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July-Aug 2024 eNews

July-August 2024 - Issue 232
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

Is Your Volunteer-Recruitment Plan in Place?

By mid July leaders of volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs are already beginning to launch volunteer recruitment campaigns for the start of the 2024-25 school year. Is your program working alone to attract attention? Or is it part of a coalition of similar programs all working toward a common purpose?

 

How do you find peers who are doing similar work?

That's the purpose of this newsletter and the library that I've maintained for the past 30 years.

 

Use the ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Learn from the Chicagoland Tutor/Mentor Volunteer Recruitment Campaign that I Led in Chicago from 1995 to 2006 (and beyond).

The Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) was formed by myself and six other volunteers in 1993, as we were launching a new, site-based, program to help 7th and 8th grade teens connect with mentors, tutors and extra learning that would help them move through high school.

 

We recognized that one more small program might change the lives of the kids who participated, but would not impact the more than 200,000 kids living in high poverty areas of Chicago. Thus we formed the T/MC. It's primary commitment was to "learn all we could about volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs and share that to help mentor-rich programs grow in more places". We launched our first formal survey in January 1994 and 120 programs responded. We published that list in a printed Directory and invited the programs to gather and share ideas in a May 1994 conference. In spring 1995 we decided to launch an August/September campaign to help every program in our Directory attract volunteers.

 

You can read about that campaign on this page (and borrow ideas to launch a similar campaign in your own location!) Be sure to read the Final Reports which you can find on this page.

 

After 2003 we were no longer able to secure grant funding to continue organizing volunteer-recruitment fairs in multiple locations and our list of programs had been put on the Internet. Thus, in the years since then the campaign has been an effort to get more people saying "be a volunteer" during the August/September period, pointing them to our on-line list of Chicago area programs.

 

Below is one of dozens of media stories generated by the T/MC's Chicagoland campaign. You can find more on this page. If your organization, university, business or political leaders were to organize a similar campaign, you could build a similar collection over the next five to 10 years!

 

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Use links in this concept map to find youth programs in Chicago and around the country.

Every time someone in Chicago, or in your own community says, "Help kids" or "Be a Volunteer" or "Be a donor", they should be able to point to a concept map like this, or a web page like this, with resources to help them find programs in different parts of the city or suburbs. Our collective challenge is motivating more people to use their own media and personal influence to make that call-to-action.

 

Keeping a list up-to-date is one of the big challenges. If you find broken links on my websites, please report them to me. If you know of programs that should be added, or deleted (no longer operating), report that to me also.

 

If you're a university or institution that would like to take ownership of this resource and keep it available for the next 10 to 20 years. please reach out to me. I'm now 77 and new leaders are needed.

Recruiting a Volunteer or Student is Just the Beginning.

Every year from 1975 to 2011 I repeated the same cycle. We recruited students and volunteers in August, starting with asking participants from the previous year's program to return for another year. We received a trickle of volunteer applications in August, but many more in the first two weeks of September.

 

We organized volunteer and student orientations and training sessions the second and third week of September and held student-volunteer matching sessions the fourth week of September. By the first week of October, most of our volunteers were matched, and began meeting weekly for the next nine months..

 

Actually, this process continued through October. We either had more kids signed up than volunteers, or more volunteers than kids. We tried to recruit more volunteers so we would not need to put kids on the waiting list, but by early November we shut off new enrollment. For the rest of the year new additions were replacements for people who dropped out.

 

Once kids and volunteers were matched, we supported weekly sessions with on-going coaching and a set of events and activities that helped build relationships and keep interest high, so participation also remained high. Our weekly handouts (printed then via the Internet), provided guidance on activities to expect, speakers, report cards, resources, etc.

 

We used Excel spreadsheets to track attendance so we could see when a student or volunteer was beginning to miss sessions. Follow up calls determined if that was a permanent loss, or if we were able to rebuild participation.

 

This was on-going.

 

Visit this page and read the articles about starting a program, annual planning, operating principles, and what's required each week to keep kids and volunteers involved.

Get to know the resources available to you

This concept map shows homework help and learning resources in the Tutor/Mentor Library.

Between now and November most of traditional and social media will focus on the November elections in the USA. That means it will be much more difficult for individual volunteer-based organizations to get noticed, and to recruit volunteers and donors. The information in the sections above points to resources organizations can use to build collaborations that work together to raise visibility for the entire sector, thus increasing resources for each organization.

 

However, elections have a purpose. Hopefully each state and city will elect representatives who study the information I share in the "Law, Justice, Poverty and Prevention" section of the Tutor/Mentor library and will work to undo the structural barriers that make it more difficult for poor and middle income people to thrive. View the concept map at this link.

 

View my complete collection of concept maps on this page. Create your own versions using cMapTools or some of the tools I point to in these articles.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

 

 

Repeat after me! Try it! View newsletters from 1990s- click here

 

The Internet. A force for change. 1998 message - click here

 

Saving our digital history - click here

 

Drawing from my archives - Network Building 2007 - click here

 

Still judged by color of their skin. Things I fear. - click here

 

Create a learning group to understand goals of Tutor/Mentor blog - click here

 

What if political candidates did this?. - click here

 

Browse the archives. Apply the ideas. - click here

 

Thanks from Inspired Youth tutoring program - 2006 and 2024 - click here

 

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Chicago Volunteer-Based tutor, mentor program list - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Resources & Announcements

 

 

* NYLC 2024 Virtual Youth Leadership Summit - July 25. Still time to register - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* University of Michigan Poverty Solutions data maps - click here

 

* Persistent Poverty in America - click here

 

* Discover Engineering. Future City competitions for 2024-25 season - click here

 

*  FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

 

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* Chicago Digital Equity Coalition - click here

 

* Illinois Broadband Lab - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

 

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

 

About this newsletter.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

 

view current and past newsletters at this link.

 

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Thank you for reading. I had to buy a new printer/scanner!

Please help fund the T/MI.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram

August 2024 eNews

August 2024 - Issue 233
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

Boost Volunteer Recruitment During the Democratic National Convention

This week the nation's attention is focused on Chicago and the Democratic National Convention.

 

While this is happening, volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs across the country are trying to attract volunteers and donors to support their 2024-25 school year efforts.

 

This newsletter is a quick reminder of the resources available to help volunteers find tutor/mentor programs. Now we just need political leaders and celebrities to point to these lists.

Use the ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Use these lists to find youth-serving programs in Chicago and other places. Share your own lists on social media.

Use social media, company newsletters, and media interviews to draw attention and support to volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs throughout the country. Every time someone in Chicago, or in your own community says, "Help kids" or "Be a Volunteer" or "Be a donor", they should be able to point to a concept map or a website, with resources they can use to help them find programs in different parts of the city or suburbs.

 

Our collective challenge is motivating more people to use their own media and personal influence to make that call-to-action. During this week's Democratic National Convention there will be plenty of opportunities for leaders, or social media activists, to point to lists like mine.

 

Keeping a list up-to-date is one of the big challenges. If you find broken links on my websites, please report them to me. If you know of programs that should be added, or deleted (no longer operating), report that to me also.

 

If you're a university or institution that would like to take ownership of this resource and keep it available for the next 10 to 20 years, please reach out to me. I'm now 77 and new leaders are needed.

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Governor Tim Walz is a "GIS Nerd"

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and if you've read any of the articles on my blog or in this newsletter, you've seen my commitment to using maps to show where kids need extra help and to draw attention, volunteers and donors to volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs in these areas, while helping new programs start where more are needed.

