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ACCOUNTABILITY

ME to WE measures the bottom line by the number of lives we change and the positive social and environmental impacts we make. We are innovative, inspirational and intent on changing the world. And, we value integrity and accountability.

To that end, ME to WE is:

ME to WE is independently reviewed each year by Kestenberg Rabinowicz Partners LLP to ensure annual donation amounts are met. All practices and transactions are independently reviewed on a regular basis. ME to WE has a donation agreement prepared by Torys LLP and agreed to by respective boards of directors. Both boards of directors ensure that ME to WE is living up to its mission to help WE Charity achieve its goals.

WE Charity and ME to WE are separate corporate entities and organizations. Each has a separate governance and legal structure and its own board of directors.

WE Charity, an international charity, was established in 1995. Its award-winning international development model consists of five pillars—education, health care, clean water and sanitation, food security and alternative income and livelihood—that work together to remove the barriers to education and alleviate poverty.

ME to WE, a social enterprise, was established in 2005 to create an income source for WE Charity, so that it wasn’t solely dependent on donations. By donating half its net profits to WE Charity, ME to WE helps our partner charity achieve its charitable goals and its holistic, sustainable development model. By re-investing the other half, ME to WE can continue to scale and ensure sustainability.

To ensure that the relatively new concept of this social enterprise meets Canadian legal requirements, the distinct and separate governance and legal structure of WE Charity and ME to WE has been reviewed by:

  • Corporate lawyers from Torys LLP and Miller Thomson Lawyers
  • Our accounting firms
  • The Public Guardian Trustee of Ontario
  • The Ontario Superior Court
  • The Right Honourable John Turner, former Prime Minister and corporate lawyer through a formal legal review
  • Justice Peter Corey, who provided an independent evaluation of the relationship between ME to WE and WE Charity and in particular, a review of our founders role in the organizations

For more on background on the founding of ME to WE social enterprise, click here.

Jason Saul, CEO of Mission Measurement, who did an independent eight-month review of the organization has said, “What I found most impressive is the ME to WE business model: the organization is designed to be financially self-sufficient by using market-based strategies to advance important social outcomes. I think that ME to WE should serve as an exemplar for how to generate economic value by advancing a social mission.”

ME to WE keeps its costs as low as possible. All salaries of ME to WE employees in North America are in line with Imagine Canada results of the Canadian charitable sector compensation study as well as that of Charity Navigator in the United States.

In 2011, ME to WE and WE Charity asked a retired Canadian Supreme Court justice to independently review the organizations and the relationship between them, the role of their founders and governance model. Both organizations were issued an unqualified laudatory report.

ME to WE has formed a Board and Advisory Board to help ensure the organization lives true to its mission of supporting WE Charity and becomes a model for social entrepreneurship.

For our Board and Advisory Board, click here.