It does this by using entertainment to publicize vital safe sex information so that young people are empowered to make safer sexual and lifestyle decisions.
[3] In 2002, it expanded into an ongoing global multi-media campaign that provides targeted information about HIV and AIDS using a wide range of interventions that include programming, advocacy, and grant-making.
Twice yearly, the Foundation presents the Staying Alive Awards: small grants that support innovative projects by youth-led organizations in schools, youth centers, and clubs using radio, TV, print, on-line and personal interactions that reach at-risk youth and protect them from the multiple threats posed by HIV and AIDS.
The Foundation's mandate to support individuals fighting AIDS on the frontlines is an unusual grant-making strategy that is showing extraordinary results as more and more young Award winners become HIV-prevention leaders in their communities.
In 2008 the R&B singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland was appointed as the global Ambassador for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.