This presentation shows a vision of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.  Take a look.
Using Ideas to Stimulate Competition and Process Improvement - Concept Paper by Daniel F. Bassill

Building a more segmented understanding of youth-serving programs.   
Read the Defining Terms visual essay (click here), then this blog article. 

The graphic below shows a need for an even more nuanced understanding of the types of youth-serving programs operate within specific geographic areas, such as the Chicago region.  Is anyone doing this type of research?  If so, please share that information. 

Between 1994 and 2010 the Tutor/Mentor Connection tried to build a segmented understanding of the different types of volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring in the Chicago area.  Our surveys asked programs to identfy the type of tutor/mentor services they provided (pure tutoring, pure mentoring, combination tutor/mentor) and the age group served (elementary, middle, high school). This was shared via an on-line program locator (now an archive) so parents, volunteers and media could narrow their search when looking for a program.  We plotted this on maps that included demographics so people could find what areas were being served and see where more programs were needed. Learn more about the Program Locator - click here.

When the Tutor/Mentor Connection was created in 1993 one of our goals was to "collect all that is known" about tutoring/mentoring and education-to-careers in a "library" of knowledge that anyone can draw from at any time to help kids from a poverty neighborhood get the adult support they need to move to careers. As the Internet became available, this process began to collect ideas from all over the world.

Read most recent blog article about "learning".

This "mentoring kids to careers" graphic illustrates the career focused goal of the T/MC. This knowledge map, illustrates the different types of information being collected. This Debategraph outline is another way of trying to engage people from many places in this discussion.   These are  intended to serve as a "blueprint" which anyone can draw from, or contribute to. While we will never map all of the knowledge, the ideas we do collect may reach a tipping point where the broader range of ideas leads to more comprehensive solutions applied in more places around the world to help kids move out of poverty and into jobs and careers.

In 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to support the continued operations of the Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago and to help similar intermediary groups form in other cities. Throughout our web sites you'll see the names Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute used interchangeably. They both focus on the same mission but represent a non profit and a for-profit structure for generating resources.

Read more about the T/MC goals in the Vision and Mission sections

Visit the Resource LINKS section of this web site is organized into four categories that together contribute to "out of the box" thinking about ways to use the non-school hours and business volunteers to help economically disadvantaged kids succeed in school and move to careers. 

Since 2005 we've used concept maps to visually organize sections of the library.  These sections are:

* tutor/mentor programs and volunteer service opportunities
* research, blogs, and articles, showing why and where tutor/mentor programs are needed
* resource and capacity building articles and links
* process improvement, innovation, knowledge management articles and links

Connect with Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and each other on one of these social media platforms.