Head Coach Pete Carroll And Seattle Seahawks, Shay Mitchell, Laila Ali, Apolo Ohno, Hannah Simone, Seattle Sounders FC And Kweku Mandela Come Together At We Day Seattle To Inspire Young People To Change The World

SEATTLE, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the world's largest youth empowerment event of its kind, We Day, along with Regional Co-Title Sponsor Microsoft YouthSpark and National Co-Title Sponsor Allstate, bring together renowned speakers and chart-topping musical artists including Head Coach Pete Carroll and Seattle Seahawks Doug Baldwin, Bobby Wagner and Luke Willson, Shay Mitchell, Sounders FC players Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, Laila Ali, Hannah Simone, Kweku Mandela, Dr. Mae Jemison, Jhene Aiko, The Head and the Heart, and Apolo Ohno to inspire local youth who have taken action on issues they care about.

Along with international activists and co-founders of We Day, Craig and Marc Kielburger and other motivating speakers and performers, We Day's star-studded lineup is set to engage and inspire 15,000 students and educators from over 500 schools that are taking action on local and global causes that are important to them.

We Day Seattle highlights some of the greatest social issues of today and provides the young people in attendance, and tens of thousands more watching the event streamed live on www.q13fox.com, ways in which they can find their place within the movement to create global change. Shay Mitchell, Actress from the hit television series Pretty Little Liars and host of We Day Seattle, will lead the crowd through a day full of powerful educational speeches, inspirational moments and electric performances. A few must-see moments include:

• Enlightening the audience with a conversation about the past, present and future of space travel,first woman of color in space, physician, scientist, engineer, explorer and futurist, Dr. Mae Jemison, is interviewed byactress from the hit television series New Girl, Hannah Simone
• Youth sing along to the charismatic performances by actors and musicians who play Maddie and Daphne Conrad on ABC's Nashville, Lennon & Maisy, as they sing the popular covers of Charli XCX'sBoom Clap and The Lumineers'Ho Hey
• TV host, Author, Fit & Wellness Expert, Four-time boxing world champion and daughter of global icon & humanitarian Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali, educates the audience about self-esteem and teamwork through her personal experiences

"Watching We Day grow from year one to year three and achieve sustained success over that time has been a great joy for all of us," said Head Coach and co-chair of We Day Seattle, Pete Carroll. "Students across the Pacific NW are in a relentless pursuit of creating positive change here and around the world year after year, making We Day a championship movement in Seattle and beyond."

"I feel very fortunate to be back at We Day," said Laila Ali. "These youth have the strength to do anything they put their minds to and being a part of this inspirational event has been a remarkable experience."

"All of the students here have spent the last year earning their tickets," said We Day co-founder Craig Kielburger. "Today we have chart-topping artists, world-renowned speakers and incredible youth on the stage motivating students in the audience by sharing the issues they are passionate about. We Day is a celebration of service but the real work starts when these young people go back to their classrooms and communities, empowered to make a difference. With over 520 schools and groups in Washington involved in our We Act program, these youth have been able to achieve remarkable change. Last year, Washington schools raised over $778,290 for local and global initiatives and collected over 242,020 pounds of food for local food banks. Since the program came to Washington in 2013, students have logged nearly 1.2 million hours of volunteer service."

The lineup of acts taking the state at We Day Seattle include: Pete Carroll, Shay Mitchell, Laila Ali, Bridgit Mendler, Lennon & Maisy, Hannah Simone, Jhene Aiko, The Head and the Heart, Lily Collins, Apolo Ohno, Dr. Mae Jemison, Kweku Mandela, Doug Baldwin, Luke Willson, Bobby Wagner, Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Marco James, Becca Tobin, Shelton Harris, Bars and Melody, Mohammad Ashour, Luke Bilyk, Kardinal Offishall, JRDN, Mustafa the Poet, Spencer West and Craig and Marc Kielburger. Hi-res photos and bios are available here for download.

We Day Seattle will also see local young leaders and performers take the stage including Gabi Ury, a 16-year-old Guinness Book of World Records female planking champion, Kat Tiscornia, a philanthropist and inspirational speaker, Gracie Schram, a singer, songwriter and philanthropist and YMCA Alive & Free Street Outreach Workers Brandon Shell and Mark Rivers.

We Day is the movement of our time – a movement of young people leading local and global change. We Day celebrates and inspires this generation's shift from me to we – towards acting with intention, leading with compassion, and belief in this power of community. We Day is one of the world's largest registered charities on social media, with more than five million followers. This year alone 200,000 young people will come together in stadium gatherings in 14 cities to take part in this unprecedented educational initiative.

You can't buy a ticket to We Day. Young people earn them by taking on one local and one global causes of their choice. We Day provides a platform for youth to' learn about some of today's pressing social issues helping to inspire them to become leaders and global citizens and to take action on the issues most important to them. We Day is free of charge to the thousands of students and educators in attendance, thanks to the generous support of sponsors led by National Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft YouthSpark and Allstate.

"Our support of We Day Seattle is an important part of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative as we share the vision of empowering young people to create and capture opportunities that are changing the world," said Lori Forte Harnick, General Manager, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft. "We are proud to cheer on the thousands of students who are creating change and those who are using technology to do more and achieve more in their lives and communities."

"Allstate is committed to empowering youth because we believe they will make the world a better place," said Vicky Dinges, senior vice president, Corporate Responsibility, Allstate. "We know that good starts young. Our youth have a powerful sense of purpose and determination. We're proud to support and encourage them to keep making a difference because their efforts matter to all of us."

More than a one-day event, We Day is connected to the year-long We Act program, which provides educational resources and campaigns to help young people turn the day's inspiration into sustained action. We Day and We Act are cause inclusive, empowering young people to find their passion and create the change they want to see. Together, We Day and We Act form a blueprint for building the next generation of global citizens.

Stay connected with We Day and Facebook through the following social networking channels:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/weday
• Twitter: @weday @craigkielburger
• #WeDay
• Visit: www.weday.com

About We Day
www.weday.com

For more information, please contact:

Alison Clarke
Associate Director
PR & Publicity
M: 416-706-3652
W : 416-925-5894 x340
[email protected]

SOURCE We Day

Related Links

http://www.weday.com