 

Last month ESRI, the GIS mapping software company that donated software to the Tutor/Mentor Connection from 1995 to 2011, posted an article on their blog, with the headline, "Why Governor Tim Walz is a 'GIS Nerd' and What that Means for the US."

 

It points to a Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio, with interactive maps that political leaders use to make policy and funding decisions. It's a model that could be duplicated in every state.

 

I put the link to that article in a story I posted on the Mapping for Justice blog, which has been used since 2008 to show ways maps can be used by leaders, foundations, media and others to build strategies that reach K-12 kids in EVERY high poverty area of cities like Chicago. Read the story - click here

 

When Governor Walz becomes Vice President Walz, can he become a champion for the strategies I've shared for so many years? He can, but first he needs to win the election.

 

Then, you need to point him to the articles about mapping on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website.

Find new ways to fund on-going programs

Want to make a difference? Re Think Philanthropy

 

This graphic is one of four that I created several years ago to show the need for on-going, flexible, operating dollars to support volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs in EVERY area of persistent poverty. Visit this article and take a look.

 

"Should we pay for relationships? Why Philanthropy needs to invest in social capital."

 

That's the title of a new article in InsidePhilanthropy, written by Julia Freeland Fisher, of the Christensen Institute. I encourage you to read it.

 

I've used the graphic above since the 1990s to show how organized, site-based, tutor/mentor programs can expand the networks (social capital) of kids living in areas of persistent poverty, by recruiting volunteers from multiple backgrounds and keeping them connected to kids for many years, or keeping the kids connected to the program, all the way through high school.

 

Funding on-going operations of such programs is the challenge. I faced it for 18 years and was ultimately defeated. Is there a way to educate donors to understand the value of social capital building within tutor/mentor programs, and to show on your website how you're connecting kids and volunteers in multiple-year relationships?

 

Here are three articles to stimulate your thinking.

 

 

During this week's Democratic National Convention and over the next few months, share articles like this in your social media and your newsletters. Attract leader attention and educate donors.

 

Finally, look at your website. Does it show your strategy and ability to connect youth with volunteers from multiple backgrounds for many years? If donors go to your website they need to see reasons to support you.

Below are resources to use.
View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

 

 

Sharing the success we each have. My 1995 vision - click here

 

Adopt this 4-part strategy to help kids in YOUR community - click here

 

Give Gold Medals for ending poverty - click here

 

Borrow from planning strategies I've shared for over 25 years - click here

 

Understanding complex problems using concept maps. - click here

 

Build information base to support anti-violence efforts - click here

 

The Internet: A force for change. - click here

 

Browse the archives. Apply the ideas. - click here

 

30-year history of reaching out to universities - click here

 

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Resources & Announcements

 

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* University of Michigan Poverty Solutions data maps - click here

 

* Persistent Poverty in America - click here

 

* The Color of Wealth - Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy - click here

 

* Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio - click here

 

* American Inequality Data Portal - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* Chicago Digital Equity Coalition - click here

 

* Illinois Broadband Lab - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

Thank you for reading.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Please help me keep this resource available. Visit this page and contribute to help the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram
 

 

Sept 2024 T/MI newsletter

September 2024 - Issue 234
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

Tutor/Mentor Programs Kick Off New Year!

During the last two weeks of September, volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs across the country will be hosting orientations and training for volunteers and students in organized tutor, mentor and learning programs. By the first week of October most volunteers will have had their first meeting with students they are assigned to work with through the 2024-25 school year.

 

That was the what happened every year from 1975 to 2011 in the Chicago programs that I led.

 

Use the ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

If programs are able to provide adequate support and keep volunteers involved for multiple years, many will take on greater roles to help kids.

This graphic was created several years to show the potential growth of volunteers in organized tutor/mentor programs. Visit this Tutor/Mentor blog article and view the graphic, then look at animations created by interns to provide their own interpretation.

 

One of the reasons I'm passionate about volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs is that they connect people who don't live in high poverty areas with kids, families and schools that are in these areas. As volunteers learn more of the challenges many will do more to help the kids, their programs and their communities overcome these challenges.

 

Increasing the number of people who care is essential. That requires an on-going effort.

 

This won't happen unless individual programs have an on-going volunteer support and learning strategy in place with these goals in mind. When you view a program's website, see if there is an explanation of how they support and retain volunteers.

 

And, unless programs have on-going operating dollars to hire and retain staff, few will be able to provide the continuous support this strategy requires.

 

The second lesson from the article I'm sharing is that interns from Chicago universities spent time reading my article then created their own interpretation. This is an activity that could be duplicated in hundreds of schools, throughout the world, with the end result that more people become personally involved in trying to solve the problems facing people living in areas of persistent poverty.

 

Visit this Tutor/Mentor blog to see work interns did between 2005 and 2015. If you have students doing similar work, do you have a blog or website that shares their projects?

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tips for volunteers and staff based on my own leadership of tutor/mentor programs

I led two tutor/mentor programs in Chicago between 1975 and 2011. I was a volunteer with a full time advertising job while I led the Tutor/Mentor program at the Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarters in Chicago from 1975 to 1990. That program connected 2nd to 6th grade kids from the Cabrini-Green public housing complex with workplace volunteers in weekly sessions that ran from 5:15 to 6:30 pm. In 1975 we had 100 pairs of kids and volunteers. By 1990 we had 300 pairs. We converted that program to a nonprofit in 1990 and I led it's first two years of growth, serving 440 kids and 550 volunteers by June 1992.

 

I left that program in October 1992, and with the help of a few other veteran volunteers, created a second program, to help kids who aged out of the first program after 6th grade have continued support from 7th through 12th grade. We started our first sessions in January 1993 with 7 volunteers and 5 teens and grew each year. By 1998 we had 80 teens and 100 volunteers, and some of our fist teen members were graduating from high school. Due to space limitations we kept that enrollment number from 1998 to 2011.

 

I give this background to offer credibility to the lessons I share on the "How to start a program" page of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website, and in articles, like this one, on the Tutor/Mentor blog.

 

I learned much of what I know from other tutor/mentor programs, beginning back in 1973 when I first became a volunteer tutor/mentor. One reason I host a list of Chicago and national programs, and organized Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences every six months from May 1994 to May 2015, was to encourage other programs to share their strategies and learn from each other.

 

While I have not hosted a conference since 2015 I am on social media everyday, looking at information posted by other programs and trying to draw attention to those posts, so others connect and learn from each other. The need to learn from each other is on-going.

 

How are youth programs in your community sharing their strategies and networking with each other?

 

Become familiar with the on-line learning resources in the Tutor/Mentor Library.

 

The Homework Help concept map in the top graphic can be found at this link. Each node on the map has links to sections of the tutor/mentor library with a wide range of learning resources. Our role as volunteers, parents and leaders is to help students find and use these resources to achieve whatever life goals they aspire to achieve. Use your email newsletters, blogs, social media and bulletin boards to call attention to these resources.

 

The second concept map shows resources in the Tutor/Mentor library that program leaders, volunteers and donors can use to help on-going tutor/mentor programs grow.

