Actress, multi-platinum recording artist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
and host of WE Day California, Selena Gomez, walks the WE Carpet at WE Day
California on April 27, 2017. Photo Credit Tommaso Boddi/ Getty for WE Day
WE Day California Unites Young Change-Makers with Anthony Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Dierks Bentley, The Chainsmokers, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Selena Gomez and More
The world’s largest youth empowerment event, WE Day, returns to The “Fabulous” Forum for the third year in celebration of young people committed to making a difference. Over 16,000 students and educators from across the state will attend for a powerful, life-changing experience featuring renowned speakers, innovative thought leaders and celebrity performers including Anthony Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Dierks Bentley, The Chainsmokers, The March for Our Lives co-founders Jaclyn Corin and Cameron Kasky, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Selena Gomez, Dr. Phil, Martin Sheen, Lilly Singh, John Stamos and more. Joined by international activists and WE Day co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, the exciting lineup will share their passion for change, energize the crowd and motivate young people to continue to take action on pressing issues to affect positive change in their communities and around the world. A few must-see highlights include:
• Jennifer Aniston will applaud and thank the 16,000 youth in the audience and across America for leading the movement of change and she will hand the mic over to March for Our Lives co-founders, Jaclyn Corin and Cameron Kasky who will address their peers with a powerful rallying speech.
• Moving performances will light up the WE Day stage; The Chainsmokers will perform their hit song “Sick Boy”, Cyndi Lauper will perform a rendition of “Ooh Child” alongside JD McCrary and Dierks Bentley will honor inspirational women around the world with a performance of his latest single, “Woman, Amen”.
“I feel honored to be part of celebrating the young people out there who inspire us all to do more,” said Bentley. “These are everyday people who choose to help make their communities and beyond better.”
• Morgan Freeman will be joined by the first-ever American Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, to recite the poem “Life is Like a Rollercoaster” written by the late Alex Schachter who tragically lost his life on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“The young people gathered at WE Day California show us just how powerful it is when people of any age come together to advocate for the change they want to see in their world,” said Freeman. “It is both humbling and inspiring to be in the presence of tens of thousands of youth who have shown us that leadership, when guided by empathy, can and will make a difference.”
WE Day California will also feature Paula Abdul, Sofia Carson, Celebrity Marauders, Lonnie Chavis, Monique Coleman, Lily Collins, DVSN, Jordan Fisher, Connor Franta, Gunnar Gehl, Lizzy Greene, Winnie Harlow, Laurie Hernandez, Olivia Holt, Liza Koshy, Bailee Madison, Jenna Ortega, Lele Pons, Jessie Reyez, Nicole Richie, Kelly Sawyer, Drew Scott, JoJo Siwa, Norah Weinstein, Henry Winkler, Spencer West and Maddie Ziegler.
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. In the 2016/2017 school year, schools and groups across California improved their communities through WE Schools, volunteering more than 836,000 hours and raising over $2.2 million in support of more than 610 local and global causes including hunger, homelessness, bullying, volunteerism, health, and wellness.
“Today we celebrate remarkable students who are part of the WE generation—young leaders from across California 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. WE Day celebrates their world-changing achievements and inspires another year of working together towards positive impact.”
You can’t buy a ticket to WE Day—students from across the country earn their way by the actions they take on one local and one global cause of their choice. WE Day is free of charge to students and teachers, thanks to the generous support of National Co-Title Sponsor The Allstate Foundation and
Co-Title Sponsor Unilever.
WE Day California is supported by Co-Chairs Stephanie Argyros, President and CEO, Argyros Group; Steve Robinson, CEO and Founder, Zilliance and Janet Crown, CEO, Burn 60 Studios and Brett Tollman, CEO, The Travel Corporation, and Miranda Tollman. WE Day is supported by National Co-Chairs Tom Wilson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Allstate and Jane Francisco, Editorial Director of Hearst Lifestyle Group and Editor-in-Chief of Good Housekeeping.
About WE: WE Day is part of WE– a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE are 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 enable 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 team 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. Founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.