Peter Dalglish

Peter Dalglish is a leading authority on working children, street children, and war-affected children. After graduating from Stanford and Dalhousie Law School, Peter Dalglish organized an airlift of food and medical supplies from Canada to the starving African nation. His encounter with emaciated refugees seared him for life. At the age of 28 Peter Dalglish was appointed by the UN’s World Food Programme to coordinate emergency operations in Darfur along the Chadian border. A chance encounter with a street child in Khartoum in 1986 led to Peter Dalglish founding The Sudan’s first bicycle courier service, run entirely by homeless children displaced by war and famine.

Inspired by the tenacity and ingenuity of kids whom society had written off, Peter Dalglish returned to Canada in 1987 to launch Street Kids International. Armed with $200, a borrowed office and an American Express card, he created an agency that has become a global leader in designing creative self-help projects for poor, urban children. In 1994 Street Kids International received the coveted Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-Profit Innovation.

Peter Dalglish is a founding board member of Ashoka Canada, and has received three honorary degrees in recognition of his accomplishments. He is the recipient of the Fellowship of Man Award and the Dalhousie Law School Weldon Award for Public Service. He has a passion for canoeing, swimming, trekking, and opening doors for talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.