 

Visit this Tutor/Mentor blog article and consider how you and your volunteers are learning from Internet libraries. Look at the "Cool Cash" program we tried at the Cabrini Connections program in 2008-09. Borrow some of the ideas. Share your own.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

(Do you have a blog? Share it on social media)

 

Remembering 9/11. How much sacrifice is enough? - click here

 

Mapping Birth-to-Work Strategies - click here

 

Do you think of mentoring as a jobs creation strategy? I wrote this on Labor Day 2024 - click here

 

Mapping Participation - An Example - click here

 

What are issues facing our next President? View my concept map - click here

 

Sharing the successes we each have. My 1995 vision - click here

 

"Yummy's" story - Not New for Me. - click here

 

Browse the archives. Apply the ideas. - click here

 

30-year history of reaching out to universities - click here

 

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Lists of Chicago area tutor, mentor programs - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Resources & Announcements

(New additions are at top of this list)

 

* National Writing Project. Get your students involved - click here View this sample post on Twitter (X) - click here

 

* Explaining Achievement Gaps: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors - click here

 

* Addressing Wealth Inequality in America - click here

 

* Why Philanthropy Needs to Invest in Social Capital - click here

 

* Persistent Poverty in America - click here

 

* The Color of Wealth - Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy - click here

 

* Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio - click here

 

* American Inequality Data Portal - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

Thank you for reading.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

 

I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.

 

view current and past newsletters at this link.

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Please help me keep this resource available. Visit this page and contribute to help the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram

Oct 2024 TM eNews

October 2024 - Issue 235
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

After the Election, What's Next?

The next three weeks will be a stress-filled period as we determine who will be our next President of the United States, and our representatives in Congress and state and local governments.

 

As volunteers and students are starting a new school year, this question has huge ramifications.

 

I posted a blog article on October 14, showing some issues that need to be addressed, and some thoughts on how we connect with each other to find solutions to challenges we, and our students, are facing.

I'm sharing some parts of that article in this newsletter.

 

Use the ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

In August 2024 I shared this concept map, asking "What are the issues facing the next President?"

I featured this concept map and that question again in today's article, which you can read at this link.

 

My article includes a link to the official Kamala Harris for President website issues page, which is at https://kamalaharris.com/issues/

 

A project that youth and volunteers in school and non-school programs might engage in would be to compare the issues on my map, with the issues on the Harris website. Then, create your own map, showing issues that are important to you, your students and your community.

 

I use cMapTools to create my concept maps, but there are other visualization tools you can use. Another activity students and volunteers might do is to go through the links in this page of my library, to learn more about visualization tools they might use for a project like this.

 

Finally, share your maps via blogs, videos, social media, etc. You can influence what local and national leaders focus on over the next decade.

 

New Resource: Today I learned of a "Stop Project 2025 Comic Book Project" site, created by comic book writers and artists who are furious about the Heritage Foundations' plan to consolidate power under authoritarian rule. Visit their site and share the comics.

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

 

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In my blog article I pasted text from previous articles, with links to those pages. I'm repeating that here. I hope you'll take a look at these over the next few weeks and months. Click on the graphic to find links to articles with these quotes.

 
 

.

.

.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Resources & Announcements

(New additions are at top of this list)

 

 

* National Writing Project. Live now! Get your students involved - click here View this sample post on Twitter (X) - click here

 

* Registration now open for 2025 National Mentoring Summit, Jan 19-31, 2025 - click here

 

* National Mentoring Resource Center - click here

 

* Trust Talks - podcast by The Chicago Community Trust highlights the Trust's strategic priority to close Chicago region's racial and ethnic wealth gap - click here

 

* Addressing Wealth Inequality in America - click here

 

* Why Philanthropy Needs to Invest in Social Capital - click here

 

* Persistent Poverty in America - click here

 

* The Color of Wealth - Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy - click here

 

* Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio - click here

 

* American Inequality Data Portal - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

 

* ChiHackNight - remote and face-to-face civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday evening in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

 

 

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

(Do you have a blog? Share it on social media)

 

Connecting networks - the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences - click here

 

Disaster Recovery, Mentoring Kids to Careers - Long Term Commitment Needed - click here

 

Hey CEO! Take this Role! - click here

 

Dave Winer - a blogger for 30 years! - click here

 

The Role of Intermediaries - click here

 

Browse the archives. Apply the ideas. - click here

 

30-year history of reaching out to universities - click here

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Lists of Chicago area, volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs - click here

 

* Homework help and volunteer training resources - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy essays by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns in past - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Thank you for reading.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

 

I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Please help me keep this resource available. Visit this page and contribute to help the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram
 

Nov 2024 eNews

November 2024 - Issue 236

Kids Need Help More than Ever

The election did not turn out as many of us wished it would and now there is great fear about what the next few years will bring to America and the world.

 

Yet, we still need to do the work of raising kids. Our own, and those in different places and with different life circumstances.

 

Over the Holiday Season youth serving organizations will be reaching out for financial support. Please use my lists to find and choose programs to aid with your contributions.

Use the ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

This is what I've focused on for the past 30 years.

Since forming the Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago in 1993 I've created many visual essays to share strategies for connecting networks and drawing support to youth, and youth-serving programs, in every high poverty area of Chicago and other cities. View this PDF at this link.

 

During the past year I've updated most of my visual essays and put them on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website. There are three pages of essays! This is page 1. In the past interns have created their own interpretations of some of these. This video was created in 2013 by an intern from South Korea. This is is another interpretation, created using Prezi. I share these as an INVITATION for youth and adults to create their own versions of these, applying the strategies to helping kids in their own communities. Just include a link back to my website to show where the ideas originated.

 

NOTE: I updated all of my PDFs in 2024 and showed my account on Twitter. In the past month there has been a growing movement of people leaving the platform. I'll still check there for people trying to reach me, but also am on other social media platforms.

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

 

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Identifying existing youth tutor, mentor and learning programs in Chicago and drawing attention to them has been my goal since 1993. See my lists at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

This list is on the left site, middle, of the www.tutormentorexchange.net site. The first link opens to my lists of Chicago area volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs. The second link opens to lists of other types of youth-serving programs in the Chicago region, and to similar programs throughout the country. Further down you'll see that I've created lists showing Chicago tutor/mentor program accounts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

While many programs post regular updates on one or more of these social media sites, many don't post anything at all. How can they expect volunteers and donors to find them if they are not broadcasting an invitation to visit their website?

 

In the past year the change in ownership as Twitter has caused many accounts to move from the site. Some have created new accounts on BlueSky and/or Mastodon. Some use Threads. I use all three, but am beginning to use BlueSky more frequently. If you're part of a youth serving program or afterschool network please connect with me and others on one or more of these platforms.

 

I studied history in college, then spent three years in the US Army, trained in intelligence gathering. These are habits of learning and innovation that I've applied to leading tutor/mentor programs for 35 years and to trying to help similar programs reach k-12 kids in every high poverty area of Chicago and other cities.

 

Visit the Tutor/Mentor blog and read this article about "unfurling", "unflattening" and "the adjacent possible". These are learning habits that adults need to adopt and help kids learn.

How to apply information to problem- solving I've posted many articles on the Tutor/Mentor blog showing how information can support decision-making and help build and sustain more effective youth serving programs in more places. Here's an article title "If more youth-serving programs took this role..."

Giving Tuesday will be December 3, 2024

 

Many of the organizations that I point to from the Tutor/Mentor library will be raising money on Giving Tuesday. I'll give small donations to 6-8 myself. I wish I could do more.

