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Visual Essays-1

Since the 1970s Dan Bassill, founder of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (led by Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC since 2011)' has used visualizations to share strategies and resources. This page is the second of several where visual essays created since the 1990s are shared.

The original collection of PDFs are listed on this page.

Create your own versions and focus the strategies on your own city. Show your support with a contribution. click here

Learn about the resources available in the library on this website - click here

From 2005 to 2012 I posted many articles about complex problems on the Tutor/Mentor blog - this PDF summarizes them. Visit the Tutor/Mentor blog and see what I wrote since 2012.

Understand and apply this 4-part knowledge-based problem-solving strategy to any issue - click here

Creating a network of purpose to help youth move from birth-to-work - click here

Use of information to innovate better solutions. What does the carrot have to do with youth development? - click here

Understanding the difference between vertical and horizontal networks in sharing information and solving problems - click here

Growing the network - making ideas a reality. How one person can make a difference - click here

How many volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs are needed in each Chicago community area? - click here

Total Quality Mentoring (TQM). What is it? Why business and professional groups should support it - click here

What information on a youth program website would motivate a volunteer, donor or parent to support them? - click here

Year-round strategy for drawing attention and resources to youth serving programs in cities like Chicago - click here

Volunteer involvement in a tutor/mentor program as a form of adult service-learning - click here

Collaboration goals. What if more of us worked toward the same goals? - click here

Building learning circles in business, faith groups, universities, etc. so more people are working to help youth in high poverty areas move from birth to work - click here

Building Planning Teams to Support Youth Tutor, Mentor and Learning Programs - click here

Introduction of Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2018 event - click here

View more of our visual essays: Page 1 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

January 2021 Tutor/Mentor eNews

January 2021 - Issue 196

January is National Mentoring Month

This year's National Mentoring Month will be much lonelier for many due to Covid19. But for many there will be ZOOM gatherings with volunteer tutors and mentors and new ways to connect and learn. As we start a new year, youth and families living in high poverty areas will still struggle more than others due to low access to digital tools and services.

Maybe during this Mentoring Month you can spend a little time learning about digital access and remote learning issues, then spend time in 2021 helping to close these gaps.

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, and to help understand and respond to these over-riding challenges.

If you are a consistent reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

A Day that Will Live in Infamy .... January 6. 2021

Like most of you I was horrified watching the attack on the US Capital on January 6 and I fear what will happen to our democracy in coming months and years. I'm hopeful that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and a Democratic controlled Congress will bring healing to every zip code in America, with new laws, new policy, and a flow of needed resources. That remains to be seen.

Amidst all of this we are celebrating Mentoring this month. While there's much to distract us I feel we need to continue to focus daily on ways we can build and sustain mentor-rich support systems that create HOPE and OPPORTUNITY for those who need extra help. In many ways this is a strategy to reduce the appeal to the right wing idealism that leads to hatred, division and destruction.

Good luck to all of you as you travel this difficult journey.

What is the State of Mentoring in your city?

In December MENTOR New York shared its Report on the State of NY Mentoring which you can read at this link. The site also shares Covid19 resources.

I suspect other cities and states might report similar findings but I've not seen this type of report yet from Illinois or from others.

From January 27 to 29 MENTOR will host it's annual conference, in an all-virtual format this year. I've already registered and hope that others will do the same. Use this link.

Dig into tutor/mentor web library

* Mentoring networks - click here

* Tutor/Mentor Programs beyond Illinois - click here

* Black History studies - click here

* Homework & learning help - click here

* Poverty, racism, inequality - click here

* Impact of Covid19; What's next? - click here

* Digital divide research & articles - click here

* Resources from Afterschool Alliance - click her

* Recommended Learning Resources on YouTube - click here

Purpose of Tutor/Mentor Library

I've been building a web library since 1993 with a goal that people would use this information to innovate better ways to support k-12 youth in well-organized, and well-funded, volunteer based tutor, mentor and learning organizations.

View this PDF to see how ideas from one place can inspire work done in many other places. Few of the youth tutor/mentor programs I look at share their strategies, program design, lessons learned, etc. consistently on websites and blogs, but if more did this they would be helping others learn from them, so more kids would receive better support.

What does your planning cycle look like?

It's January and National Mentoring Month draws attention to mentoring programs throughout the country. If you're on a school-based calendar, your year starts in August as you recruit youth and volunteers. That means in January you should be starting a process of evaluating your own fall start-up activities with a goal of doing even better next fall. As you move through the spring, you should be inviting your volunteers, youth, parents and donors into your brainstorming and planning process. By June you should have a plan of operations for the coming year.
View this PDF to learn more of this process.

Understand challenges facing youth, and new President of USA

This concept map is one of many that I've created over the past 15 years to visualize some of the things we need to be thinking about in our efforts to help kids in poverty areas move through school and into adult lives.

I created another that shows many of the issues facing America and the world as Joe Biden takes over as our 46h President. View it here.

Drawing people together to read, think, discuss then form action strategies is one of the biggest challenges we face. Here's one of many articles I've focused on building a learning organization.

Below are resources to use to help youth in your community.

