This graphic is one of many that have been created to illustrate the need for long-term, comprehensive strategies that help youth move from pre-school through high school, then through post high school education and into jobs and careers.  You can see this and many others on Pinterest.com and find links to on-line stories where graphics like this have been used.

This past spring Dan Pallotta delivered an inspiring TED talk illustrating the need for funding to support talent, advertising, investment, innovation and infrastructure in non profit organizations.  Without more people working to show the infrastructure needed to support high-quality, on-going mentoring and tutoring, too few programs will be available in most cities to serve all of the youth who might benefit from such programs.

Anyone can be actively involved in building networks of people who are reviewing the web sites I point to and getting together in small groups to reflect, talk about the ideas, then take actions that help support non-school learning programs in their community.

Here are a couple of articles that illustrate this potential:

• Unleash personal power - http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Make-Good-happen 
• Network growth -  http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Building-Networks

If you've found places where this discussion is taking place, or if you're interested in facilitating this discussion within the world of youth serving organizations, please send an invitation for myself and others from my network to join with you.

 

Below are sites where Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute connect with others and share ideas from our own experiences, and an extensive web library. 

 

* on Twitter - http://twitter.com/tutormentorteam
* Linked in group on volunteering -  Build Support for Volunteer Based Tutor/Mentor Programs
* Tutor/Mentor Institute on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute 
* Tutor/Mentor Connection forum at  http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com 
* On Slide Share - http://www.slideshare.net/tutormentor 
* On Scribd.com - http://www.scribd.com/daniel-f-bassill-7291 
* On Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/tutormentor/ 

 

Read the blogs at:  http://tutormentor.blogspot.com   and http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com      

Subscribe to this Email Newsletter - http://tinyurl.com/TMI-news-signup 

from the President and Founder


For the past few weeks the Chicago Tribune has been asking for ideas from readers to create "a new plan" to address some of the complex problems facing the Chicago region.  I wrote about it in this article.

Chicago and national media have been pointing to outcomes of poverty for over 20 years, as this 1994 front page illustrates.

Why has so little changed? One reason is that people are focused on their own problems, as well as tragedies from around the world. I wrote a blog article in 2011 titled "Another War. Another Tsunami. Another Day." which expressed my frustration at how difficult it was to sustain a youth mentoring program, or an intermediary network like Tutor/Mentor Connection, when so many national, global, environmental, financial and personal obstacles made it difficult, or almost impossible, to continue to operate from day to day, and year-to year.

I've organized a Tutor/Mentor Conference in Chicago every six months since May 1994 to encourage people involved with volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs to connect with each other, exchange ideas, and build supportive relationships. However, they've also been intended to build attention for all tutor/mentor programs in Chicago, and draw volunteers and donors to each program, just like the corporate advertising of big companies seeks to draw customers to every store they operate. 102 people participated in the most recent conference on November 4. While they may have benefited, this is far to small a gathering to impact the way youth and youth serving organizations throughout the region are supported.

Following conference I posted article titled "building network of networks" http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2013/11/building-network-of-networks.html



The graphic at the right is from a PDF essay titled "Building a Network of Shared Purpose", which you can find here. While my collection of essays on Scribd.com have been viewed over 72,000 times in the past two years, that's not nearly enough to have an impact.

Until more youth and adults, in different sectors, and different cities, are creating similar visualizations, with similar goals, there won't be a consistent effort to make mentor-rich, non-school programs available in every high poverty neighborhood of any city.

A lot of money will be spent. However, that does not mean we are reaching youth in all places where they need help or that we're providing consistent, age-appropriate mentoring, tutoring and learning, that helps youth in thousands of neighborhoods move from first grade to first job.

Some programs will find enough funding and talent to operate in a few places. Most places won't  have the flow of resources and talent needed to build and sustain long-term programs. 

If you agree with what I'm writing, share your thinking through your own media. Share this newsletter and the articles with people in your own network.  Engage youth you work with in creating these visualizations, the way interns have been doing with me for the past 8 years.  If you're in another city, you can apply these same ideas to your own community.

There's much to do. We can't let the daily distractions keep us from trying to do it.
 

Since 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC has continued the work started by the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993. While I'm trying to build a team to create a new non profit structure, I am seeking your support for continuing this work.  I hope one of these will be an option you can use to make a year-end contribution.

Web platform - http://www.tutormentorconference.org/platform_tmi.htm

40th Conference in 20 years - http://www.tutormentorconference.org/40th-tutormentorconference.htm

Dan Bassill - 67th Birthday - http://www.tutormentorconference.org/birthdaywish.htm