 

You can help. If you're a non profit, share your Giving Tuesday information on social media. If you're anyone who want's to make a difference, watch for these notices and pick one, or many, to support. Find more information here.
 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

This is a graphic created by one of our Cabrini Connections students in the mid 2000s. Like much of the work done by interns and students, it has a long life.

 

I hope you enjoy gathering with friends and family, or just watching a football, basketball game, or movie by yourself.

 

Then, have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Resources & Announcements

(New additions are at top of this list)

 

* Community Commons resource center - click here

 

* Public Health & Equity Resource Navigator (PHERN) - click here

 

* Science of Social Capital - on Community Commons website - click here

 

* A Curious Mind - How educators and parents can encourage and guide children's natural curiosity - in the classroom and at home (and in tutor/mentor programs) - click here

 

* Registration now open for 2025 National Mentoring Summit, Jan 19-31, 2025 - click here

 

* National Mentoring Resource Center - click here

 

* Trust Talks - podcast by The Chicago Community Trust highlights the Trust's strategic priority to close Chicago region's racial and ethnic wealth gap - click here

 

* Addressing Wealth Inequality in America - click here

 

* Why Philanthropy Needs to Invest in Social Capital - click here

 

* Persistent Poverty in America - click here

 

* The Color of Wealth - Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy - click here

 

* Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio - click here

 

* American Inequality Data Portal - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* CANDID - demographic data for NPOs and funders - click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

* ChiHackNight - remote and face-to-face civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday evening in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

(Do you have a blog? Share it on social media)

 

Veterans Day 2024 - click here

 

Scary Reading - Pre Election. I wrote this before Nov 5. The articles and links I point to may be even more important now and over the next few years - click here

 

After the Election This Work is Still Needed. I also wrote this before Nov. 5. The message still applies - click here

 

It Takes a Village! - click here

 

Tell This Story in Your Own Words - click here

 

Create Learning Groups to Understand Goals of Tutor/Mentor blog - click here

 

What is a Tutor/Mentor Learning Network? - click here

 

30-year history of reaching out to universities - click here

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Lists of Chicago area, volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs - click here

 

* Homework help and volunteer training resources - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy essays by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns in past - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Thank you for reading.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

 

I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

 

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Please help me keep this resource available. Contribute to help me continue the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2025.

Since 2011 I've created a fund-raising page to enable people to support my work by making a gift to support my birthday, which is on December 19th.

 

This year I'll be 78 and your help is needed more than ever for me to keep doing this work.

 

Visit this page to make a birthday gift.

Since forming the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2011 I've depended on a small group of donors to make contributions throughout the year and in December to support my efforts. Please add your support, or repeat it if you've given in the past. Visit this page.

 

Thank you for your help.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram


April 2024 Tutor/Mentor eNews

April 2024 - Issue 231
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

Celebrate volunteers. National Volunteer Month.

If you lead a volunteer-based youth tutor, mentor program, or other types of activity that engages volunteers, they need to be recognized, and well-supported, throughout the year.

 

In one of the graphics I share in this month's newsletter is a "volunteer growth cycle" that shows how volunteers who stay with programs for multiple years often become leaders, advocates and resource builders who help the host organization attract needed resources.

This planning should lead to a constant improvement in what programs do to help kids and volunteers connect and build relationships.

 

The ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter point to a library of resources that can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world, to help mentor-rich youth programs thrive in all of the neighborhoods where they are most needed.

 

Encourage others in your city to find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Volunteer Growth Cycle. Take a look.

The top graphic is a concept map created in the late 2000s to show volunteer growth in an organized, on-going, tutor, mentor program. The second graphic was created by a volunteer from the University of Michigan School of Information, to communicate the same idea. See it in this video. I describe the elements of the concept map in this blog article. 

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will now be different.

This is the address that will be on the email for this newsletter. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Think of volunteering as a form of adult service-learning

This graphic is the first page of an animation created in 2011 by an intern from South Korea to visualize the growth of volunteers in organized tutor/mentor programs. You can view it in this video, since Flash animation no longer works. This visualization was actually started in 2007 by an intern from Hong Kong. You can see his version in this blog post.

 

These visualizations illustrate work that youth in schools, non-school programs and colleges and universities can do to help mobilize and sustain volunteers involvement in organized tutor, mentor and learning programs.

 

If you read this final post by Sam Lee, who created this animation, you'll see that she said "As a result of internship, I learn more than I expected. So it's very special time to me." Schools and non-school programs who engage youth in projects like this are creating valuable learning opportunities while engaging youth in actual efforts to create a better world.

 

Look at the conversations posted in this Tutor/Mentor Connection group and see the ways I have coached interns to create visual interpretations of our ideas. Anyone could use these same conversations to engage their own students in doing the same type of projects.

 

"None of us is as smart as ALL of us" - read the president's message at the bottom of this April 2007 Tutor/Mentor Connection eMail newsletter.

Expand youth tutor/mentor program availability

In March I watched two Friends of the Children-Chicago discussions, titled - "Sounding the Alarm: Understanding the price we pay for illiteracy and what we can do about it". I wrote about them in this Tutor/Mentor blog article.

 

A week later I posted another article, pointing to a resource created by Matt Desmond, focused on "How We Can End Poverty in America". He has created a "teaching resource" that anyone can use to be what he calls a "Poverty Abolitionist"

 

As you view the first graphics about supporting volunteer involvement, think of ways you can point your volunteers and donors to these articles, and others like it on the Tutor/Mentor blog.

Look at the archives from 35 years of leading volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago.

 

In this article, which I titled, "What motivates me?" I shared year-books and annual reports that showed the activities we offered to support the on-going involvement of youth and volunteers in our programs.

 

I've created archives of these that you can access, along with copies of our Tutor/Mentor Report newsletter, at this link.

 

If you're part of a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program I encourage you to look at the activities we used and consider including similar in your own programs. I also encourage you to create blogs and a page on your website to share what you do to help kids and volunteers connect, and stay connected, for many years.

Media, Maps and Map Story archives

 

The Tutor/Mentor Connection began creating maps and map stories in 1993, to draw attention and resources to organized, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in every high poverty area of Chicago.

 

In this article I point to these archives.

 

In this article I point to media stories that were generated by the Tutor/Mentor Connection event strategy.

 

Does someone in your city have a similar 30 year collection?

What you can do to end Poverty

In 2005 I wrote an article on the Tutor/Mentor blog titled "What you can do to end poverty". I reposted it in this April 2024 article. In March 2024 I included the graphic above, in this article, under the headline "Tutor/Mentor Connection needed in many places.

 

Most of my maps and graphics show where poverty is concentrated in Chicago. Some of the recent research I've pointed to uses maps to show areas of persistent, long-term poverty. They are the same places!

 

I use a "birth to work" timeline to show the long-term investment needed in each of the high poverty areas and I use a "hub and spoke" graphic to visualize organized programs that expand the network of "who you know" for kids who have limited connections to work and opportunity because of where they live.

Draw attention to these ideas - share them. Create your own.

The idea for the Tutor/Mentor Connection was born in late 1992 following the shooting death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis in Chicago, and the media attention that followed it. Having worked in retail advertising for the Montgomery Ward corporation, I knew how we used weekly advertising, throughout the year, to draw attention and shoppers, to our 400 stores in 40 states. I recognized that Chicago needed a similar strategy, to draw volunteers, students and donors to every volunteer-based tutor/mentor program operating in Chicago, and to new programs that needed to grow where too few existed.

