WE Day UN unites young change-makers in New York with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Martin Luther King III, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos and more

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Sep 26, 2018, 07:00 ET

– WE Day UN will stream live at 10:00 a.m. ET on September 26, 2018 at we.org/watchweday –
– WE Day UN is free to thousands of students in the Tri-State area thanks to partners led by Co-Title Sponsors Allstate Foundation Good Starts Young, Unilever, Walgreens and Microsoft –
– WE Day UN is in partnership with UN Women, UNAIDS, UN Global Compact, and other UN agencies –
– Bios, photos and information for WE Day UN available on the Electronic Press Kit –

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Today WE Day returns to New York bringing together students and educators from across the Tri-State area to Barclays Center to celebrate young people committed to making a difference and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This powerful event features renowned speakers, innovative thought leaders and performers including co-hosts Sofia Carson, Skai Jackson, Angie Martinez and Jenna Ortega alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Darrin Criss, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Martin Luther King III, Ndaba Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos, Jacob Tremblay, youth and gender equality advocate and wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and more joined by WE co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger.

During the 73^rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), WE Day UN is held with participation from UN Women, UNAIDS and UN Global Compact and promotes SDG #4 (Quality Education) in addition to SDGs such as Gender Equality, Health and Wellness, No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Clean Water and Sanitation. Together WE and the UN agencies believe that young people are powerful and active agents for change. WE Day UN is made possible by partners led by Co-Title Sponsors Allstate Foundation Good Starts Young, Unilever, Walgreens and Microsoft.

"The young people at WE Day give me hope that a better world and a more united America is possible," said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer, NY Times best-selling author and columnist. "To return to New York, where it all started for me and witness thousands of students at WE Day UN fills me with pride. Their phenomenal actions and leadership are really something to be celebrated and I am honoured to be a part of it and help inspire another year of change."

Students in attendance can't buy a ticket—they earn their way by taking action on one local and one global cause of their choice. More than a one-day event, WE Day is connected to the free, yearlong program WE Schools. Designed to enhance a school's or community's existing social initiatives or spark new ones, WE Schools provides participants with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns, encouraging students to further their curricular learning and develop life skills to succeed beyond the classroom.

In the 2017/2018 school year, over 5,000 schools and groups across the United States involved in the WE Schools program volunteered over 5 million hours and collected 3.5 million lbs. of food for local shelters. In the Tri-State area alone, students collected more than 97,000 lbs. of food for local shelters, and volunteered over one million hours, with a passion for taking action on local and global causes including mental wellbeing, homelessness, food security, the environment and access to clean water and education.

"Today we celebrate the thousands of young leaders from across the Tri-State area who are committed to creating change at home and around the world," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE, who started the organization at the age of 12-years-old. "The youth at WE Day UN really demonstrate there is no limit to the impact that young people can ignite when they come together to tackle the causes they are passionate about."

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

Human rights advocate and eldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King III, inspires thousands of youth in attendance, sharing that age is no limit when paired with the strength of a movement and community
Actor and singer, Darren Criss, mesmerizes the WE Day audience with an acoustic rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream"
Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau empowers the students at WE Day to believe in themselves and one another as they continue to take action on pressing social issues

"By sharing my own story on stage at WE Day UN, my hope is to encourage and inspire young people to have the courage to speak up so others will be able to feel safe enough to also raise their voices," said Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.

WE Day is supported in the Tri-State area by co-chairs Carolyn Everson, Vice President, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook; Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever; Ornella Barra, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance; and Lynne Doughtie, Chairman and CEO, KPMG US. WE Day is supported nationally by co-chairs Tom Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Allstate; Jane Francisco, Editorial Director of Hearst Lifestyle Group and Editor in Chief of Good Housekeeping; and Steve Robinson, Zilliance and Officer LAPD/Hawthorne PD & Janet Crown, Founder/CEO, Burn 60 Studios.

About WE
WE Day is part of WE, a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE enables youth and families to better the world—supporting 7,200+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, WE teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,500 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.