Corporate Teams using talent and time

I created this graphic to illustrate the work done behind the scenes at Cabrini Connection, which leads to on-going connections of youth and volunteers in our program at 800 W. Huron. There are dozens of things to focus on every day, and too few people to do everything well.

In this strategy map, I focus on actions by people in businesses, faith groups, politics, etc. that would lead to programs like Cabrini Connections reaching k-12 youth in every high poverty neighborhood of Chicago, and every other big city in the country. That's an even larger challenge than building and sustaining a single program in one neighborhood.

In my outreach I'm constantly trying to nurture the growth of teams in universities, businesses, hospitals and professional groups, who would take ownership of this strategy, using their own time, talent and dollars. The essays in this section of the Tutor/Mentor Institute are intended to stimulate such thinking.

However, this is abstract. How does one get such a group started? Thus, I'm pleased to point to a new blog I've added to my blog links. It's The Royal Order, written by people working in a technology/web development firm in Chicago, who are using their time and talent to help us improve what we do.

This is a new initiative, and only the future will show what has happened as a result of this team doing this work. However, if others look at this and try to duplicate this effort, we can have multiple teams doing similar work, resulting in a flow of volunteers and donors from many sectors to support Cabrini Connections and every other tutor/mentor program in Chicago, and in other cities.

Visit the Groups section of our ning site and you can see examples of other groups that we're nurturing toward this same goal. Form your own group. Share you own blog articles. As each group learns from each other, we'll see a constant innovation of improvement, based on what we each learn and how we inspire each other.

The beneficiary will be the kids, and the volunteers who get involved.