 

We did our planning in 1993 and launched in January 1994. Part of that planning was learning to use GIS maps to show "where" programs were located and where they were needed. Part of it was developing an event strategy, anchored by May and November leadership and networking conferences and an August/September volunteer recruitment campaign, to motivate the local news media to tell our story.

 

In this blog article I share links to a Google archive that shows dozens of media stories resulting from this strategy being followed for over 20 years.

 

I share this so leaders in other cities might develop their own strategy, borrowing from my archives and the history of the Tutor/Mentor Connection from 1993 till the present (since 2011 the T/MC has been led by the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and our website is http://www.tutormentorexchange.net)

 

Some day you should be able to find archives like mine in every city where there are areas of persistent poverty.

New Visual Essay. 30-Year History For 30 years I've reached out to universities in Chicago and beyond, to forge partnerships and campus commitments intended to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in high poverty areas of Chicago and other places and help more kids through high school, college, and into jobs. Now you can review this in a new visual essay which I share in this issue of the Tutor/Mentor blog. Share this in your network and help find donors who will bring this strategy to colleges and the cities where they operate.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles that point to Tutor/Mentor Connection archived files:

 

More maps now in my archive" - click here

 

What you can do to end poverty - click here

 

What motivates Me? - click here

 

Using maps to draw attention and resources to high poverty areas - click here

 

Helping Tutor/Mentor Programs grow- for over 30 years - click here

 

Letters to the Editor - Was anyone listening? - click here

 

Visual essays created since 1990s - click here

 

30 years later. Same goals. - click here

 

These "Calls to Action" need new energy - click here

 

This is what I was doing in 2001 - click here

 

Tutor/Mentor Connection Vision - 2001 - click here

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Chicago Volunteer-Based tutor, mentor program list - click here

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Concept Map library - click here

 

* Work done by interns - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

Resources & Announcements

 

* Arts Education in Chicago. View Ingenuity map and State of Arts Report.

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Extending Employee Volunteer Impact. From Realized Worth blog. click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* Chicago Digital Equity Coalition - click here

 

* Illinois Broadband Lab - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

 

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

About this newsletter.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Thank you for reading. Please help fund the T/MI.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and this newsletter. Please send a 2024 contribution.

 

Connect with Dan (tutormentor) on one of these social media platforms.

Twitter (X)
Linkedin
Facebook

Bluesky
Instagram
 

 

Dec 2024 TM eNews

December 2024 - Issue 237

Support youth serving organizations with year-end and on-going contributions!

During the Holiday Season youth serving organizations are reaching out for financial support. Please use my lists to find and choose programs to aid with your contributions.

 

I wish you all a safe, healthy, happy and HOPE-filled holiday season.

The ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter are intended to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. Use these in Chicago, or anywhere in the world.

While I spend most of my time every year trying to help hundreds of youth tutor, mentor and learning programs, I ask you to help me with a contribution in December.

Since 2011 I've created a fund-raising page to enable people to support my work by making a gift to support my birthday, which is on December 19th.

 

This year I'll be 78 and your help is needed more than ever for me to keep doing this work. Visit this page to make a birthday gift.

Since forming the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2011 I've depended on a small group of donors to make contributions throughout the year and in December to support my efforts. Please add your support, or repeat it if you've given in the past. Visit this page.

 

Thank you for your help.
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

 

Ten additions to the Tutor/Mentor Library in 2024

I started putting the Tutor/Mentor library on the Internet in 1998 and have added new links each year. In 2024 I added 98 new links, which you can see on this page. Below are some of those.

1-2-2024 - Seek - Sense - Share - Personal Knowledge Mastery Process - https://jarche.com/pkm - I've followed Harold Jarche since 1990s and his ideas about learning motivate much of my own thinking.

 

1-17-2024 - Mapping Police Violence in America - https://mappingpoliceviolence.org

 

2-13-2024 - Art Makers Club - creative activities. shared in articles like this by Sherri Edwards of the CLMOOC group that I've followed since 2013 - https://sheri42.net/2024/02/12/fun-with-photo-doodles - Volunteers in tutor/mentor programs should look at Sheri's blog for ideas about creative work they can do with students

 

4-2-2024 - Daily STEM Learning Activities - weekly newsletter - https://dailystem.com/news

 

5-10-2024 - American Inequality Data Portal - https://www.americaninequality.io/maps

 

6-25-2024 - The Color of Wealth - Chicago - http://colorofwealth.org

 

7-10-2024 - Beyond the School Building: Examining the Association Between Out-of-School Factors and Multidimensional School Grades - https://epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/8497

 

7-16-2024 - My Chi My Future - community collaboration pages - https://explore.mychimyfuture.org

 

8-18-2024 - Why Philanthropy Needs to Invest in Social Capital - https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/7/16/should-we-pay-for-relationships-why-philanthropy-needs-to-invest-in-social-capital

 

12-5-2024 - The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America - https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america

 

Twelve Tutor/Mentor blog articles from 2024

1-22-2024 - 30 years later. New Year. Same Goals - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/01/30-years-later-new-year-same-goals.html

 

1-4-2024 - National Mentoring Month - Infrastructure focus - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/01/national-mentoring-month.html

 

2-28-2024 - Opportunity for All? Involvement of More. See maps - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/02/opportunity-for-all-involvement-of-more.html

 

2-12-2024 - Multiplying Good - Map the Sports Network - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/02/multiplying-good-map-network.html

 

3-28-2024 - What Motivates Me - See yearbooks from past - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-motivates-me.html

 

4-11-2024 - 30 year history of reaching out to universities - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/04/30-year-history-of-reaching-out-to.html

 

5-28-2024 - Repeat After Me! Try it! - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/05/repeat-after-me-try-it.html

 

5-14-2024 - Drawing Resources to Chicago Tutor, Mentor and Learning Programs - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/05/drawing-attention-resources-to-chicago.html

 

7-18-2024 - Understanding complex problems using concept maps - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/07/understanding-complex-problems-using.html

 

7-13-2024 - Build information base to support anti violence efforts - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/07/build-information-base-to-support-anti.html

 

8-5-2024 - Adopt this 4-part strategy to help kids in your community - https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/08/adopt-this-4-part-strategy-to-help-kids.html

 

11-25-2024 - What comes after the election? https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-comes-after-election.html

Below are resources that I point to each month.

* What's next for the nonprofit sector - Dec. 2024 article in The NonProfit Times - click here

 

* Community Commons resource center - click here

 

* Registration now open for 2025 National Mentoring Summit, Jan 19-31, 2025 - click here

 

* National Mentoring Resource Center - click here

 

* Trust Talks - podcast by The Chicago Community Trust highlights the Trust's strategic priority to close Chicago region's racial and ethnic wealth gap - click here

 

* Addressing Wealth Inequality in America - click here

 

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* CANDID - demographic data for NPOs and funders - click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Lists of Chicago area, volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs - click here

 

* Homework help and volunteer training resources - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy essays by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns in past - click here

 

* Intermediary organizations serving youth in Chicago area - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

Thank you for reading.

 

I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.

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Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

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Thank you for reading. And thank you to those who help fund the

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New Links - added 2025

New additions to Tutor/Mentor library - 2025

Since mid 2022 I've posted new additions to the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Library on a page like this. Each listing includes a link to the sub-section of the library where the link was posted. Those links are in alphabetical order.  New additions from 2024 are posted here.  New additions from 2023 are posted here.  New additions from 2022 are posted here.

