Minneapolis (Top40 Charts / Free The Children) 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
