National Bank Financial today announced a $1.5 million+ agreement with Free The Children to develop a three-year renewable program with a long-term vision devoted to helping young people achieve social engagement goals.
The partnership will be launched today through motivational speaking events in Toronto and Montreal, where Marc and Craig Kielburger, founders of Free The Children and friends of luminaries such as the Dalai Lama and Bill Clinton, will share their vision of social engagement with students.
“National Bank Financial is dedicated to childhood development and we hope to inspire the Canadian financial community as a whole to make a concrete difference in their communities, and by extension, around the world,” said Luc Paiement, co-president and co-CEO.
“In our quest to find bigger and better opportunities to achieve our own childhood development dreams, we befriended Free The Children, whose social engagement mandate fits perfectly with the charitable giving philosophy developed internally by National Bank Financial employees,” added Ricardo Pascoe, co-president and co-CEO, NBF.
The initial three-year program, supported by a $1.5 million cash investment as well as National Bank Financial office space and marketing resources, will involve four major initiatives:
- A national motivational speaking tour of 80 Canadian schools
- A “Me to We Awards” program to recognize youth volunteerism in Canada
- A custom-designed training program for children of NBF employees
- The expansion of Free The Children (Enfants Entraide) in Quebec
The speaking tour and training programs aim to bring an empowering message of volunteerism and social engagement to youth across Canada. The events will be led by expert facilitators, including Marc and Craig Kielburger, whose experiences with world-class orators like Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lamma have honed their ability to inspire tomorrow’s leaders.
The youth volunteerism program will include the “Me to We Awards”, which recognize exceptional youth volunteers, as well as a special educational day, which will bring together approximately 10,000 students concerned about leadership, social action and volunteerism. The pilot program will be held in Toronto in 2007 and should be rolled out to Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver in 2008.
This new partnership will also ensure French speaking children and youth in Quebec can learn about Free The Children’s social engagement message in their first language. For this, National Bank Financial will provide an office, writing and translation services, as well as its management and marketing expertise.
Every year, National Bank Financial contributes 1-1.5% of net after-tax income to socially responsible causes, with childhood development as a primary focus.
Free The Children is the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million young people involved in its innovative programs in 45 countries.