6-26-2025 - IMPACT BORDERLESS DIGITAL (IBD) - AFRICAN MENTORING SUPPORT
https://impactborderlessdigital.com/
From the website: "Through mentorship and career development flora, IBD empowers youth with the knowledge, international exposure, and digital fluency they need to be emancipated global citizens with borderless influence for sustainable development."  Based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Find in this section

4-28-2025 - INDEPENDENT SECTOR - TRACKING THE POLICY LANDSCAPE FOR THE CHARITABLE SECTOR - 2025
https://independentsector.org/policy/tracking-the-policy-landscape/
With so much disruption coming from the new Federal administration, as a result of the 2024 election, funding for the charitable sector is in a state of chaos.  The Independent Sector and partners are providing three trackers to monitor policy actions. 1) Tax and Federal Legislation Tracker;  2)  Litigation Tracker; 3) Executive Action Tracker.  Make sure your board, volunteers and donors are aware of this resource. 
Find in this section

4-28-2025 - MAPPING JUSTICE - EMPOWERING YOUTH THROUGH GEOSPATIAL INNOVATION
https://www.trubel.co/
This is the flagship program of an organization called trubel&co, who's mission is to "champion diverse youth by integrating STEM education with civic innovation to tackle societal challenges. Through our flagship program, Mapping Justice, we empower students to use geospatial technology for social change, fostering data literacy, critical thinking, and community advocacy."
Find in this section

4-28-2025 - COLLECTIVE FOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN STEM AND SOCIETY (CYESS)
https://cyess.org/
CYESS is an  initiative of the Afterschool Alliance which is "leveraging the potential of afterschool programs for civic engagement and STEM learning."  Browse the website to learn more.
Find in this section

4-28-2025 - CHILDREN'S FUNDING PROJECT - SUPPORT FOR STRATEGIC  PUBLIC FINANCING 
https://childrensfundingproject.org/
The Children's Funding Project "helps communities maintain equitable, coordinated, and sustainable funding for comprehensive programs and services so that all children thrive." View video of April 2025 webinar to understand the support and resources they offer. https://childrensfundingproject.org/resource/public-financing-in-times-of-uncertainty/

Read the article on the Wallace Foundation website about the Children's Funding Project. https://wallacefoundation.org/resource/article/investing-youth-cradle-career
Find in this section

4-28-2025 - GOOGLE MAPS MANIA - IS A BLOG SHARING GOOGLE MAPS CREATED SINCE 2005
https://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-action-day-2008-poverty.html
This blog is a huge, rich archive showing hundreds of ways maps can be used.  I saw this link on BlueSky and searched to see if Tutor/Mentor Connection had ever been mentioned.  I found this 2008  post where I'd introduced our mapping work with a comment.   
Find in this section

4-3-2025 - A BETTER CHICAGO - STATE OF OUR YOUTH 2025 REPORT
https://www.abetterchicago.org/reports-and-insights/state-of-our-youth-2025
This 2025 report provides extensive data showing the "Sate of Chicago Youth" and should be read by all who are concerned with the future of the city.  In the summary the authors wrote "Chicago is among the major cities that continues to experience uneven investments and development across neighborhoods, resulting in inadequate access to essential services and disparities in economic, education and health outcomes. The data in this report reveals how these historical patterns continue to have a disproportionate negative impact on communities of color."  Download the report from the A Better Chicago website.
Find in this section


3-31-2025 - A 2025 UPDATE OF GENE BELLINGER'S SYSTEMS THINKING LIBRARY
click here
This site is related to the "And, It's all Connected" site.  It is named "Gene's 2nd Brain" which is (as he says) "where I attempt to organize everything I touch that seems meaningful. Well, at least to me."  This site uses an interactive concept mapping/visualization tool to organize hundreds, if not thousands, of links.  Spend some time becoming familiar with it. Re-visit often. Create your own version. No password needed.
Find in this section


3-28-2025 - EVERY HOUR COUNTS - A NETWORK OF LEADING INTERMEDIARIES BUILDING AFTER SCHOOL SYSTEMS
https://www.everyhourcounts.org/
From the website: "Every Hour Counts is a network of organizations from across the country that is leading a movement to expand learning beyond school so that all young people can thrive."
Find in this section

3-27-2025 - COUNSELLOR TALK - CREATIVE RESOURCES FOR COUNSELLORS, EDUCATORS AND MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
https://www.counsellortalk.com/blog
On this site, launched in 2025, two long-term psychologists and former school counsellors share a legacy of meaningful connections and creative counselling practices with the goal of inspiring a new generation of counsellors and educators. The blog is full of resources. 
Find in this section


3-23-2025 - AMERICA'S VOLUNTEER-BASED U.S. GOV. DATA RESCUE PROJECT - 2025
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/the-data-hoarders-resisting-trumps-purge
This article in The New Yorker describes an effort by hundreds of volunteers to save data that is being wiped by people working for the GOP leaders in Washington, DC. This is a massive effort to preserve history and public knowledge. Visit the Data Rescue Project website to learn more and get involved. https://www.datarescueproject.org/
Find in this section

3-21-2025 - COMMUNITIES FOR JUST SCHOOLS FUND
https://www.cjsfund.org/
From the website: "Communities for Just Schools is a national collaborative that links philanthropy with the power of grassroots organizing to transform schools. It's a movement born to end the school-to-prison pipeline."
Find in this section

3-19-2025 - CAREER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC - PROMOTES ACHIEVEMENT IN STEM PROFESSIONAL CAREERS - HOSTS STEM CITY USA
https://intouch.ccgmag.com/page/pre-college-program
CCG website shows a wide range of programs, publications and events that promote achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math careers.  One program is STEM CITY USA, which is a virtual reality learning platform which you can see at https://stemcityusa.com/.    The link provided above points to the CCG pre-college program that provides middle and high school students the opportunity to learn about STEM careers and acquire skills.
Find in this section


3-19-2025 - PICKLEBALL NOISE RELIEF - A GRASSROOTS EFFORT LAUNCHED IN 2023
https://www.pickleballnoiserelief.com/home
From the website: "Pickelball Noise Relief is a grassroots support network dedicated to addressing the issue of excessive noise from pickleball courts.  We aim to inform, educate, and empower individuals affected by pickleball noise, providing resources and strategies to mitigate its impact."  Take a look at the range of resources provided on this website.  It's a model that other causes might duplicate.
Find in this section


3-18-2025 - A MIGHTY GIRL - DEDICATED TO RAISING SMART, CONFIDENT, AND COURAGEOUS GIRLS
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog
The website says "A Mighty Girls is the worlds largest collection of books, toys, movies, and music for parents, teachers and others dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls and, of course, for girls themselves."  This link points to the Mighty Girls blog.   Follow A Mighty Girls on Facebook and see how they share relevant information on a regular basis.  https://www.facebook.com/amightygirl
Find in this section and in this section

3-14-2025 - VISUALLY RECORD A CONVERSATION
https://visualthinkery.com/project/visually-recording-a-conversation/
This article on the Visual Thinkery site provides steps for visually recording a conversation.  It's part of the creative process ideas shared on the site.
Find in this section

3-12-2025 - SCHOLARSHIPS AND RESOURCES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS
https://www.publicservicedegrees.org/financial-aid/scholarships/minority-students/
This "Student Training & Education in Public Service" article includes a list of minority-focused scholarships and resources that focus on public-service degrees.
Find in this section

