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Youth leading global change is the movement of our time. WeDay.com is where the movement lives. | An initiative of
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Youth leading global change is the movement of our time. WeDay.com is where the movement lives. | An initiative of
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We Day is a fully inclusive and free of charge event for the tens of thousands of youth who attend. The only "cost" involved is that students and school groups attending We Days must commit to one local and one global action to make their community and world a better place. What’s more, youth are also encouraged to support any cause of their choice.
We are committed to making We Days as accessible as possible. In order to accommodate as many student attendees as possible, we host We Day events in some of the largest venues available in multiple cities across the country.
Schools submit their application online to receive tickets for the event. Due to the high demand from thousands of schools across the country, a limited number of tickets are issued each year to schools. Priority is given to school groups who commit to the We Schools program, which includes engaging in one local service action and one global service action, and submitting two action reports.
Educators have the difficult task of determining which committed young people from their school will receive the allocated tickets. Schools have different criteria for determining which students to allot tickets to: random draws, selection based on number of volunteer hours, essay contests and more. Some groups choose not to give tickets to the same students two years in a row, to ensure as many students possible are given the chance to attend the event.
We sincerely apologize if you or a young person were not issued a ticket to the We Day event in your city. In order to make the event as accessible as possible, we have created alternative routes to participate in this unique celebration.
First, a great way to get involved with We Day and see the event live is to join our team as a volunteer. Thousands of talented volunteers take part in the energy of We Day events each year to make We Day a success. To find out how you can join us, visit www.weday.com.
Secondly, if your child is not able to attend We Day as a volunteer or an audience member, they can still tune in by watching the live webcast or the CTV We Day broadcast special. For more information, visit www.weday.com.
We Day launches a year-long program called We Schools. The program inspires a generation of socially conscious and compassionate young leaders, and provides them with tangible life skills to become active members of their local and global communities. We Schools is designed to enhance schools’ existing programs in service learning, character education and volunteerism. Through the program, school communities are transformed by positive changes in student behaviour, heightened student engagement and the belief that it’s cool to care.
We Schools commit to engaging in a minimum of one local service action and one global service action, and to sharing their action plans and accomplishments with the community of We Schools.
Free The Children provides schools with a robust network of support that includes curriculum resources, school-based speaking tours, youth mentors, summer leadership academies and international volunteer trips. The We Schools program ensures that We Day is not merely a one-day event but a full school-year program for change.
The impact of We Day is two-fold. First, the experience transforms the participating schools and students. Second, the young participants reach out to take action on social issues at home and abroad.
Through the We Schools program, school communities are transformed by positive changes in student behaviour, heightened student engagement and the belief that it’s cool to care. The program achieves these outcomes through its innovative approach to social issues education.
We Day and the We Schools program have been studied by independent academic groups to show that participation increases student engagement in their school and community, and contributes to:
These independent studies on We Day and We Schools are part of a growing body of research proving that students who volunteer and get involved in their community are more empowered, more likely to get better grades, less likely to use drugs, have higher self-esteem and make positive life choices.
Events like We Day help young people light the spark of their future educational and career choices—from the initial moment of hearing inspirational speakers such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Elie Wiesel or Rick Hansen—to the personal revelations that come with a year of taking action. We Schools students learn practical life skills, such as leadership, teamwork and public speaking. Moreover, they have the opportunity to engage with and develop positive relationships with inspiring mentors and role models through Free The Children’s youth programming team.
In the 2009/2010 school year, We Day and We Schools reached the following participants:
In addition*:
To read more about the impacts of our work and the findings from an evaluative study, click here. This report was commissioned by Free The Children in January, 2011, by Dr. Kathleen Korgen of William Paterson University and Jeffry Korgen of Korgen Associates, interviewing students, parents, teachers and school board administrators to determine the tangible results of We Day and We Schools in Action.
Click here to learn more about the We Day’s impact on social engagement among school-aged youth.
*These findings are the result of an evaluative study commissioned by Free The Children in 2011, performed by Mission Measurement, interviewing students and educators to determine the tangible results of We Day and We Schools.
We Day aims to empower each young leader in attendance to find the cause that speaks to them. Rather than positioning different problems, issues or charitable organizations as competing with one another, We Day seeks to show that every issue is interconnected and we must work together to create a more compassionate local and global community.
