Business leaders, Olympians, media personalities share personal stories in
new youth mentoring campaign

TORONTO, Nov. 17 /CNW/ - What do three presidents, two Olympians, two former politicians, a multi-Juno award winning artist, and the COO of RIM all have in common?  They all attribute their success to mentors in their lives.  So explains a new national public awareness campaign called Who's Your Mentor?^TM, created by group mentoring charity, kids.now.  The campaign, which promotes the importance of youth mentoring, is being launched to coincide with National Children's Day (November 20).

Who's Your Mentor?^TM is an online video series profiling leading Canadian businesspeople, Olympians, community leaders, media, and other well-known personalities talking about mentors who inspired them, made an impact, or helped get them where they are today. They also discuss the importance of mentoring, and why it's important to mentor the next generation of leaders.

"The message this campaign delivers loud and clear is that behind every successful person, there's a mentor," explains Janet King, president and founder, kids.now.  "Many of the people profiled in this campaign credit mentors in their formative years for their current success," she says.  "This underscores the fact that today's young people need access to caring adult mentors who can help provide them with the skills and self-confidence they need to be tomorrow's success stories."

The launch of this video series marks the start of a year-long national campaign developed by kids.now to shine a spotlight on the importance of mentoring Canada's youth. Other project activities will include the release of national survey results of 1000 Canadian youth on the importance of mentors and mentoring programs; a dedicated youth mentoring day; and a mentoring-themed social media campaign.

In addition to a collection of 37 individual participant spots, two compilation spots include series' participants and youth participants from the kids.now program discussing why mentors are important for youth and what their mentors taught them.

To view the video series, and for more information on Who's Your Mentor?^TM, visit mentorkidsnow.ca.

Campaign participants include:

The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Susan Aglukark, singer/songwriter


Barbara Bellissimo, senior vice president, State Farm Canada


Chief William Blair, Toronto Police Service


Charles S. Coffey, O.C.


Sherry S. Cooper, chief economist, BMO
Financial Group

Margot Franssen, O.C., founder, The Body Shop Canada

Paul Godfrey, C.M., president and CEO, Postmedia Network

Janet King, president and founder, kids.now

Silken Laumann, Olympian


George Lewis, group head, RBC Wealth Management


Roger Martin, dean, Rotman School of Management, U of T

Frank McKenna, O.C., deputy chairman, TD Bank Financial Group


Wendy Mesley, broadcaster, CBC


David Mondragon, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company of Canada


Don Morrison, COO, Research In Motion

Miles Nadal, president and CEO, MDC Partners


Valerie Pringle, C.M., broadcaster


Sonja Smits, actress


Dr. Chris Spence, director of education, Toronto District School Board


Brian Stemmle, Olympian


Diana Swain, senior investigative correspondent, CBC


John Tory, businessman and broadcaster, Newstalk 1010

About kids.now

kids.now is Canada's national group mentoring charity. For over a decade, we've been coaching kids to make positive choices by building self-confidence, leadership abilities, and life-success skills through free, in-school, afterschool programs. Led by volunteer mentors, the kids.now program focuses on goal setting, effective communications, and other valuable skills that last a lifetime. kidsnowcanada.org

For further information:

Media Contact

Karen Benner
Director of Communications, kids.now
t: 416.465.7277
c: 647.588.7277
[email protected]