The Hershey Company partners with Singer-Songwriter, Lauren Jauregui to Inspire Teens to Increase Connection and Overcome Social Isolation

HERSHEY, Pa., May 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hershey Company HSY today announced, singer-songwriter Lauren Jauregui will headline the "Makers of Good Teen Summit," a one-day event in New York City for teens from across the country to collaborate and develop strategies for overcoming social isolation in their communities. Lauren will draw on her experience of becoming famous at a young age with pop group Fifth Harmony to share tips for overcoming cyberbullying, creating connections and using your voice for good.

"Being on the road away from my friends and family and in the spotlight was not easy as a young teen," said singer-songwriter, Lauren Jauregui. "I hope that by sharing my experience, I can help inspire teens to build connection. I'm excited to team up with Hershey to help teens stand together and create a new future for social inclusion."

Often described as the "loneliest generation," teens are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation¹. To inspire attendees to increase connection in their own communities, students will also hear from other remarkable young people who have created youth-led solutions to combat social isolation, including Gabby Frost, the founder and CEO of suicide prevention and mental health awareness non-profit, Buddy Project; Javonte Francis, a Facebook Global Youth Fellow and East Bay Teen Board Member of Beyond Differences; and Cynthia A., the founder of anti-bullying program, My Voice and Boys & Girls Clubs of America 2018 Midwest Youth of the Year. Hershey has selected student organizer and entrepreneur, Ziad Ahmed to co-host the summit and facilitate discussion.

"Lauren and all of our inspiring summit speakers have used their voices to advocate for unique causes that increase inclusion and connection," said Todd Tillemans, President, U.S., The Hershey Company. "Teens will have access to exciting young speakers and leading nonprofit collaborators Beyond Differences, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Making Caring Common and WE, in order to inspire their action plans for increasing connection and empathy in their own communities ahead of the new school year."

Social Media for Good
Today, social media is ubiquitous among teens. While teens acknowledge the pressure that comes with being "always on," roughly 8 in 10 teens ages 13 to 17 (81 percent) say social media makes them feel more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives, and around two-thirds say these platforms make them feel as if they have people who will support them through tough times².

Understanding the role that social media plays in the lives of students, the Makers of Good Teen Summit hopes to create a groundswell of positivity and inclusion through user-generated content.

Teens who are not able to attend the summit in person will have the ability to participate via a livestream on June 20 by visiting https://www.youtube.com/HersheyCompany. Remote viewers can send messages and their own photos to the summit via Instagram to be included in an interactive photo mosaic from experience partner Luster.

Details on how to join the conversation, along with program and speaker information will be shared on the summit's Instagram channel at: https://www.instagram.com/MakersofGood.

National Impact Through Digital Partnerships
To increase the impact and reach of the summit, Hershey has collaborated with top digital companies including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Imgur and Google for both on-site and online support.  Attendees will have access to a variety of interactive photo experiences from Facebook and Instagram within the event setting, while Snap will create unique filters for students to share their experience online and Imgur will extend the experience online with exclusive behind-the-scenes content. 

About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, celebrating its 125^th anniversary in 2019, is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 16,500 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands that drive more than $7.8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Pirate's Booty.

For 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more, visit www.thehersheycompany.com.

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¹ The Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index was conducted by Ipsos Polling from February 21 to March 6, 2018 among 20,096 adults ages 18 and over from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of ±0.8 percentage points for all respondents surveyed. For more information on the comprehensive survey, visit www.cigna.com.

² The Teens Social Media & Technology survey was conducted by Pew Research Center from March 7 to April 10, 2018 among 1,058 parents and 743 teen respondents from the U.S. The sampling error is plus/minus five percentage points for all respondents surveyed. For more information on the comprehensive survey, visit PewInternet.Org.

Media Contact: Todd Scott
717-215-9399
Tmscott1@hersheys.com