What Am I Looking At?

I use graphics to communicate ideas and to highlight web sites or articles I've been looking at.  I thought I'd share some of these today to show what I've been looking at recently.

Last week I attended a Chicago Ideas Week event titled "2 Milles. 16 Years: Chicago's Death Gap" , that focused on health disparities in different neighborhoods of Chicago.  See my follow up article at this link.  During several of the Chicago Ideas events a graphic designer was chronicling the conversation. This shows the topics discussed in that event.

As you look at this graphic, I encourage you to view this 'race-poverty' concept map. It shows the range of issues affecting people in high poverty areas of Chicago and other cities.

During the Chicago Ideas Week presentation one panel member listed three needs of the community. Jobs was number one. Programs that provide hope and opportunity for youth was number three.  Later I found this article talking about "The Limits of Job Creation".  I highlighted a concluding section where the writer talked about the importance of creating networks of support for youth. This is what I feel well organized, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs offer.

Limits of Job Creation article

Here's another graphic from my library. I included this in an article I wrote a few weeks ago, titled "Never Forget".  In this article a parent of one of the slain young people shares his fear that nothing will change because of a lack of leadership and public will.

Click here to see more stories like this 

The problems of Chicago are problems of people in other places. Thus, solutions, and supporters, can come from any part of the world. The Internet makes this possible.  It's why I have spent so much time on-line since the late 1990s.  I created this graphic recently to visualize the way I've been connecting with people and ideas from around the world, via on-line events like Equity Unbound, which is an event hosted on Twitter and other platforms.

view cMap at this link

This graphic shows a section of a Twitter hashtag map that I created to help me archive conversations like Equity Unbound so I could re-visit them on a regular basis and see what new information has been added. If you look at the full map, it shows a large range of conversations, which to me represents the ecosystem of people who need to be connected, engaged and learning from each other.

View the entire cMap at this link

One frustration is that while I find Twitter the easiest place to connect with others and find new ideas, I only find a small percent of the Chicago youth tutor/mentor programs on my list actively using Twitter. Thus, they are missing out on this opportunity to learn from others, and each other.

Here's a graphic I created a long time ago to show the local-global focus of the Tutor/Mentor Connection and the site based Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program, which were both launched in early 1993.

View this PDF on Scribd. at this link

When we started Cabrini Connections with seven volunteers and five teens in late 1992 we said "one more small program can be life-changing for a few youth, but won't dent the problems of high poverty facing the 200,000-plus youth living in poverty areas of Chicago.  That's why we created the Tutor/Mentor Connection, and why I still lead it via the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.

I've shared stories with graphics like these over and over for more than 20 years.  In my 1973-1990 retail advertising career working for the headquarters of the Montgomery Ward corporation in Chicago I worked to help more than 400 stores in 40 states attract customers every week. I can't understand why it is so difficult for people to apply the same thinking to try to support the growth of hundreds of volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities.

Well, I can.  Competition for resources is one reason. The rules and traditions of philanthropy and government funding are another.  However, it would seem that more people would look at the maps and articles I've been sharing and say "I want to help you do this. Or, I want you to help me do this."


Here are a couple of graphics where I've added a "read my blog" message. I've shared these on other media, including Instagram, in an effort to attract more people to these stories.

Will it work?  Worth a try.

All of these stories are intended to motivate more people to do the learning needed to better understand problems and possible solutions, and to encourage them to connect with each other in on-going efforts to fill map areas with a wide range of youth, family and jobs support....including volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs.


 If this is something you value, can you help me with a contribution to my FUND ME campaign?