Resources to Support Tutor/Mentor Program Growth

In late 1992 myself and six other volunteers decided to create a non-school, volunteer based tutor/mentor program to help Cabrini-Green area youth entering 7th grade get the consistent adult mentoring and learning support needed to help them finish high school six years later with momentum heading them to college and careers.

At the same time this group adopted a more ambitious goal (as if the first were not difficult enough!). We said, let's find a way to support the growth of mentor-rich programs in all parts of the Chicago region so that each program has a greater chance to succeed at the work they are doing. We named that the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

The presentation below shows resources that have been innovated in the years since then. Most are still a work in progress because of the lack of consistent or significant investment in this effort. This PDF shows the Decade of Challenges and accomplishments achieved despite of these.

Tutor/Mentor Institute - Resources to Support Collective Efforts

Despite challenges, including the creation of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in July 2011 to continue this work, these resources are all in place and available to help youth programs in Chicago and to stimulate thinking in other cities.

As we head to the holiday season and 2013 I invite volunteers, business partners, universities and financial supporters to add your talent, time and resources to help these resources stay available in Chicago and grow in the impact they have.

Conference Focuses on Youth in Poverty

I hosted a 38th Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in Chicago on Monday, Nov. 19. There were close to 20 workshops presented by volunteers from different youth organizations and businesses, including one offered by Nathan and Carrie Harris who lead the Tutor/Mentor Summit group in Indianapolis.

During the noon hour a panel discussion talked about mentoring and the challenges youth face. This was organized by TW's Ministry, who first attended a conference almost six years ago.

Nearly 60 different organizations were represented so our total participation of 70 people really represents more than 6,000 people who their organizations touch. Since one of the panel members was from Chicago Public Schools and another was from the Chicago Police Department, we could estimate an even larger reach. You can see the list of attendees on line.

In today's Chicago Tribune Karen Lewis, head of Chicago Teacher's Union is quoted saying "We cannot fix what's wrong with our schools until we are prepared to have honest conversations about poverty and race," Lewis said. "Until we do, we will be mired in the no-excuses mentality (that) poverty doesn't matter. Poverty matters a lot when you are teaching children who are distracted by their lives. Poverty matters a lot when you are teaching children who have seen trauma like none of us in this room can imagine."

I've written articles and pointed to research over and over for many years with the same message. I feel that volunteer involvement in well organized tutor/mentor programs can expand the number of adults who get personally involved and then are willing to do more to support programs that reach youth in the neighborhood and in the non-school hours.

I'm sure others are interested in the same issues as I am but until we can connect in on-going learning, relationship-building and innovation efforts aimed at building the infrastructure to support youth programs in all poverty neighborhoods, too little will happen to change what supports kids have in non-school hours. This map shows many of the organizations I reach out to and invite to the May and November conferences.

As you celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and count your blessings I hope you'll take time to read some of the articles I've written and search the Chicago area Tutor/Mentor Program Links library to find one or more programs that you can support with a donation.

I hope you'll also look at what I'm trying to do and support me with some much needed cash. I'm not a 501-c-3 organization. I'm a 'no profit' social benefit volunteer-enterprise that connects people and ideas and focuses on helping youth programs reach kids in all high poverty neighborhoods.

The people I seek to help don't have much money to pay me for what I do. Many of the people who participated in Monday's conference were only able to pay $20 to attend. I hope others who are giving thanks will give help. Take a look at this page and see what your support can help me continue in 2013.

Shouldn't Leaders throughout Chicago be Looking at this?

I created this graphic to share my thinking and try to find others who are thinking the same way about ways to help kids living in poverty areas of Chicago and other big cities. As you look at this I hope you'll also look at some of the pdf essay's I've posted in the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library.

I think it would be hard to find people who don't see a value to helping kids connect with adult mentors in formal or informal settings.

If that's the case, then shouldn't we need to be looking for ways to expand the number of kids living in high poverty areas and/or dysfunctional homes who have extra adults and extra learning and enrichment opportunities in their lives.

