Today, We Day and Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft YouthSpark and Allstate announce the star-studded lineup of speakers and performers for We Day Seattle, taking place on April 23, 2015 at the KeyArena at the Seattle Center. We Day Seattle will bring together 15,000 students and teachers in an inspirational setting celebrating the commitment they have made to take action locally and globally.
The initial We Day Seattle lineup of speakers and performers was revealed this morning by Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll and Washington State students from Big Picture School, Edison Elementary School and Grandview High School during a special interactive Skype announcement. The Skype announcement is available here.
“We are all so grateful and excited to be a part of We Day Seattle for the third straight year,” said Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and We Day Seattle co-chair. “It is a tremendous opportunity to applaud the hard work and dedication that thousands of students have committed to over this past year. So many of these young people cheer us on all year, and now we get to cheer them on – to celebrate their power to make a change in their schools, their communities and our world.”
Taking to the stage this year is a cast of returning favorites and new faces, including Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid and forwards Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, Lennon & Maisy, Pete Carroll, Laila Ali, The Head and The Heart, Apolo Ohno, Nina Dobrev, Dr. Mae Jemison, Hannah Simone, Seattle Seahawks Doug Baldwin, Luke Willson and Bobby Wagner and Kweku Mandela. Along with others, this all-star lineup will join international activists and We Day co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, to share their passion for change, international experiences, and energize the crowd with unforgettable performances and motivational speeches.
Roger Levesque, Director of Community Outreach for Sounders FC, has participated as a speaker in the past.
"Inspiration is everywhere at We Day," said Levesque. "From the speakers to the students, everyone involved recognizes the importance of giving back. I think that soccer provides a unique platform for positive impact and that Clint, Oba and Sigi are great ambassadors for the sport and Sounders FC."
“Today’s generation of young people – the Me to We generation – have the power to create and lead real systemic change through We Day, North America’s national celebration of service,” said We Day co- founder Craig Kielburger. “Over 200,000 students from 5,000 schools earn their tickets to We Day by committing to take action on local and global causes they care about. They are truly moving the needle on some of today’s most important issues.”
We Day is the movement of our time – a movement of young people leading local and global change. Taking the philanthropic world by storm with events in the US, Canada and the UK, We Day is one of the world’s largest registered charities on social media, with more than five million followers. This year alone hundreds of thousands of 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 committing to take action on local and 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 Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft YouthSpark and Allstate.
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 are a blueprint for building the next generation of global citizens.
