The Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) was formed in 1993 by Cabrini Connections, a comprehensive, volunteer-based, one-on-one tutoring/mentoring program in Chicago.

NOTE: As you read this history, you can also view concept maps that diagram the goals and strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

The leaders of Cabrini Connections recognized that in order to increase their program’s effectiveness, they needed to create a leadership organization that would assist all tutor/mentor programs throughout the Chicago area.
 
The roots of this effort extend back to 1965, when employees from the Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarters in Chicago began to offer weekly one-on-one tutoring to elementary school youth living in the nearby Cabrini-Green public housing complex. (view timeline)

T/MC founders like President Daniel F. Bassill, who first became a tutor/mentor in 1973, provided leadership to this program for many years. Through their contributions, they learned the following lessons:

(a)    It is possible to connect workplace volunteers and inner city kids through long-term, one-on-one mentoring, while enriching the lives of youths and adults.
(b)    It is incredibly difficult for small programs to consistently find the resources to sustain themselves for the long term.
(c)    Programs often suffer from a lack of the consistent leadership strategies necessary to ensure growth, quality, and sustainability.

In 1992, Cabrini Connections began to build a database of Chicago area tutor/mentor programs. Using the database, students and volunteers could easily locate programs and donors, communities and local businesses could quickly determine areas of need.

This database laid the groundwork for the creation of T/MC, which uses this logic model as its mission:

By using best practices from across the country, tutor/mentor programs can innovate, build visibility, and achieve results that a single program could not realize on its own.

T/MC launched its first survey in January 1994 and held its first conference in May 1994. The T/MC Web site went online in 1997, which paved the way for new technologies like OHATS, the Organizational History & Accomplishments Tracking System, in 2000 and the Program Locator in 2004. (view timeline of T/MC)

In 2005, the technology department at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) donated resources to create the T/MC Online Portal, which currently connects the T/MC community interactively through discussion forums and links pages. T/MC would like to thank IUPUI for its continued support of the T/MC mission.

How do we measure the success of the T/MC? 
The T/MC has been recognized in many ways for its leadership and service. In 1997, T/MC exhibited at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future. In 2001, T/MC President Daniel F. Bassill was appointed to Commissioner for the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. The Associated Colleges of Illinois also named Bassill a 2004 Outstanding Example of Liberal Arts Leadership. A complete list of awards can be found at here.

Since 2000 the T/MC has maintained an on-line documentation system intended to track actions and demonstrate impact of the T/MC.  Review the T/MC Organizational History and Tracking System (OHATS) which we have been using since 2000 to document actions that lead to accomplishment of the T/MC mission.  In 2007 we began using concept maps to document our strategy and demonstrate our impact.