In a big city like Chicago it's difficult for adults who work in downtown or suburban jobs to connect informally with inner city k-12 youth. Thus, there is a need for structured programs operating in the non-school and after work or weekend hours to support connections of youth and adults, and keep these connections going for months and years.

If we agree with that shouldn't we make an effort to know what programs are already operating and help them get the talent, technology, training and operating resources to constantly improve how they do this work?

Once we agree that organized tutor/mentor programs are needed to connect youth and mentors, tutors and extra learning, and we agree that efforts should be made to help each program get the operating resources they need, shouldn't we be looking at maps of the city to see if we have programs for each age group (K-12) in all of the places with high poverty, high violence, and high concentrations of poorly performing schools? Shouldn't we be looking for ways to borrow ideas from existing programs to help new programs start in neighborhoods with no programs or without programs for certain age groups?

If you agree with this thinking, can you help me find and connect with business, faith, political and philanthropic leaders, as well as other non-profit tutor/mentor program leaders, who are already trying to innovate more effective ways to help tutor/mentor programs reach youth in more places of the city and suburbs?

I host a Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in May and November to bring people together for this purpose, but these are not being used by leaders in business, faith, political and philanthropic as part of a planning, innovation and marketing effort? They could be. So far that's not happening.

The next conference is this Monday, Nov. 19. If you're one of those people who embrace this progression of thinking, there's still time to register and attend. If you can just come for one or two workshops just pay the $20 scholarship rate. Stay as long as you can and then let's connect on-line or in one-on-one meetings after the conference.

If you know of other places where this thinking is taking place on a citywide scale, please share that. Maybe we can provide some ideas that would be useful.

Why attend Tutor/Mentor Conference, Another Video

This is another video created to show why leaders participate in the May and November Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences held in Chicago.

Conference Capacity from Cabrini Connections on Vimeo.

The next conference will be Monday, Nov. 19 at the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago. There's still time to register. Email tutormentor2@earthlink.net to ask about group rates.

Why Attend Tutor/Mentor Conference: Video

This video shows four leaders talking about why they participate in Tutor/Mentor Conferences held in Chicago.



The next is Monday, November 19 at Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago. Still time to register!

Cabrini-Green: What You Don't See. 1990 Video

In December 1988 during the annual volunteer gathering of volunteers from the Montgomery Ward/Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, I was telling one volunteer about my goal of having a book written to tell the story of the 25 year growth of the tutoring program at the Montgomery Ward headquarters in Chicago. The volunteer, Sara Coover Caldwell, said "Why not make a video?"

Being a corporate advertising manager at Wards I realized the high costs of creating videos so responded with a bit of pessimism. Sara said, "I can do it. Let me put together a plan."

She came back a few weeks later with a budget of nearly $30,000, for talent, equipment, materials, editing, etc. all donated by friends of hers, along with a production schedule.

I did not realize at the time how much my life was going to change over the coming year. In January of 1990 my wife announced we were going to have our first child. In February I was called into a VP office at Wards and told that I no longer had a job with the company.

In late February, or early March, this video was shown on Channel 11, WTTW in Chicago:



By April 1990 a plan to convert the volunteer-based tutoring program into a non profit Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Inc. was in place, and in October 1990 while my first daughter was being born, I was filing papers for our 501-c-3 tax status so we could begin raising money to pay for my salary and a staff to operate the continued efforts of the tutoring program at Wards along with an effort to help similar tutor/mentor programs grow in other parts of the city.

In 1993 that effort became the Tutor/Mentor Connection. In 2011 that became Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.

Much has changed since 1990 but I'm still connected to Sara and many of the youth and volunteers who were part of the Montgomery Ward and Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Inc as well as those from Cabrini Connections, which Sara helped me launch in October 1992.

What has not changed is my belief that volunteers from different workplace backgrounds can become deeply involved in tutor/mentor programs and the lives of inner city youth and that some volunteers will use their talent and time to help such programs grow. This video created in 1989-90 by a volunteer demonstrates this potential.

