WE Day Unites Young Change-makers in Seattle With Ciara, Russell Wilson, Noah Cyrus, Ann Curry, Diane Guerrero, Rachel Platten and More

"Our future generations are facing many societal challenges and it is vital that they are unified in their pursuit of solutions to those challenges," said Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl wide receiver, Doug Baldwin. "I think that is the overwhelming message here today."

More than a one-day event, WE Day is connected to the free, yearlong educational program WE Schools. The program provides schools and community groups with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns designed to enhance a school's existing social initiatives or spark new ones. WE Schools encourages students to further their curricular learning and develop life skills for success beyond the classroom. In the 2016/2017 school year, over 700 schools and groups across Washington improved their communities through WE Schools, volunteering more than 657,000 hours and raising over $1,800,000 in support of more than 610 local and global causes including hunger, homelessness, poverty and bullying.

"Today we celebrate remarkable students who are part of the WE generation—young leaders from across Washington who have committed to creating change at home and around the world," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "With the support of their incredible teachers, these students joined together in support of local and global organizations, affecting countless lives just this year alone. WE Day Seattle celebrates their world-changing achievements and inspires another year of working together towards positive impact."

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

• WE Day Seattle Co-Chair and Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll kicks off the show with a special message to youth making a positive impact across Washington.
• WE Day Seattle Co-Chairs Ciara and Russell Wilson speak about the Why Not You Foundation—established by Russell Wilson to empower change in the world, one individual and one child at a time—and present the winners of the foundation's Washington Youth Leadership Award awards.
• Singer Noah Cyrus energizes the crowd with performances of her hit songs All Falls Down and Make Me Cry.
• A 'Wonder'-full moment: Multi-award winning actor Jacob Tremblay is joined on stage by Nathaniel Newman, thirteen-year-old spokesperson, raising awareness about Treacher Collins syndrome, to speak about celebrating each other's differences and choosing to treat others with kindness.

WE Day Seattle speakers, presenters, and performers, in alphabetical order, include:

Devon Adelman, Rasheda Ali, Emilia Allard, Doug Baldwin, Pete Carroll, Celebrity Marauders, Ciara, Cornelius "Corn" Cambronero, Ann Curry, Noah Cyrus, Jakayla Dixon, Diane Guerrero, Anthony Gonzalez, Jack & Jack, Sargun Handa, Laurie Hernandez, Olivia Holt, Kenyan Boys Choir, Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger, Silken Laumann, Jewell Loyd, Marlee Matlin, Milanni Matautia, Tara Nadella, Nathaniel Newman, Rachel Platten, Jayme Powers, Rhiannon Rasaretnam, Becky Savage, Makenna Schwab, Fawn R. Sharp, Sol, Breanna Stewart, Alyson Stoner, Jacob Tremblay, Esera Tuaolo, Lizzie Velasquez, Spencer West and Russell Wilson.

A key theme at WE Day Seattle this year will be accessibility and inclusion, with Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer, Jenny Lay-Flurrie, taking the stage to speak about empowering young people to use technology as a force for inclusion.

"There is enormous potential for the next generation of leaders, innovators, and volunteers, to create a more accessible and inclusive world," said Microsoft Chief Accessibility Officer, Jenny Lay-Flurrie. "Microsoft is proud to collaborate with WE on the WE Are One campaign to support students as they explore the role technology can play to help empower every person on the plant. I firmly believe that disability is a strength and encourage everyone to bring their strengths to help us create a more inclusive world and build the next generation of crazy awesome technology."

WE Day Seattle is free of charge to students and educators across Washington, thanks to the generous support of partners led by Co-Title Sponsors Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation. Microsoft is proud to partner with WE to empower young people to positively change their communities and around the world. Through its Good Starts Young^® initiative, The Allstate Foundation empowers America's youth with the strength, confidence and skills to step up as leaders and achieve success in their lives.

WE Day is supported in Washington by Jolene McCaw, Founder, Jolene McCaw Family Foundation; Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft, and Laura Althoff; Pete Carroll, Head Coach, Seattle Seahawks; Russell Wilson, Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks and Ciara, Grammy Award-winning Singer/Songwriter, Actress and Model. WE Day is supported by National Co-Chair Tom Wilson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Allstate.

Following WE Day Seattle, WE is opening up the largest youth empowerment event in the world to be interactive and accessible to anyone. On May 4, students and educators anywhere can virtually join in a celebration of social change through WE Day Connect, an interactive live show connecting thousands of youth from across America who have made an impact in their community. The 90-minute online broadcast, powered by Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation, will be co-hosted in Seattle by Hollywood Records recording artist and actress Olivia Holt and in Toronto by motivational speaker and author Spencer West, who made world headlines climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on his hands and in his wheelchair. They will be joined by television personality and news journalist Ann Curry and WE co-founder Craig Kielburger with a special appearance by musical guests X Ambassadors. During the broadcast, young change-makers from New York, Tennessee, Virginia, Seattle and Toronto will use Skype to share their stories of taking action on issues to support their communities and beyond and explore how students everywhere can join forces in their schools to make a difference through volunteering. More information on how to participate in WE Day Connect can be found at www.WE.org/WEDayConnect.

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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 1,000 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.

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

About The Allstate Foundation
www.allstatefoundation.org/goodstartsyoung

SOURCE WE Charity