When participants dedicate themselves to taking one local and global action as part of their We Day commitment, this action can be anything selected by the students or school groups. Some youth do choose to take part in campaigns that are run through Free The Children, such as Halloween for Hunger or the Vow of Silence, while others may choose to support unrelated initiatives. For example, students may hear Rick Hansen’s story and choose to support spinal cord injury research. They may have had a loved one suffer from cancer and choose to support cancer research. Or they may want to learn more about the challenges facing First Nations youth by getting involved with the work of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative.
We Day focuses on many diverse causes and was established within a collaborative framework: bringing youth together to identify and promote different ways they can make the world a better place.
A small selection of the organizations featured at past We Days include:
The impact of We Day and We Schools on local and global causes is deep and far-reaching.
We Day aims to empower each young leader in attendance to find the cause that speaks to her or him, whatever that issue or organization of choice might be. Rather than positioning different problems, issues or charitable organizations as competing with one another, We Day seeks to show that every issue is interconnected and we must work together to create a more compassionate local and global community.
The impact of this includes uniting charitable and positive causes to work together to empower a generation of socially conscious and compassionate leaders and ultimately, make the world a better place. Moreover, We Day provides organizations with a platform to showcase their work and mandate, thus raising the profile of various local and global charities. As a result, dozens of causes have seen an increase in volunteerism and engagement, as well as more fundraising for their missions. In fact, in the 2009/2010 school year, We Day and We Schools saw the following impacts:
While the impact of We Day on the highlighted causes is substantial, Free The Children creates its most lasting impact through the creation of systemic social change in the education system. As the students and teachers who attend We Day return to their communities and schools, they in turn educate, engage and empower their families, peers and neighbours. Over time, through this viral effect, the culture of local schools and communities changes as well, ultimately growing the social justice movement across the region, throughout the country and around the world.
To learn more about the impact of We Day and the We Schools program, visit: www.weday.com/about/impacts.
Our goal is to provide a platform for discussion on some of the greatest issues and challenges facing our communities and our world. That’s why, each city in which the event takes place features different speakers and performers.
Past We Days have focused on a wide variety of national and international issues, ranging from local issues such as Aboriginal education, national child poverty, homelessness and mental health, to international issues like war-affected children, human trafficking and drought.
Past We Day speakers and issues have included:
Free The Children seeks to create a balance at each We Day to focus on both national and global issues, along with local content for community matters. It’s important for us to showcase regional activists and change makers, giving youth examples of local, accessible role models who are making a difference.
With each event, we strive to cover a comprehensive, wide range of pressing social issues. We apologize if you feel that a certain issue has been not sufficiently highlighted at your We Day celebration. We provide an online resource library with the tools for you to further any cause at www.weday.com. There, you will find an online hub dedicated to educating, engaging and empowering a generation of socially conscious youth. The site features videos by world-renowned celebrities and speakers, newspaper articles about timely global and social issues and countless other resources.
Moreover, Free The Children’s youth programming team are a phone call or e-mail away for those wanting to delve into the issues with the support of a knowledgeable and experienced mentor.
Absolutely not! Youth coming together to lead global change is the movement of our time. We Day is the manifestation of that movement for a generation of youth. We Day follows in the tradition of the world’s most important social movements—from small “sit-ins” to massive rallies and marches that brought together impassioned people intent on changing the world.
We Day brings forth the spirit of these movements to a generation of students. Harnessing the energy and passion of this young community of change-makers, We Day brings youth together in an unparalleled setting to show them that they are not alone in their journey to make a difference.
Within stadiums full of cheering young people, We Day brings some of the greatest social issues of today to the forefront and—no matter the cause, no matter the issue—provides ways in which every young person can find their place within the movement to create global change. The end to apathy is realized as young people discover that they are all part of this movement.
Although news media often focus on musical acts when reporting or broadcasting selections from the event, on average, 70% of We Day guests are speakers and 30% are musicians. From Mikhail Gorbachev to Justin Bieber, Elie Wiesel to Nelly Furtado, we are proud to feature a wide variety of speakers and performers of all ages, causes and countries of origin.
Overall, We Day events feature four types of guests: local heroes, young people, iconic change makers and musical performers.
