What comes next for the Kielburger brothers?
With a new book due in November 2026 and the My Legacy Podcast continuing its conversations, Marc and Craig Kielburger are still doing what they started in 1995: asking how ordinary people can make a difference, and helping others find their own answer. Readers can follow the brothers’ current projects at kielburgers.com.