A self-made media magnate founded a nonprofit that provides mentoring and workshop sessions with Stamford business leaders. Now, he’s expanding it.
Brent Montgomery, a self-made media magnate who lives in Greenwich, knows firsthand how much work and determination it takes to become a success.
That’s why the producer of “Pawn Stars” and other famous reality TV shows plans to expand LaunchPad, a career outreach program that he founded in 2023 to help Connecticut’s underprivileged-but-driven young adults attain their career dreams.
“Every company needs the grit, hustle and determination of kids like this to counterbalance the incredibly intelligent kids that are coming out of all these great schools, but haven’t had to have the same level of overcoming anything and everything to just get that first shot,” Montgomery said in a recent interview.
LaunchPad provides mentoring and workshop sessions with Stamford business leaders who advise participants on getting jobs in the entertainment, finance and sports industries.
It was started under the Village Community Foundation, which Montgomery launched in 2023, and serves college students and young adults ages 18 to 24, who come from underprivileged backgrounds.
LaunchPad is currently the primary focus of the foundation, which has a $500,000 annual budget that is funded by Montgomery and public and philanthropic support.
LaunchPad’s programs include fireside chats with executives, small group coaching, company site visits and internships, and can lead to full-time job opportunities.
Stamford companies that participate in the program include GE Appliances, which operates a manufacturing and collaboration space, called CoCREATE, at 47 John St. The facility serves as a micro-manufacturing plant, community makerspace and hub for education and innovation.
LaunchPad also works with Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment, which is headquartered at 707 Washington Blvd., and Paramount, an entertainment company that owns CBS Sports HQ, at 250 Harbor Drive, and Stamford Studios, at 307 Atlantic St.
It also collaborates with Wheelhouse Entertainment, a media company that Montgomery co-founded with Jimmy Kimmel in 2018, and ITV America, a production company owned by United Kingdom-based ITV Studios, which bought 80% of Montgomery’s Leftfield Entertainment in 2014 for $360 million. Both companies are headquartered in The Village, a five-story, 133,000-square-foot building that Montgomery developed at 4 Star Point, in Stamford.
In its first year, LaunchPad worked with more than 500 college students who participated in more than 1,700 program hours with executives, the organization said. To date, LaunchPad has worked with nearly 1,000 young adults.
Montgomery said he plans to expand LaunchPad across the New York metropolitan area, and is in talks with numerous Los Angeles-based companies in the media, finance and sports industries to participate in the program.
Montgomery said he wants to bring the program to more college-age students because he still remembers watching wealthy kids at a private school he attended, only because his mother taught there, driving up in brand-new cars at 16 years old.
“I worked all summer to buy a $1,000 broken-down truck,” he recalled. “It was that chip on the shoulder and the fortitude of having to work for everything that gave me the grit and hustle.”
‘Real-world experience’
LaunchPad is led by
Jon Winkel, who Montgomery hired as
president in 2023. Winkel had been the CEO of the Stamford Partnership, a public-private nonprofit organization focused on improving the city’s quality of life.
Winkel said he was at an event at The Village when Montgomery mentioned to him that he was looking to start a foundation that offered career guidance for disadvantaged jobseekers, and other community outreach programs.
“I was blown away by the idea and the opportunity,” said Winkel, who also leads the Village Community Foundation. “I came back a few days later, and I was like, ‘Hey, I think that’s something that I would want to be considered for.’”
Winkel has also served as chairman of Stamford’s Economic Development Commission and as a member of the city’s Urban Development Commission.
Previously, he worked in the private sector as managing partner of Stamford-based marketing agency SquareWheel; regional business manager for Eastman Kodak; and director of major accounts at Boston-based employment agency Aquent.
Dorian Robinson, a 22-year-old documentary filmmaker from Bridgeport, has participated in LaunchPad. He just earned a bachelor’s degree in digital media and design from the University of Connecticut’s Stamford branch, and is now a full-time intern at ITV America.
He’s in ITV’s “Orbit” internship program, which gives participants hands-on experience in every department within the company on a rotational basis.
Robinson said he wants to become a prominent film director one day. He’s already directed several films, including one — a political documentary called “Immersion” — that was featured in the 2024 New Hampshire Film Festival.
“I’m super excited to see where this journey takes me, and I’m grateful for the opportunities that LaunchPad has given young artists like myself to get real-world experience doing what they love in the industry,” he said.
