MTV Announces Second Annual ‘Mental Health Action Day’ on May 19

Setting the theme of ‘Connection,’ MTV and more than 1400 companies and organizations will drive calls to action to address the surge of loneliness and isolation felt by millions as a result of the pandemic

MTV launched $100K grant program to support non-profit Mental Health Action Day activations to reach young people more directly; Learn more at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org

MTV, in partnership with more than 1400 leading brands, nonprofits and cultural leaders globally, today announced the second-annual Mental Health Action Day, to be held on Thursday, May 19 during Mental Health Awareness Month.

As the global conversation around mental health continues - including the White House's new unity agenda strategy to address mental health in the United States - finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement to drive culture from mental health awareness to mental health action.

This year’s Mental Health Action Day theme is Connection as people of all ages continue to seek out ways to cope with loneliness stemming from the pandemic and turn to peer counseling to support their emotional wellbeing when struggling with isolation.

Partners will encourage people to take their first steps towards mental health action. Free resources and tools, such as an employer toolkit and platforms for hosting and organizing events, are available for organizations and groups to help support their audiences through a myriad of ways - from starting a meditation practice to learning how to support a friend to advocating for change.

“The last two years have brought to light mental health challenges and made it easier to talk about them – but there is still so much work to do to help people take actions to address them,” said Erika Soto Lamb, Vice President of Social Impact Strategy at MTV Entertainment Group. “That’s why the second Mental Health Action Day will focus on connection by providing leaders with resources to encourage and empower people to take action, and for those struggling with mental health and isolation, the tools they need to improve their emotional wellbeing.”

Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice. This year, MTV has piloted a new partnership model, Mental Health Action Champions, that empowers interested partners and provides them with the freedom to innovate, manage, and customize a sector-specific strategy powered by Mental Health Action Day.

Champion Partners To Date:

• CBS: Will amplify MTV Entertainment’s already established “Mental health is health” campaign by using this line along with their brand assets to raise awareness and encourage action for the impact that mental health has on our audiences. CBS will highlight thought leaders representative of CBS Entertainment, News and Sports in a contemplative and visually compelling discussion of mental health topics relevant to our viewers that will be displayed across social, broadcast and digital.
• Citrone 33 Foundation: Who last year brought the Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates to Mental Health Action Day with innovative fan-facing activations, is developing a set of resources that can help franchises in other cities to do the same. They’ll also be hosting a summit to launch the Pittsburgh Youth Mental Health Coalition on May 19th at PNC Park with mental health experts, local leaders, and the community to enroll them on a common mission to create real impact in their community.
• Eventbrite: Will empower and encourage the creators on its platform to host Mental Health Action Day events to spark connection within their communities. The company will provide creators with relevant content and resources, and will highlight their Mental Health Action Day events in a special collection of virtual and in-person events across the country that people can easily access on its homepage.
• George Floyd Memorial Foundation: Will be centering Black healing and communal connection with a series of events and webinars led by Dr. Calisha Brooks covering what mental health action looks like for depression, anxiety, and different forms of trauma, linking the community with mental health professionals. Additionally, they’ll be providing DEI impact advising to the Mental Health Action Day team.
• Health Action Alliance: Will be co-hosting the Workplace Mental Health Action Summit on May 5th, a virtual gathering of business leaders that will spotlight innovative actions companies are taking to strengthen psychological safety at work, improve access to mental health benefits, and center equity in their mental health strategy. The Summit will be co-hosted by Health Action Alliance and Mental Health Action Day, in partnership with Ad Council, One Mind At Work, and SHRM Foundation. During this event, they’ll release a suite of new tools and resources for the business community, including an interactive workshop on building workplace mental health action strategies. Register here.
• It Gets Better Project: Will bring Mental Health Action Day to life through TikTok creators, Twitch ambassadors and their own Youth Voices ambassadors, who are made up of students, artists and activists working to change their communities for the better. They’ll be creating TikToks and hosting conversations on TikTok and Twitch with tips on how to take mental health action to increase resiliency and self-care around activism.
• Paramount Veterans Network: Will be taking the lead on engaging and organizing the veteran community and bringing Mental Health Action Day to them as a compliment to Military Appreciation Month with a veteran-centric approach by holding two panels on destigmatizing mental health and providing tips to how to take action to support themselves and the veteran community at-large.
• The Kennedy Forum: Will be spreading the word throughout their vast network and bringing more partners to Mental Health Action Day. They’ll also be hosting a free virtual Q&A w/ a licensed clinician from online family mental health care platform, Brightline, for parents to learn about common mental health challenges in youth (including how they often present) and when to seek professional help.
• Tiltify: Will be releasing an instructional toolkit and co-hosting a LinkedIn Live with the Mental Health Action Day team on April 21st to help equip anyone that’s interested in raising money for charity with the means to do so. Register here.
• UNICEF: Will help us reach young people around the world with their global #OnMyMind campaign, which encourages children and young people to break the stigma around mental health by starting conversations as well as support to build positive connections and relationships at home, school and in their communities.
• United for Global Mental Health: Will be bringing Mental Health Action Day to the Global Mental Health Action Network of 1700+ partners representing people with lived experience, governments, CSOs, international organizations, the private sector and academia from over 110 countries.
• WisdoMania Fest & WisdoMania Foundation, X. ARI: Will be spreading the Mental Health Action Day mission among wellness organizations and is hosting a Songwriting for Wellness workshop at an underserved high school in Los Angeles to kick off Mental Health Action Week. At WisdoMania Fest on May 15-16, participants will have access to self-care sessions, creative workshops, mental health conversations, live music, comedy, and film.