By featuring bands like The Jonas Brothers, Hedley and City and Colour, We Day shows that change—local and global—is not only possible, it’s cool. The musical and ‘celebrity’ guests are carefully selected to ensure that they are involved in a charitable activity and/or express willingness to start their own journeys to find their causes.
For example, band members from Hedley have travelled to Free The Children villages in Kenya and India, cast members from Degrassi have volunteered to help build schools in Ecuador and Haiti, and Nelly Furtado has championed the organization’s first all girl high school in Kenya. These popular figures are personally involved with development, and when they perform and speak at We Day, they passionately share all that they have seen and learned in the hope that the young people watching and listening will do the same. They are showing, not only through their music, but through their actions, the impact of We Day.
And when the music fades and the cheering dies down, We Day kicks off We Schools, a year-long, overarching program that inspires a generation to care about social issues and provides the practical tools to turn that inspiration into action. With the support of Free The Children throughout the year, participating We Schools commit to taking one local and one global action, and to sharing their action plans and accomplishments with the community of We Schools. Through the program, school communities are transformed by positive changes in student behaviour, heightened student engagement and the belief that it’s cool to care.
Free The Children invites We Day speakers to share their messages as heroes of social change, not because of their religious or political affiliations. We Day guests are invited to the stage because they have shown that they believe in something greater than themselves, in giving back and in helping others.
We Day is secular and inclusive in nature, bringing together youth, speakers and performers from any and all faith traditions to promote compassion and service.
We Day is also apolitical and does not seek to promote or endorse a political party or affiliation. When a political leader speaks to the youth assembled at We Day, he or she may speak in an official capacity to bring greetings on behalf of his or her home city, region or country, but the only agenda advanced is one of youth empowerment and global citizenship.
Further, the content of guests' speeches and/or performances reflects their personal views/opinions and does not necessarily represent the values or beliefs of Free The Children.
We Day is a fully inclusive and free of charge event for the tens of thousands of youth who attend. We are grateful and proud that We Day is fully sponsored.
We Day is a Free The Children initiative that is produced in partnership with CTV, Canada’s largest broadcasting company. The broadcast of the event with paid TV advertisements provides an opportunity and unique funding model to engage brands. In the majority of cases for brands, the resources used to sponsor the event are pulled directly from companies’ ad revenue budgets that would otherwise be directed to more traditional forms of TV advertising, or sponsorship of events such as sporting tournaments.
We are grateful to all of our partners. For a full list of this year’s We Day sponsors and in-kind supporters, please visit www.weday.com/about/sponsors.
No. We Day is an educational event that shows youth there is an entire community by their side who are like-minded in their drive to contribute to positive change in their communities and in the world. All participants attend We Day free of charge, and youth and educators are never solicited to donate any funds for We Day. The only “cost” involved is that students and school groups attending We Days must commit to one local and one global action to make their community and world a better place. What’s more, youth are also encouraged to support any cause of their choice.
In 2011, at the discretion of individual school boards, youth were invited to participate in Free The Children's East Africa drought relief efforts throughout the fall. We Day events were an opportunity for youth and educators to bring in those funds. However, it was not a fundraiser connected to We Day.
At Free The Children, we know that sparking change at a domestic level is just as important as the work we do overseas. That's why we have a dual mission. We are a charity and educational partner that empowers youth everywhere to become active local and global citizens.
Internationally, our holistic and sustainable Adopt a Village model has brought over 650 schools and school rooms to youth and provided clean water, health care and sanitation to one million people around the world. Domestically, our programs educate, engage and empower hundreds of thousands of youth in North America and the UK.
Our domestic programming focuses on creating lasting change in youth to be caring and compassionate local and global citizens. Our local projects—which include We Day, motivational speaking tours, awareness and fundraising campaigns, curriculum, educational resources and much more— are an investment in youth, engaging a generation to lead positive changes around the world.
In addition, the return of We Day is much more than the resources required to make the event possible. The impact of youth actions—which include raising millions of dollars and logging millions of volunteer hours every year—is We Day's far-reaching and lasting legacy.
For more information on how We Day is made possible, please see Question 10, or click here see a full list of this year’s We Day sponsors and in-kind supporters.
 
Youth leading global change is the movement of our time. We Day is the manifestation of this movement. 
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Free The Children believes in a world where all young people are free to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change.
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Me to We is an innovative social enterprise that provides people with better choices for a better world.
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