Now we only need leaders from business, politics, religion, education, etc. to embrace this idea and help build an infrastructure where such programs are operating in thousands of locations around the country.

Mapping Participation. Help Build the Network

If you’ve been reading articles I’ve written you’ve seen many talking about network building and collective impact. I’ve been working at this for more than 35 years.

One way I’ve attempted to bring people together is through the May and November conferences I’ve hosted in Chicago since May 1994. This graphic is one of several that show the mix of participants at 2008-2009 conferences. See more conference maps here. You can see that there are not many from business, faith communities, political leadership, media or philanthropy.

Below is a different map. It shows different intermediary organizations in the Chicago region focusing on the well-being of youth. See map here. Every time I host a conference I send invitations inviting representatives from these groups to participate.

This next graphic is a map of one section of my web library. Each of these nodes points to a page with dozens of links related to that topic. When I host a conference I'm inviting representatives from each web site I link to in my library to participate. And I'm pointing anyone who reads my blog and/or attends the conference to visit these web sites and learn from the information they share.

This next graphic is a map of the Austin neighborhood of Chicago built using the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator. This map shows businesses in the area. Another version shows faith groups. The green stars are a few of 170 different locations where various forms of youth mentoring and/or tutoring are being offered in the Chicago region.

This graphic shows kids and tutor/mentor programs as the hub of the wheel. The spokes lead to each industry in the region, as well as faith, civic, social and political organizations.

At each spoke the ROLE OF LEADERS should be to encourage members to become informed, and then involved, in efforts that help improve the community wealth by helping more young people from throughout the region have the level of adult support they need to move through school and into adult responsibilities.

These maps show WHO we are trying to connect with and WHO is responding to our invitations by participating in the tutor/mentor conferences.

I’m not the only one hosting events in Chicago that bring people together to focus on helping kids. However, I don’t know of many who are using maps and network analysis tools to show who is coming to their events and to connect those people to each other so they can work together after the event. I don’t know too many who point to a map like the Program Locator with the goal of driving volunteers, donors, talent and other needed resources to each program, based on what the web site of the program describes as the work they do and WHERE they do it.

This is a Google map that I’ve added to the Conference web site. As people register they can add themselves to this map and put their web site, Facebook page and profile on the Tutor/Mentor Connection forum.

If we can get more leaders from different sectors connected to each other, through the conference I host or events they host, we can help existing organizations get the ideas, talent and dollars they each need to constantly improve the work they do and we can help people in different neighborhoods where too few programs exist get the ideas and resources to build new programs so we reach more k-12 kids.

We can use our network analysis maps and Google Maps to show who is reaching out to connect and help others while at the same time providing a tool to help people connect with each other. As the number of nodes on the maps grow we will be demonstrating that more people are working together.

Over the past few months more than $2 billion was spent trying to get someone elected to be President and to other public offices. I would like to hope that money will lead to more and better non-school tutor/mentor support systems in high poverty areas of Chicago but I think bringing people together who do the work of building and financing these programs is more likely to achieve that result.

Thus I hope that if you've read this far you'll go a step further to help me AND to help the people leading volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and in other cities. PLEASE share this with people in your network and encourage them to attend the November 19 conference AND add themselves to the conference map and attendee list so others know they were participating and can connect with them.

We’re all in this together, aren’t we?

Make your Vote Count.

I just finished casting my vote in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. While the candidates at the top of the ballot were important, I also paid special attention to the retention votes for judges and followed guidance of the Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Tribune to reject six judges who are rated unqualified.

Where ever you are I hope you'll cast your vote today and that you'll also look for the list of judges who keep getting reaffirmed in office because not enough people take the time to vote for their rejection.

I won't tell you who I voted for because after the election I need support from who ever is in office for strategies that build stronger non-school support systems for kids living in high poverty neighborhoods.

