Saturday afternoon we joined over 250,000 at Global Citizen Earth Day on the Washington Monument grounds for an eight-hour concert by superstars Usher, Fall Out Boy, No Doubt, Train, Mary J. Blige and My Morning Jacket.
It was sponsored by The Global Poverty Project, which has held similarly spectacular concerts in NY's Central Park the last three years; this was the first in DC. Its goal: get citizens committed to end global poverty and stop climate change.
Hosts Will.I.Am and Soledad O’Brien presented musical performers and leaders in social and environmental innovation. We snapped FEi Systems' Rasheen Salau, Imani Chisholm, IOTA's Angelique Blake, Evelyne Diadhiou, and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects' Cara Campbell.
The performers were extraordinary, especially Usher, who danced his usual amazing moves despite a fractured foot in a cast and a crutch. Here, EY's Michelle Lindahl, Capstone National Partners' Trevor Haubert, Hillmann Consulting's Henry Hillmann, PrimePay's Eli Bohemond, and Fairfax Co Public Schools' Kaitlin Giuglianotti.
There were talks by UN Sec General Ban Ki-moon and actor Don Cheadle. Here, Nobody Media's Andrea Ramos, ExxonMobil's Mehak Anwar, Engility's Courtney Owen, and Whole Foods' Todd Schrecengost.
Global Citizen Earth Day coincides with meetings at the World Bank and IMF. Here, pharmacist Paul Pariseault, Mo Co Schools' Patrick Wilson, Common Securitization Solutions' Sabrina Anwar, Blair High School's Katie Fliakas, National Park Foundation's Farah Anwar, and Fannie Mae's Rhett Beattie.
Booz Allen's Gabriel Pingitore flanked by Apt's Pan Wang and Corinne Walters, and CodeBroker's Shaw Yu. The music and talks were aimed to get people to take action to protect our planet and its people.
