Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll and Doug Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks, Lily Collins, Allen Stone, Grace VanderWaal, Buzz Aldrin, Jordan Fisher, Yara Shahidi and More Come Together at WE Day Seattle to Celebrate Young People Changing the World

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Apr 21, 2017, 10:00 ET

SEATTLE, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 15,000 Seattle youth will come together at the KeyArena at the Seattle Center for WE Day, an international series of inspiring stadium-sized events that celebrate the power young people have to solve pressing social issues. The event brings together world renowned speakers and performers, including Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll and Doug Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks, Lily Collins, Allen Stone, Grace VanderWaal, Buzz Aldrin, Jordan Fisher, Skai Jackson, Yara Shahidi, Jenna Ortega and more.

WE Day streams live today starting at 9 a.m. PDT at we.org/watchweday
Photos available at WE Day Seattle Electronic Press Kit by 4 p.m. PDT
WE Day Seattle is free to thousands of students thanks to partners led by Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation

WE Day Seattle, made possible by Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation, pairs its star-studded lineup with international activists and WE co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger. Together, they bring the greatest classroom in the world to Seattle to celebrate the remarkable volunteer efforts of students from the 575 schools in attendance—and the tens of thousands more watching the event streamed live on WE.org/watchweday. This day of unforgettable performances and motivational speeches will inspire youth to continue taking action on issues such as bullying, education and poverty—achieving transformative outcomes for themselves and others.

"We're so proud of these students and educators who continue to be dedicated to creating positive change in our world," said Pete Carroll, Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks and WE Day Seattle Co-Chair. "It fires us up to see the WE movement that started here in Seattle continue to spread across the country."

Speakers and performers at WE Day Seattle will energize the crowd through a full day of powerful educational speeches, inspirational moments and empowering performances. A few must-see highlights include:

Golden Globe nominated actress and author, Lily Collins, will inspire the young people in the audience by sharing her experiences with bullying and shedding light on her new book, "Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me"
Soul and R&B singer/songwriter, Allen Stone, will keep the audience on their feet as he performs his hit songs "Freedom" and "Perfect World"
Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson will speak as co-chair and introduce an exemplary youth to be awarded the "Why Not You" Foundation award

More than a one-day event, WE Day is connected to the free, educational program WE Schools. Providing schools and community groups with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns, this program is designed to enhance a school's existing social initiatives or spark new ones. In the 2015/2016 school year, more than 650 schools and groups across the state made an impact locally and globally through WE Schools. Students volunteered more than 500,000 hours and raised over $900,000 in support of 605 organizations, supporting local and global causes. The students at Pe Ell School District for example, collected and donated food to their local food bank as part of the WE Schools WE Scare Hunger campaign. In addition to a donation of $18,000 in gift cards provided by the Lewis County Rotary Club, students were able to feed 39 families in need.

"Every year, more than 200,000 students from over 10,000 schools around the globe earn their tickets to WE Day through the yearlong WE Schools program, creating positive impacts in their communities," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "WE Day Seattle will unite and celebrate thousands of young leaders who are working passionately for the causes they care about most, creating sustainable change in their own backyards and around the world."

During the 2015/2016 school year, 81 percent of Washington state educators participating in WE Schools felt they were better equipped to teach about social justice issues through service-based learning opportunities for their students; 89 percent of educators said their students felt a greater connection to their local communities; and 81 percent of educators said the program engaged previously disengaged youth.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, actress and model Ciara, were recently announced as WE Day Seattle co-chairs. Together, Russell and Ciara join fellow co-chairs including Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll; Executive VP, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft, Judson Althoff; and Jolene McCaw Family Foundation Founder Jolene McCaw, helping to champion WE Day across the state.

Youth from across Seattle, Washington State and the U.S. will be able to experience the unrivaled energy at WE Day Seattle. This year, for the first time, WE Day will use the Microsoft Educator Community site to showcase live video messages to even more students and educators who cannot join the show in person. Following the live event there will be an hour-long highlight show available to stream or download.

You can't buy a ticket to WE Day—students from across the country earn their way by the actions they take on one local and one global cause of their choice. WE Day is free of charge to students and educators, thanks to the generous support of Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation. Microsoft is proud to empower young people—in Seattle and around the world—with the resources, skills, and inspiration they need to create a more inclusive world. The Allstate Foundation believes good starts young, and is committed to empowering America's youth with the strength, confidence and leadership skills to step us as leaders and achieve success in their lives.

Visit WE.org to take the WE Pledge, a commitment to living WE by making a difference every day.

About WE Day
WE Day is part of WE—an organization that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world. A unique family of organizations, WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering change with resources that create sustainable impact, and ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences that allow people to do good through their everyday choices. The celebration of that change happens at WE Day—inspiring stadium-sized life-changing events that take place around the world. You can't buy a ticket to WE Day—young people earn their entry by taking action on one local and one global cause. WE Day unites world renowned speakers, presenters and award-winning performers with thousands of young people and families to celebrate and inspire another year of incredible change. This year alone over 200,000 young people will come together in 17 stadium gatherings across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. to take part in this unprecedented educational initiative.

A movement of 3.4 million young people supporting 2,500+ local and global causes, we've provided more than 1 million people with clean water and built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, giving more than 200,000 children access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by humanitarians, activists and social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the WE movement today at www.we.org.

About Microsoft
www.Microsoft.com/WEDay

About The Allstate Foundation
https://www.allstatefoundation.org/goodstartsyoung/

For more information on WE Day or to request an interview, please contact:

Kendra Thompson
Associate Director, Public Relations, WE Day
+1-647-607-9564
[email protected]

Sarah Evans
Manager, Public Relations, WE Day
+1-647-462-0654
[email protected]

SOURCE WE Day