Workforce Development. Violence Prevention. Role of Business.

I have used the graphic below since the 1990s to describe an ideal youth tutor/mentor program where volunteers from many business and education backgrounds connect with kids in elementary or middle school and provide a wide range of supports that not only help kids through school, but help open doors into jobs and careers.

Each spoke on this wheel leads to an industry segment.  If you read the daily newspapers or view videos like this, or read articles like this Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report, 2018, you'll see that business is very concerned about the future of its workforce, and the growth of its business.

Below is another graphic that I have used often.  Imagine that each of the arrows on the above graphic leading from the hub to a spoke looked like the arrow shown below.

Within the arrow are a variety of age-appropriate supports that business could be bringing to youth in school and non-school programs. Many already do this. However, I've seen few using maps to show an intent to provide such support in every high poverty area of cities where they do business.

In these graphics I include maps, to illustrate the need for birth to work youth development programs to be in every high poverty neighborhood. I use the graphics to emphasize the role of business in engaging its resources, jobs, employee talent and dollars, to build and sustain a system of mentor-rich youth supports in every city where it does business.

The Deloitte report starts out focusing on the role of CEOs and company leaders.  The commitment they need to make is the same one I included in this ROLE OF LEADERS pdf, which I've been sharing for over 20 years!

While Step 1 is leadership commitment. Step 2 is "Appoint a 'get it done' leader to be responsible for researching, developing and implementing company strategies. Step 3 is "do the research" to learn what you already are doing, what your employees are already engaged with, and what others are doing that you could duplicate and do better. The final step is a report to the CEO showing progress made in one year and plans to continue the work in the following year.

I've created a series of concept  maps showing why business should be taking this role. In each are links to articles that should be part of the "research" and "learning" that is done by company planners.  Take a look. Share them. Create your own.

First map focuses on reasons a company or industry should invest strategically in youth tutor/mentor programs that are designed to connect k-12 youth with workplace volunteers.

Benefits to Business - click here

Second map shows reasons to adopt the Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC strategy.

Why invest in youth development strategy? click here

Third map points to articles from Deloitte and other companies that provide more reasons to get involved strategically in helping pull youth through school and into jobs and careers.

R&D for company involvement - do the reading - click here

This final map shows commitment CEOs from every industry need to be making to help draw kids from high poverty neighborhoods into their future workforce. Strategies developed for this hard-to-reach segment of the population will apply to youth from other economic backgrounds, too.

Put your name and company logo in the blue box - see map

These maps are part of a library of articles that you can find here, and a set of cMaps that you can find here.

Many people have told me often in past years that "this is too much information" and "no one will take the time to read this" yet that's the point of gaining CEO commitment.  This is not charity. This is survival and growth of US industry, commerce and our standard of living. It's about creating equality of opportunity for all Americans and better democracy and standard of living for all.

Ten years ago I wrote this article, talking about a $300 million dollar donation being made to the University of Chicago.  I suggested that some wealthy tech leader could make a similar gift, to establish a Tutor/Mentor Institute on a college campus, with a curriculum that had students from 9th grade through PhD level reading and learning from the articles I've posted on my web sites and blogs and the links in my web library.

If someone had responded to that offer in 2008 that university, and that benefactor, could today be producing maps and articles like mine, with icons showing where graduates from that program were now leading youth tutor/mentor programs in different Chicago neighborhoods, as volunteer board members, paid staff, donors, tutor/mentors, elected officials, media and in other roles.

Similar maps could show business, college, hospital and/or faith group locations in Chicago, with icons on each to indicate their level of strategic involvement with youth and  youth development organizations in their section of the city or suburbs.  Browse articles posted between 2008 and 2011 at the MappingforJustice blog to read more about this idea.

That offer still stands. Maybe in 2028 such a map will be available.