Carly Rae Jepsen, Bridgit Mendler and Demi Lovato announced to join headliners the Jonas Brothers and Mia Farrow at We Day Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- International charity and educational partner Free The Children, in partnership with Title sponsors Cheerios, Green Giant and Yoplait, announced the second group of names joining the star-studded lineup set to inspire 18,000 students who have earned their way through service to attend the first-ever We Day Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on October 8.

Sharing their passion for change, international experiences and energizing the crowd with unforgettable performances will be multi-platinum, chart-topping artists the Jonas Brothers and Carly Rae Jepsen along with renowned speakers including Barbara Pierce Bush, award-winning actress and activist Mia Farrow, international activists and Free The Children co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger. Also joining via Skype for an important message will be award-winning singer-songwriter and Free The Children ambassador, Demi Lovato.

Considering We Day has been called the Super Bowl for service, the event's all-star roster will fittingly include NFL players from the Minnesota Vikings and other local dignitaries and personalities, including We Day co-chairs and siblings, Dean Phillips and Hutton Phillips, the Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, Minnesota Commissioner of Education, Brenda Cassellius, Mayor of St. Paul, Chris Coleman, Jack Jablonski and spoken word poet and rapper Dessa.

In the year of the 50^th anniversary of his father's memorable I Have a Dream speech, an exciting addition to the lineup is human rights advocate Martin Luther King III, who will be speaking at all We Day events across North America in 2013.

Leading the electrified crowd as a co-host will be platinum selling artist and star of Disney's Good Luck Charlie, Bridgit Mendler.

The full list of speakers and performers announced to date includes:

• Mark Dayton (@GovMarkDayton) – Governor of Minnesota
• Brenda Cassellius (@BCassellius) – Commissioner of Education, Minnesota
• Chris Coleman (@mayorcoleman) – Mayor of St. Paul
• Jonas Brothers (@jonasbrothers) – GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum artists
• Carly Rae Jepsen (@carlyraejepsen) – GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum singer-songwriter 
• Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) – Award-winning singer-songwriter and Free The Children ambassador
• Bridgit Mendler (@bridgitmendler) – Platinum selling artist and star of Disney's Good Luck Charlie
• Barbara Pierce Bush – Humanitarian, Co-founder and President, Global Health Corps and daughter of Former US President George W. Bush
• Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) – NFL players
• Martin Luther King III – Human Rights advocate and eldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) – Award-winning actress, activist and United Nations ambassador
• The Tenors (@TenorsMusic) – Juno Award-winning Multi-platinum singers
• Katie Garfield (@KatieGarfield) – Singer-songwriter and actress
• Dessa (@dessadarling) – Doomtree Records recording artist, rapper, singer, poet, and essayist
• Jack Jablonski (@Jabs_13) – Local Benilde – St. Margaret's teen who suffered a spinal cord injury during a hockey game
• Kenyan Boys Choir (@BoysChoirKenya) – Traditional African male choir, who sang at the 2009 inauguration of President Obama
• We Day Minnesota co-chairs and siblings Hutton Phillips and Dean Phillips who also serves as Chairman of Talenti Gelato and Co-Chair of the Edward J.  Phillips Family Foundation
• Marissa Mohammed – Youth speaker from the Banyan Community Center
• Native Pride Arts – Indigenous youth performers whose mission is to educate, inspire, motivate and empower diverse communities
• Craig and Marc Kielburger (@craigkielburger) – International activists and co-founders of Free The Children
• Spencer West (@spencer2thewest) – Me to We inspirational speaker, Free The Children ambassador, author and double amputee who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on his hands and in his wheelchair in June 2012
• Molly Burke (@mollymetowe) – Visually impaired Me to We motivational speaker who speaks out against bullying and the power of hope
• Hannah Alper – 10-year-old youth speaker
• Robin Wiszowaty (@robininkenya) – Me to We motivational speaker, author and Free The Children Program Director in Ghana and Kenya
• Chris Tse – Me to We inspirational speaker, national spoken word champion and humanitarian
• More to be announced…

"I had the opportunity this past summer to participate with Free The Children's communities in Kenya, and see first-hand the lasting impact that youth in North America are making through their charitable work," said Joe Jonas from the Grammy®-nominated, multi-platinum band the Jonas Brothers. "I understand what it means to these communities to have access to clean water and an education and I was thrilled to get involved by committing to help build two schools overseas with Free The Children.  It may seem like a simple assignment to make one local and one global commitment, but these efforts fundamentally impact the lives of people around the world."

We Day is a stadium-sized educational event and a movement of young people leading local and global change. We Day is tied to the year-long program, We Act, which supports students and educators with free educational resources, student-led campaigns and support materials to help turn the event's inspiration into sustained activation. Since 2007, youth involved in the We Act program have raised $37 million dollars for over 1,000 local and global causes and logged more than 9.6 million volunteer hours.

The 2013/2014 We Day season will be the largest season to date. We Day will see more than 160,000 in attendance in 12 cities across North America, and internationally for the first time with We Day UK in spring 2014, truly making this a global movement for change.

We Day and the We Act program are free of charge to the thousands of students and educators in attendance at the event and state-wide, thanks to the generous support of sponsors led in Minnesota by Title Sponsors Cheerios, Green Giant and Yoplait along with other supporters, including Bremer Bank, the Otto Bremer Foundation, The Edward J. Phillips Family Foundation and the Carlson Family Foundation.

Stay connected:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/weday
• Twitter: @craigkielburger @freethechildren #WeDay #Minnesota
• Click to tweet: .@freethechildren announces lineup for first #WeDay #Minnesota, incl. @bridgitmendler @jonasbrothers @carlyraejepsen @craigkielburger @ddlovato
• Visit www.weday.com
• Full bios, photos and information available here 

About Free The Children
Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner. Founded in 1995 by international activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children believes in a world where young people are free to achieve their fullest potential, and empowers youth to remove barriers that prevent them from being active local and global citizens. The organization's domestic programs—which includes We Day, Free The Children's signature youth empowerment event—educate, engage and empower 1.7 million young people across North America, the UK and around the world to become engaged global citizens. Its international projects have brought more than 650 schools and school rooms to youth and provided clean water and sanitation, health care and food security to one million people around the world, freeing children and their families from the cycle of poverty.

The organization has received the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child, the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non‐Governmental Organizations, and has formed successful partnerships with leading school boards and Oprah's Angel Network. For more information, visit www.freethechildren.com.

For more information on We Day or to request an interview with a We Day speaker, please contact:

Angie Gurley
Director PR & Publicity, Free The Children
416-432-9291
[email protected]

SOURCE Free The Children

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