Quincy Jones Named "Mentor of the Year"

Quincy Jones Named
"Mentor of the Year"

Quincy Jones Named `Mentor of the Year'

The Associated Press
Monday, December 11, 2006; 8:49 PM

LOS ANGELES -- Quincy Jones' stockpile of awards is about to grow higher _ he's been named "Mentor of the Year," by Harvard University's School of Public Health.

The music mogul, 73, is the inaugural recipient of the honor, which will be presented during National Mentoring Month in January 2007.

Quincy Jones' entire life is a testament to the power of mentoring," Jay Winsten, associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement Monday. "He has served as a role model for using the power of celebrity to improve the lot of humankind."

National Mentoring Month, now in its sixth year, aims to recruit volunteer mentors to work with young people. The theme of the month is "Pass it on. Mentor a child." The monthlong effort also includes "Thank Your Mentor Day" on Jan. 25.

 

QUINCY JONES, MAYA ANGELOU, CLINT EASTWOOD, & STING TO HEADLINE NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH 2007

BOSTON, MA, November 9, 2006 - Music impresario Quincy Jones will be honored as the first-ever “Mentor of the Year” as a highlight of the 6th annual National Mentoring Month (NMM) campaign scheduled for January 2007.  The campaign’s goal is to recruit volunteer mentors to help young people achieve their full potential.  Other celebrities featured in the campaign include Maya Angelou, Clint Eastwood, and Sting. Media companies supporting the effort include CBS, Fox, NBC, Newsweek, and Time Inc. The campaign's theme is “Pass it on. Become a Mentor.”

National Mentoring Month 2007 is spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Sponsors include MetLife Foundation, DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, and MCJ Foundation.

“Quincy Jones’ entire life is a testament to the power of mentoring,” said Dr. Jay Winsten, an associate dean of the Harvard School of Public Health.  “Through his spirit, insight, inspiration, and caring, Quincy has touched and transformed many lives—ranging from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith to former gang members in South Central Los Angeles.  Through his work with UNICEF and other international agencies, he has served as a role model for using the power of celebrity to improve the lot of humankind.  The Harvard School of Public Health is delighted to honor Quincy Jones as ‘Mentor of the Year.’”

The campaign also will honor the memory of one of Quincy Jones’ most influential mentors, the late Ray Charles.  Several months before Ray Charles’ death, he participated in a videotaped interview with the Harvard Mentoring Project in which he recalled becoming a mentor to 15-year-old Quincy Jones in 1947 in Seattle, WA.   Ray Charles’ comments captured the essence of mentoring, including the profound benefits to the mentor: “Quincy was just an energetic young kid, and he really loved music. He wanted to learn how to write, and of course, I knew how to write, and that drew us together. You could tell that he wanted to learn, he wanted to know. And because I was able to show him some things, that made me happy, that's what stirred my heart.” Video excerpts from the Ray Charles interview can be found on the campaign's website, www.WhoMentoredYou.org.

Participants in the campaign include leading nonprofit organizations and numerous governors and mayors. In communities across the country, designated nonprofit and governmental agencies are responsible for coordinating local NMM activities, including media outreach and volunteer recruitment. These local lead partners include state and local affiliates of MENTOR, the Corporation for National and Community Services, Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network, America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Communities in Schools, and United Way of America.

Here are additional highlights of the upcoming campaign:

Thank Your Mentor Day™ will be celebrated on Thursday, January 25. On that day, many Americans will reach out to thank or honor those individuals who encouraged and guided them, and had a lasting impact on their lives. Thank Your Mentor Day™ promotes "Three Ways to Honor Your Mentor": 1) Contact your mentor directly to express your appreciation; 2) "Pass it on" by becoming a mentor to a young person in your community; and, 3) Write a tribute to your mentor for posting on www.WhoMentoredYou.org.

Foster care: The needs of young people in foster care will be spotlighted in a PSA featuring actor Victoria Rowell ("Young and the Restless"), who spent 18 years in the foster care system and credits a mentor for changing her life. Research has shown that introducing a mentor into the life of a child in foster care provides consistency, support, and encouragement, engendering trust and confidence in the future.

People with disabilities: Two campaign PSAs will highlight the importance of mentoring in empowering young people with disabilities to reach their full potential for personal and career development. Production of these PSAs was made possible by a grant from Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation to Partners for Youth with Disabilities (Massachusetts) and the Mass Mentoring Partnership.

Person of the Week: Quincy Jones

Dec. 15, 2006 — Quincy Jones has climbed all the hills music has to offer a successful musician: producer, composer, arranger and conductor. But perhaps his greatest genius is the way he's helped others deal with the valleys of a music career.

Jones has a house full of awards, including stacks of Grammys, but this week he received an extra special citation when Harvard University's School of Public Health named him its first Mentor of the Year.

Jones, who is being honored for his charitable work, said he had a famous mentor of his own when he was young — the then-young Ray Charles, who helped Jones with the ups and downs of a career in entertainment.

"We used to say this thing all the time to each other: 'Not one drop of my self-worth depends on your acceptance of me,'" Jones said. "Those words helped us stay out of the valleys."

Since then, Jones has mentored many who went on to big success, including Will Smith, whom he met while producing the TV sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and a relatively unknown Oprah Winfrey, when she worked with him on "The Color Purple."

"She quotes me all the time as saying when I first met her I sensed her future was so bright it hurts my eyes. … It's true," Jones said. "In 1985, who knew she would go from here to there?"

Reaching Out to at-Risk Teens

Jones' mentoring has extended far beyond Hollywood. He recently toured Cambodia's schools and villages as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. And in 2000, Jones took five at-risk teens from Los Angeles to South Africa, where they met Nelson Mandela.

"I promised Mandela that for his birthday we would build a hundred homes for them with Habitat for Humanity. And I got these kids involved in physically building the first three homes," Jones said. "They got on their knees and they kissed Mandela's hand, and they cried, and totally transformed their essence."

Among those who benefited from this work is Omari Trice, who is now a charter school program director and credits his success to his mentor.

As a person of color from South Central, its makes you think you can do it, it can be done," Trice said. "[Jones] did it as a living example."

Another of his protegees, Hector Sanchez, said Jones' influence had a positive effect on him.

"I have a lot of friends who are incarcerated," he said. "This opportunity showed me that there was another way."

The program at Harvard's School of Public Health was started to recruit new mentors, and for them, Jones has this simple advice: "I think it's real simple to be a mentor. You have to care. You have to be alert and observant … and care enough to say, step into my office for a minute."