Pivot’s ‘Jersey Strong’ Launches ‘MentorStrong’

Pivot (www.pivot.tv), Participant Media’s new television network targeting Millennials, announced today “MentorStrong,” a year-long social action initiative in support of the channel’s new Newark-based docu-series, “Jersey Strong” (airing Saturdays at 10:30 pm ET/PT) in which mentoring plays a central theme. The campaign, in association with MENTOR: The National Mentoring Movement and its local Newark, NJ affiliate, Newark Mentoring Movement (NMM), aims to increase awareness about the importance of mentoring as a means of intervention with at-risk youth and launch a nationwide mentor recruitment initiative.

Over the course of the next year, this national network will support mentoring on-air and online by providing ways to learn more about mentoring and sign up for mentoring opportunities in their area through the campaign’s dedicated online hubTakePart.com/MentorStrong.

Pivot’s “MentorStrong” will officially kick off Monday, September 30th at a mentor recruitment event at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), which will celebrate the approximately 800 currently active Newark mentors registered through NMM. The event will feature many Newark-based mentoring organizations offering volunteer opportunities. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from and meet “Jersey Strong” cast member Jayda Jacques who has dedicated her life to “doing good in the hood.”

Mentoring is a touchstone of the “Jersey Strong” storyline. Two of the show’s lead cast members, Jayda and Creep, are reformed members of the Bloods and Crips, respectively, and have become active mentors in their community. The series, which premiered to critical acclaim on September 14, chronicles the lives of two families from parallel universes — the street and the executive suite.

About the Newark Mentoring Movement
The Newark Mentoring Movement is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Newark, N.J. With the ambitious goal of serving 10,000 Newark area youth annually by 2017, NMM strives to embed the culture of mentoring into the local community. The Newark Mentoring Movement uses a three-tiered approach to increase mentoring throughout the city. NMM engages local service providers to ensure that evidence based research is incorporated into their curriculum and overall business plan. Secondly, NMM focuses on engaging the corporate community to alleviate the mentee bottleneck through various mentor recruitment efforts. Lastly, NMM seeks out and introduces national mentoring organizations such as iMentor, to Newark.

About MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership is the unifying champion for expanding quality youth mentoring relationships in the United States. MENTOR’s goal is to help young people by driving investment of time and money in high impact mentoring and promoting quality mentoring through the development and delivery of standards, cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art tools.

About Pivot
Pivot (pivot.tv), which launched August 1st, is a new television network from Participant Media serving passionate Millennials (18-34) with a diverse slate of talent and a mix of original series, acquired programming, films and documentaries. Pivot focuses on entertainment that sparks conversation, inspires change and illuminates issues through engaging content, and its website TakePart.com to continue the conversation and connect audiences to a wealth of content and customizable actions. Pivot is also changing the media landscape, available via traditional Pay TV subscription to over 40 million subscribers and integrates a Live and on demand streaming option via its interactive, downloadable Pivot APP. In both content and delivery, Pivot is TV for The New Greatest Generation. Follow Pivot on Twitter at @pivot_tv and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pivottelevision.

About Participant Media
Participant is a global entertainment company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll to focus on feature film, television, publishing and digital content that inspires social change. Participant’s more than 40 films include GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, SYRIANA, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, FOOD, INC., WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’, THE HELP, CONTAGION and LINCOLN. Through its films, social action campaigns, digital network TakePart.com and Pivot, its new television network for Millennials, Participant seeks to entertain, encourage and empower every individual to take action.