Chelsea Clinton headlines a wide array of personalities on the roster for this year's We Day Minnesota, a high-energy rally sure to pack Xcel Energy Center and fire up young people to engage their communities and accomplish meaningful change.
The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and current White House hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, will be joined for the third-annual all-day educational and entertainment event on Nov. 3 by pop singer Ciara, actor Darren Criss, a pair of Hollywood veterans, Henry Winkler and Marlee Matlin, and others, organizers announced Tuesday.
The Twin Cities stop is among 14 scheduled for stadiums and arenas across the United States, Canada and Britain. Others appearing include an astronaut, a poet and a Kenyan boys choir.
Since the first We Day Minnesota in 2013, students from many hundreds of Minnesota schools have participated in one local and one global service project — which in turn earned them their ticket to the We Day celebration. About 18,000 attended last year's rally at the X.
We Day co-founder Craig Kielburger and his brother Marc Kielburger, of Canada, created Free the Children in 1995 when they were just in middle school. Over the years, it mushroomed into a national Canadian youth movement, packing auditorium-sized events for student volunteers.
The group expanded from its Canadian base to the United States in 2013. Minnesota was among its first venues, given its national status for community volunteerism.
"In just one year, over 197,000 Minnesota students involved in WE Day's yearlong educational initiative volunteered nearly 700,000 hours of their time and raised more than $835,000 in support of local and global organizations," Craig Kielburger said in a statement announcing the Xcel lineup. "Today's youth can conquer anything they put their minds to when provided with the right tools."
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
