Nelly Furtado was so changed by her trip to Kenya with Free the Children she decided to donate $1 million to the international charity in support of girls’ education in Africa.

The Juno and Grammy Award-winning artist made the announcement Tuesday during the youth empowerment event We Day at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.

“I was just overwhelmed when I went to Kenya this year. I saw Free the Children in action… it’s not a band-aid charity. They come into communities and they work with (them) together,” Furtado told the media during a press conference shortly following the announcement.

“They let the communities tell them what they want and that’s why many of their communities are thriving, even through what’s going on today… it’s about empowering girls and thinking about sustainable solutions. I’m honoured to be a part of it.”

Furtado’s donation is made up of funds from a private concert she did involving a Gaddafi family member as well as her own contributions. It will help fund a new all-girls boarding school in the Maasai Mara region, as well as leadership training programs for girls in middle and secondary schools throughout the Middle East and North Africa regions. Her partnership with Free the Children also includes a challenge grant for youth -- Furtado will match every dollar donated, up to $500,000.

“We could not be more honoured and more thrilled to have Nelly as an ambassador,” said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free the Children, during the press conference. 

“We have the honour to work with many celebrities, people who have a spotlight for a reason, and Nelly has been incredibly thoughtful in looking at this donation.”

When Furtado travelled to Kenya with non-profit volunteer arts organization Artbound, she helped build Free the Children’s first all- girls secondary school in the Maasai Mara region. Her experience was captured in a CTV documentary entitled “Nelly Furtado: The Road to Kisaruni.” Click here to watch now.

While there, she met many of the young girls admitted to the school, including a student named Susan, whose family had not previously been able to afford to send her.

Following her performance of “Powerless” at We Day with the Kenyan Boys Choir, Furtado was paid a surprise visit by Susan, which brought the pop star to tears.

The visit meant just as much to Susan, who told reporters how grateful she was for everything Furtado did.

“Nelly changed my life because when Nelly came to Kenya I was not going to school,” said Susan, who instead stayed at home to clean and fetch water for her household.

“Then I went to Kisaruni and started my education and now I’m continuing with my education. I’m so happy and I appreciate Nelly.”  

The fifth annual We Day in Toronto was attended by 18,000 student leaders, eager to kick off another year of helping others.

In the 2010/2011 school year, youth involved with We Day volunteered more than 1.7 million hours, raised $5.4 million for local and global organizations and collected more than 519,000 lbs of food for local food banks.

“We Day isn’t just a day. It’s a movement,” Kielburger told the crowd alongside his brother and Free the Children co-founder, Marc.

Hosted by “The Vampire Diaries’” Nina Dobrev and pop singer Joe Jonas, We Day also featured such speakers as Rick Hansen, Spencer West, and actor and activist Danny Glover.

It was the first We Day for 13-year-old Kiara Russell of Chatham, Ont., and she thought the whole thing was “absolutely amazing.” 

“I was so excited to be chosen to come here and I would love to come here (again),” said Russell, who looks forward to sharing her stories with the rest of the school.

“We’re going to try and do more things to help fundraise and help with changing (the world).

As well as Toronto, We Day will also make stops in Vancouver, Waterloo Region, Winnipeg and Montreal.

A We Day special, featuring highlights from Toronto and Vancouver, will air Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET on MuchMusic and Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

For more information visit www.muchmusic.com/weday or www.weday.com.

About Sheri Block

Sheri Block has been covering entertainment for CTV.ca since 2008. In addition to covering Will and Kate’s Royal Wedding in London, Sheri’s highlights have included going on tour with “Canadian Idol,” being a stand-in on “Canada’s Next Top Model” and meeting Colin Farrell at the Toronto International Film Festival.Follow her on Twitter!