Additionally, MTV is proud to make funding available for Mental Health Action Day nonprofit partners and invites non-profit organizations to apply for one of at least 10 grants of up to $10,000 to support new and creative ways to drive young people to take action for their mental health on May 19th. Applications are available HERE.

On the first Mental Health Action Day in 2021, a coalition of more than 1400 nonprofits, brands, government and influential leaders from 32 countries came together to shift mental health culture from awareness to action. Mental Health Action Day is being planned with the support of TaskForce, a cultural organizing agency that builds capacity for those taking on the most pressing challenges facing our communities, our nation and our world.

Additional participants and more information about how each partner will activate on May 19 will be forthcoming. More on Mental Health Action Day and initial partners can be found at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org and follow along at #MentalHealthAction.

Additional Statements in support of Mental Health Action Day from Champion Partners:

"Employers' most important asset is their people—and workplace action on mental health helps their people be their best selves," said Stephen Massey, Director of Health Action Alliance and Co-Founder of Meteorite. "We're proud to partner once again with Mental Health Action Day to bring business leaders together to create psychologically safer workplaces, remove the stigma around mental health, and connect workers to the support and treatment they need."

“I’m proud to be a champion and partner with Mental Health Action Day,” said X. ARI, WisdoMania Fest & WisdoMania Foundation Founder. “As an individual, recording artist and mental health activist, I’ve seen the power of connection and action taking for mental health. I’m thrilled to help bring others to the movement and to share the power of songwriting for wellness. Thank you to the Mental Health Action Day team for the opportunity to collaborate and make a bigger impact together.”

“Mental Health was voted the top concern by people fundraising on Tiltify, according to our annual community survey,” said Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman. “As a fundraising platform, we see firsthand the good that can be done when people shift words into action. Tiltify is honored to be a champion partner and the exclusive digital fundraising platform for Mental Health Action Day."

“In the wake of a devastating pandemic, our ability to prioritize mental health is more important than ever,” said Amy Kennedy, Education Director of The Kennedy Forum. “Normalizing action, not just awareness, is critical to restoring our collective well-being and ushering in a new era of mental health equity. True change will be driven by connection within families, communities, schools, and workplaces. Let’s empower each other to emerge stronger and healthier than before.”

“Mental health is a cause that has affected our communities constantly. It is a battle we address daily and a fight we will continue to tackle,” said Betty Diaz, Director of Programs and Operations, Paramount Veterans Network “We are honored to be a champion for the second annual Mental Health Action Day and look forward to working with hundreds of VSO’s to change the narrative on the stigma of mental health and shift into action. There are nearly 8 billion people in the world, if we each take one action a day to support at least one person, we have done our jobs.”

"The George Floyd Memorial Foundation is proud to partner with MTV for Mental Health Action Day," said Jacari Harris, Executive Director of the George Floyd Memorial Foundation. "George Floyd and countless others have lost their lives due to a lack of understanding of those suffering mental health crises. It is essential that we properly care for those who need our help most and offer assistance as Mr. Floyd did on numerous occasions."

“Citrone 33 is proud to launch the inaugural meeting of the Pittsburgh Youth Mental Health Coalition at PNC Park on May 19.” Cindy Citrone, President of Citrone 33 promises, "The coalition will connect all 3 of our professional sports teams, 11 of our universities, our health care system, business leaders, government officials, foundations, and neighbors. We are calling all players from the bench to collectively take action. As a city, we must galvanize to connect impactful programs and solutions with our youth who are struggling."

"United for Global Mental Health is delighted to be a champion for Mental Health Action Day. We are committed to better mental health for everyone, everywhere, and so action is our number one priority: Mental Health Action Day could not be better named!" said Sarah Kline, CEO of United for Global Mental Health. "As the secretariat of the Global Mental Health Action Network we will be encouraging our 1700+ members - who come from more than 110 countries - to spread the word and to use this opportunity to campaign for change."

About Mental Health Action Day

Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement of brands, organizations and cultural leaders to drive culture from mental health awareness to mental health action. The second Mental Health Action Day will take place on May 19, 2022 with a mission to encourage and empower people to take their first steps towards mental health action -- whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes, because mental health is health. Learn more at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org

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