3-7-2025 - THE EDUCATIONAL POWER OF FILMMAKING FOR YOUTH
https://octaneseating.com/blog/film-educational-benefits
NAVIGATING THE ART OF BOOK-TO-FILM ADAPTATION
https://octaneseating.com/blog/book-to-film-adaptations/
These are two visually illustrated blog articles on the website of a company that sells residential and theater seating!  Both have valuable tips that student and adult film-makers might learn from.  Take a look. 
Find in this section


3-7-2025 - UNLOCKING THE MAGIC OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: ESSENTIAL RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND EDUCATORS
https://octaneseating.com/blog/childrens-literature/
This is a visually illustrated blog article on the website of a company that sells residential and theatrical seating.  It offers many useful tips for parents, teachers, tutors and mentors. 
Find in this section


3-4-2025 - INCREASING STEM ENGAGEMENT THROUGH OPPORTUNITY LANDSCAPING - 2025 RESEARCH PAPER
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825000186?via%3Dihub
This paper on Opportunity Landscaping, co-authored by Nichole Pinkard, with Sheena E., Caitlin K. Martin, Yolanda J. Majors, PhD, & Natasha Smith-Walker, explores how we can better understand and design learning ecosystems to ensure equitable access to STEM and out-of-school learning opportunities.   An example of this work is the South Side STEM Opportunity Landscape described at https://www.southsidestemlandscape.org/
Find in this section

2-28-2025 - BEYOND AID: WHY GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS A MARKET-CREATING SHIFT - 2-2025 ARTICLE
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/beyond-aid-why-global-development-needs-a-market-creating-shift/
The long-standing global development model has been overly reliant on foreign aid.  That has decreased from 2019 to 2023 and now is being drastically cut by the new administration in Washington.  This article makes a case for developing market-creating innovations to alleviate poverty.  
Find in this section

2-28-2025 - FOM BLACK BOYS TO BLACK MEN - WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
https://www.hattieschild.com/mentoring
Visit this website and learn from educator, author and mentor, Steve White. Use the curriculum in your own mentoring programs. 
Find in this section

2-28-2025 - THE MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO - BY DR. CARTER. G. WOODSON
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mis-Education_of_the_Negro
This book was published in 1993 but remains a fundamental resource for understanding Black history. 
Find in this section

2-27-2025 - OTHERING & BELONGING INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
https://belonging.berkeley.edu/resources
From the website: "OBI advances groundbreaking research, policy, and ideas that examine and remediate the process of exclusion, marginalization, and structural inequality -- what we call othering -- in order to build a world based on inclusion, fairness, justice, and care for the earth -- what we call belonging."  This link points to the resources page. 
Find in this section

2-26-2025 - STEM LEARNING ECOSYSTEMS - CONNECTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES WITH A NATIONAL NETWORK OF PEERS AND STEM LEADERS
https://stemecosystems.org/
From the website: "Built on over a decade of research, the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice is a first-of-its-kind global collaboration of 114+ communities growing STEM collaborations that prepare all people for emerging opportunities. More than 70 million learners find themselves going from cradle to career within the space of a STEM Learning Ecosystem."
Find in this section

2-26-2025 - VISION FOR AMERICAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (VAST) - 2025
https://www.vastfuture.org/
This website shows the vision of individuals representing industry, academia, government, and the non-profit sector of a future state in which American science and technology can continue to serve America.  Planning started in 2024. 
Find in this section

2-20-2025 - MELANIN MEETUPS - SHAPING THE AMERICAN BLACK COMMUNITY AND EXPERIENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
https://www.melaninmeetups.org/about
From the website: "The  mission of Melanin MeetUps is to Rewrite the Narrative. This means to create a better understanding of the African-American experience and overall story to create a more unifying identity due to the deliberate erasure of persons, culture, values, and beliefs from systems designed to do so."  Visit the site to learn more.
Find in this section

2-20-2025 - FITFO NETWORK - "A NETWORK FOR NETWORKS"
https://www.fito.network/boosting-funding
This site was created in 2023, based on many years of previous experience. The network is made up of thousands of people, with leaders from Africa, India, South America and Europe.  It's goal is to help networks get the ideas, connections and resources each needs to do their work well.  One section focuses on boosting funding for networks. 
Find in this section and in this section

2-20-2025 - FORWARD MOMENTUM CHICAGO - INSPIRES POSSIBILITIES THROUGH DANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
https://www.forwardmomentumchicago.org/
From the website: "Forward Momentum Chicago programs are designed to increase dance skills and awareness, and to foster creativity, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning. Forward Momentum Chicago offers a variety of dance experiences for all ages and ability levels."
Find in this section

2-12-2025 - 'ORIGINAL SINS" - BOOK EXAMINES HOW EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO HURT BLACK AND INDIGENOUS STUDENTS
https://thetriibe.com/2025/02/eve-l-ewing-examines-how-the-education-system-is-designed-to-hurt-black-and-indigenous-students/
This link points to an interview of Eve L. Ewing, author of "Original Sins", published in Feb. 2025 in The Tribe. 
Find in this section

2-6-2025 - KEVIN'S MEANDERING MIND - BLOG BY CONNECTED LEARNING EDUCATOR
https://dogtraxwrites.com/blogging4life/blogging4life-the-platforms/
Kevin Hodgson is a middle school teacher from Western Massachusetts who I've followed since 2014.  Several links on this blog list go to articles he wrote.  I point to his blog many times from the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC blog.  He launched a new blog site in 2025.   Check it out. 
Find in this section

2-5-2025 - AUTHENTIC CONNECTION PLATFORMS: THE FUTURE OF DISINTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA - 2025 ARTICLE
https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/social-media-2/2025/02/authentic-connection/
This article on the Conferences that Work blog focuses on the demise of traditional social media as a place to connect and share ideas and the rise of smaller platforms, that are part of the Fediverse, a network of servers interconnected via a common protocol. Mastodon is one of these.
Find in this section

2-4-2025 - 3 TOOLS TO HELP TEACH ABOUT BLACK HISTORICAL FIGURES IN A MODERN LIGHT
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64931/three-tools-to-help-teach-about-black-historical-figures-in-a-modern-light
This article on the KQED website offers tips for engaging children in learning about Black history throughout the year and beyond the surface level. Take a look.
Find in this section

1-26-2025
LUV CITY - ENGAGES YOUTH IN MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION
ttps://luvcity.org/
From the website: "LUV City offers a 5-week Summer Institute where Chicago youth are immersed in workshops in filmmaking, editing, sound design, multimedia production, acting, storytelling and music production. Youth are invited to continue on with programming during fall, winter and spring semesters."
Find in this section

1-21-2025 - LANDLORD MAPPER - NATIONAL LANDLORD DATBASE INITIATIVE
https://landlordmapper.org/chi/home/
Landlord Mapper is an initiative to advance research into urban property ownership networks. We seek to address the problem of ownership obscurity by leveraging data science techniques to uncover networks of taxpayer records. The goal is to provide tenants with easy access to information about landlords. We also seek to assist and collaborate with other researchers to improve the overall access to landlord data. The site uses network analysis and interactive GIS maps to share information about property owners in Chicago, Milwaukee.
Find in this section

1-18-2025 -  SEGREGATION ACADEMIES: DECADES AFTER DESEGREGATION, PRIVATE SCHOOLS STILL DIVIDE US
https://www.propublica.org/series/segregation-academies
This ProPublica series includes "a Private School Demographics database, which ProPublica launched in 2025, that anyone, anywhere can use to look up a school and view the years of data we were relying on for our reporting." The research shows that "Hundreds of the private schools that opened for white children fleeing the arrival of Black students still operate across the South.  And they play a key role in persistent segregation." 
Find in this section