Resources from Tutor/Mentor:

* List of Chicago area youth Tutor and/or Mentor programs, plus other resources for finding youth programs - click here

* Facebook pages of Chicago area youth programs - click here

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

* Concept Map library - click here

* Mapping for Justice blog - click here

* Blog article showing short links to resources hosted in Tutor/Mentor library and websites - click here

* Hashtags I follow on Twitter. Use to expand your own network - click here

* Blogs I follow using Inoreader- click here

*Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles-click here

Please help update this cMap and the links in the Tutor/Mentor web library. Just email me with additions or changes.

* Covid-19 in Illinois - Impact on Nonprofits in 2020. Forefront report. - click here

* 2021 National Mentoring Summit will be a remote conference this year. Click here for details.

* National Mentoring Resource Center - Covid-19 resources - click here

* MyChiMyFuture - City of Chicago - visit site and find activities for youth - click here

* Strengthening Chicago Youth web site, click here; blog -click here

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

* To & Through Project web site - click here

* Incarceration Reform Digital Resource Center - click here

* Chicago Learning Exchange - 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.

Since 2011 I've supported Tutor/Mentor Connection via the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, which is not a 501-c-3. It's also not broadly funded. I've covered expenses through my own savings and the help of a few who make annual donations to me either via my December 19 birthday campaign, or my year-end fund me campaign. Below are links to each page. Please help if you can. Thank you to all who contributed in 2020.

Dan's 74th Birthday- click here

Fund Tutor/Mentor Institute- click here

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 and sharing the ideas in this newsletter.

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Feb 2021 T/M eNews

February 2021 - Issue 197

Maps. Social Capital. Birth-to-Work

In this month's newsletter I focus on maps, birth-to-work program design, social capital theory and relationships as desired outcomes.

I've provided links to pages and articles where I hope you'll explore these ideas more deeply and engage others in conversation about where and how the ideas might be applied.

If you are writing about these strategies on blogs or in program websites, please share the link with me on one of the social media platforms I point to.

Use this newsletter as a study guide.

If you are a consistent reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Birth to Work - 12 years and longer

While many focus on the actions of a mentor or of a tutor I focus on how these actions need to repeat for many years to help a youth living in a high poverty area move safely through school and into adult lives, with a job/career that enables her to raise her own kids free of poverty.

This Tutor/Mentor Pinterest page shows many of my #birthtowork graphics and pages where I've used them in articles.

Maps - point to ALL places where help needed

I've been using maps since 1993 to focus attention and resources to all of the high poverty areas of the Chicago region, which is where thousands of youth need expanded networks and support to help them through school and into adult lives.

By identifying existing programs in these areas we can point resource providers to them. By showing areas without programs we can help mobilize resources to fill the voids.

View map stories here, here and here.

Social Capital - Who you know. Relationships Matter.

I was able to participate in the January National Mentoring Summit and found many of the workshops and panels to be useful. I pointed to some in this blog article.

Two workshops focused on social capital and relationships as necessary goals and outcomes for youth tutor/mentor programs. The graphic at the right visualizes the goal of connecting youth to adults from many backgrounds who can model opportunities, open doors, and provide aid and coaching as youth make this journey.

Discussion of Tutor/Mentor Ideas

This Link takes you to a Tutor/Mentor Institute portal hosted in the UK. It's a place where people from the US, Europe and other places are encouraged to join with people from Chicago. The discussion is designed to create a blueprint that can be used in any city. It's a blueprint showing many actions needed in building an operating system and infrastructure that reaches youth in all high poverty neighborhoods and stays connected with age-appropriate supports for many years.

Campaign for Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Support Tutor/Mentor Connection - Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Let's create a world where all kids have greater hope and opportunity. Help more kids in high poverty areas connect in organized volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs. I started this work 25 years ago. Please contribute to help me continue.

(scroll down to bottom of page to find PayPal button)
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We want these opportunities for our own kids and grandchildren. We all want same long-term result of kids moving safely through school and into adult lives and jobs. Read this article to see how the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and T/MC support this goal with an extensive knowledge base.

This video shows my commitment to helping tutor/mentor programs grow in all high poverty areas.

Rather than trying to be the single leader in a huge city, the T/MC and now T/MI, have sought to provide an information platform that all leaders can use to LEARN, EDUCATE, and innovate ways to support tutor/mentor program growth in more places and to solve other complex social, political and environmental problems facing cities.

Resources supported by your contributions, sponsorship and/or partnership

Tutor/Mentor Blog and Mapping for Justice Blog
Featured Blogs from past years - click here
Tutor/Mentor Chicago Youth Program Links library

Tutor/Mentor Institute strategy library

Tutor/Mentor Institute Concept Map Library

Tutor/Mentor Connection web Library

Monthly eMail Newsletter

Tutor/Mentor Connection Forum and Social Media Network

View videos on Tutor/Mentor Institute Theater

Please help me continue to do this work.

If someone you know has become ill and needs money to pay bills, they set up a "Go Fund Me" page and ask for contributions. They are not 501-c-3 non profits. They are people needing help.

The Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC is not operating as a non profit either. However, it's also not a profit-making business. So, this is my "fund me" page. I (Daniel Bassill) have been self-funding this work since 2011, supported by a small group of continuing donors. Please add your support to help me continue in 2020 and beyond.

Please send a contribution of $25, $100, $500 or more.

Become a volunteer, advocate and/or partner and help me find sponsors, investors and partners to build this platform for future use. Read more .

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