1-18-2025 - BACKBONE LEADERSHIP IS DIFFERENT: THE SKILLS AND MINDSET SHIFTS NEEDED FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT
https://collectiveimpactforum.org/resource/why-is-backbone-leadership-different/
This page on the Collective Impact Forum shares a new podcast discussion of how backbone leadership in collective impact efforts is different from traditional, more hierarchical leadership styles.  The site has links to reports and is the result of over 10 years of work. 
Find in this section

1-18-2025 - DEEPER LEARNING ARTICLES ON TERRY ELLIOTT'S BLOG
Unflattening. Unfurling. https://impedagogy.com/wp/blog/2024/11/06/unflattening-unfurling-unflattening-nick-sousanis-unfurling-stuart-kaufmann/
Invisible Practice - https://impedagogy.com/wp/blog/2025/01/11/ye-will-know-them-by-their-practices/
These are links to two long articles on Connected Learning (clmooc) member Terry Elliott's blog. Both focus on deeper learning.  One includes podcasts created using Google Notebook LM's artificial intelligence product. These point to habits that teachers, tutors and mentors need to help students learn. 
Find in this section

1-18-2025 - GOOGLE NOTEBOOK LM - AN AI-POWERED COLLABORATOR 
https://support.google.com/notebooklm/answer/15724458?hl=en
It's described as a tool that "helps you do your best thinking".  Look at the podcasts that I point to in this article to see ways this has been used in 2025. 
Find in this section

 

2024 T/MI Newsletters

The Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) have been
sending newsletters to a wide range of stakeholders in the youth development, tutor and mentor
ecosystem, since 1993.  The newsletters are intended as study guides, for all who are working
to help youth in high poverty areas move more safely through school and into adult lives, jobs and careers.

On the left side of this page you can open links to all 2024 newsletters. Links to each are also shown below.

Dec 2024 - click here
Nov 2024 - click here
Oct 2024 - click here
Sept 2024 - click here
Aug 2024 - click here
July 2024 - click here
May-June 2024 - click here
April 2024 - click here
March 2024 - click here
Feb 2024 - click here
Jan 2024 - click here

View 2023 Newsletters at this link
View 2022 Newsletters at this link
View 2021 Newsletters at this link
View pre 2021 Newsletters at this link

Jan 2025 TMI eNews

January 2025 - Issue 238
Tutor Mentor Institute LLC newsletter heading with blue background

National Mentoring Month - Celebrate. Focus on Building Infrastructure.

Happy New Year! Once again it's National Mentoring Month, when mentoring in all forms is celebrated.

 

In this newsletter I'll point to where you can learn more about celebrations and also point to articles where I focus on segmenting our understanding of who is being mentored and by what type of programs. I'll also focus on ways to draw operating resources to every volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning program, not just the most visible.

I only send this once a month.

 

It's full of links, so save it and refer to it throughout the month. Use the ideas and resources to help you build and sustain mentor-rich, school and non-school, tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach K-12 youth in all areas of persistent poverty. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world.

 

Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Learn about January National Mentoring Month activities

Last January I led off the month with this article, where I shared the US Postal Service Mentoring Stamp, released in 2001.

 

The first photo shows the introduction of the Mentoring stamp at a spring 2001 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, organized by my organization every six months from May 1994 to May 2015.

 

The article also included the second graphic that shows the range of young people who might benefit from having a mentor. At the top of this graphic I show my focus on helping organized, long-term, volunteer-based, tutor, mentor and learning programs reach K-12 youth in every high poverty area of Chicago and other places with concentrations of persistent poverty.

 

In another article I ask "How many youth programs exist in your area?" and urge research programs in every city begin to answer this question, using maps to show where programs are most needed, and where programs already exist.

If you agree that connecting youth in areas of concentrated poverty with adult tutors and mentors and extra learning is a good thing to do, then understand how organized non-school programs are needed in big cities like Chicago to support on-going connections between youth and volunteers. If you look at a map of your city that shows high poverty areas, and provides a number of youth living in these areas, you begin to see that many organized programs are needed. Read this logic model article on the Tutor/Mentor blog.

 

Instead of depending on organizers to build programs AND raise money to pay the bills, why can't we motivate business and philanthropy to provide on-going, flexible, operating funding and volunteers to help programs grow in more places? Read the "Virtual Corporate Office" and "Role of Leaders" visual essays in this article.

 

I urge people to build marketing plans, using this research, to draw needed dollars, volunteers, technology and trained staff, to EVERY ONE of the exiting programs, and to help new programs where research show more is needed. In this article I encourage you to "borrow" from year-round strategies I piloted since forming the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993.

 

I hope you'll spend time looking at these ideas in January and implementing your own solutions during the rest of 2025. Next January, report what you've done!

Visit these websites to learn more about National Mentoring Month

 

* Registration now open for 2025 National Mentoring Summit, Jan 19-31, 2025 - click here

 

* National Mentoring Resource Center - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

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Get to know the resources available in the Tutor/Mentor library.

I started building the Tutor/Mentor Library in 1973 when I first became a volunteer tutor/mentor and was looking for ideas for what to do each week with my student. When I began leading that program in 1975 I expanded my search for ideas, connecting with leaders of other programs, to get ideas I could use in my own efforts.

 

In 1993 when we formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection, we expanded our search further to find ideas for bringing programs together and for changing how programs are funded. I began sharing this information with other programs from our offices in Chicago, then in 1998, began putting the library on the Internet. I've added to it every year for the past 25 years. You can find the library at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

The concept map below shows the four main sections of the library and sub-sections within each main section. On this page I show new links added in 2024.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Resources & Announcements

(New additions are at top of this list)

 

* ACT Now - Championing Quality Afterschool Programs in Illinois - click here

 

* BlueSky - the growth of charity on BlueSky - click here

 

* Trust Talks - podcast by The Chicago Community Trust highlights the Trust's strategic priority to close Chicago region's racial and ethnic wealth gap - click here

 

* Why Philanthropy Needs to Invest in Social Capital - click here

 

* International travel opportunities provided by Farther Foundation - click here

 

* Unlocking the Power of Systems Thinking - click here

 

* Chicago Community Area Hardship Index (2019-2023) - click here

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

* Prison Policy Initiative - click here

 

* ChiHackNight - remote and face-to-face civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday evening in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

(Do you have a blog? Share it on social media)

 

Inequality. So much data. So little change - click here

 

President Jimmy Carter - 2008 message - click here

 

The Six Triple Eight movie - watch it! Reflect. - click here

 

Long term tutor/mentor connections - click here

 

Deeper Learning and Lost Digital Archives - click here

 

Who uses Slideshare or Scribd? - click here

 

What comes after the election? - click here

 

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Lists of Chicago area, volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs - click here

 

* Homework help and volunteer training resources - click here

 

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy essays by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Work done by interns in past - click here

 

* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here

 

* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

 

* Inviting Universities to adopt the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy - click here

 

 

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

Thank you for reading.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

 

I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

Please encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Thank you to the small group of people who sent contributions in 2024 to help me keep this resource available to the world.

Please continue in 2025.

Visit this page and add your support.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Serving Chicago area since 1993

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

 

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