After spending more than $2 Billion on the elections I'm not sure any politician has money in the bank, but all of those advertising and media companies, as well as the political consultants who make a living off of the election process, have become wealthy off of the elections. The money that went to them could be devoted to supporting intermediary organizations in every city and state, like Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, as well as the hundreds of local tutor/mentor programs operating in every city.

Think the politicians will help make this happen? Think again. We need to raise our collective voices to draw daily attention to the work we're all doing, so more people find reasons to give their time, talent and dollars.

I've launched this conference map to show participation in 2012-13 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences. Anyone attending the conference is encouraged to put their name on the map. Thus, if you see the name of a political leader, business or religious leader, that would indicate that they are showing some interest in helping tutor/mentor programs grow in their district and in the Chicago region.

Perhaps by the time the next election comes voters will be educated to look at maps like this to help them decide if the incumbent or the challenger is actively involved in helping youth in their district

While the election campaigns spend billions of dollars, I have trouble raising a few thousand to support the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences that I have hosted every six months since May 1994, and the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator that I've made available to Chicago for more than a decade.

If just one of the major donors who paid for campaign ads would become a sponsor of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC I could do much more between elections to bring people together, support them with good information, and point them to high poverty neighborhoods and tutor/mentor programs operating in those neighborhoods.

I hope you'll help me find this support.

We Want Same Outcomes for Youth. Collective Effort Needed.

We all want same outcomes. We want more youth to stay in school, be safe in non-school hours, graduate, and move on to 21st century jobs and careers.

This graphic is one of many that I’ve created to help communicate ideas and strategies. You can find more here and in each blog article I’ve written since 2005.





If we do our work well, and for many years, we will have alumni providing their own testimonial to how a tutor/mentor program has helped them. This video is from a 2010 year-end celebration. The speaker first became involved with this organization in the early 1990s.


Year-End Dinner 2010: Tangela Marlowe from Cabrini Connections on Vimeo.

I created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in all high poverty areas of the Chicago region. I created the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in July 2011 to keep doing this work in Chicago and to help other cities apply these ideas.

I hope you’ll read the rest of this article and share my thinking with others.

If you’re a volunteer, investor, parent or donor, what indicators should we look for when we try to evaluate weather or not to become involved with a program? If you’re a community leader, how do we make sure enough programs are available in all of the places where they are needed?

To support the growth of tutor/mentor programs in many places I’ve created a library of links to articles showing the challenges non profits face in offering long-term programs that reach youth early and stay with them through high school and even into college and adult lives.

One of the primary challenges volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs face is that most research and resources devoted to education is focused on what happens at schools during the 6-7 hours they are open every day for 9 months a year. This graphic illustrates a need to focus on building more mentor-rich youth supports in the non school hours, especially in neighborhoods of high poverty where too few of these resources exist.

I think we need to expand the number of people who are taking responsibility for youth growing up. This graphic illustrates the responsibility of the “village” for helping kids through school and into jobs. Mobilizing the resources of the village and pointing them to schools AND non-school organizations in all high poverty neighborhoods represents a huge challenge.

I’ve spent the last 20 years looking for ways to overcome these challenges so that constantly improving tutoring/mentoring programs could reach youth in more places.

Part of my vision is to create an adult education strategy that would reach people who don’t live in poverty, but who benefit, along with kids and families, from the work done by tutor/mentor programs. I’ve seen how effective marketing and advertising has created demand for fast food, internet services, PCs, ePhones and all sorts of consumer products.

How can we create the same customer support for non profits and social benefit organizations working with youth in high poverty areas of Chicago and other cities?

Can we educate donors, volunteers and parents to look at a map of a city that shows where tutor/mentor programs are most needed as the first step in deciding what programs they want to help?

Once you pick a zip code and determine what programs are in that area, what do you need to see on the youth organization’s web site that indicates it has a vision and strategy that over time, and with consistent support from volunteers and donors, shows it can reach the result we all want?

I created this list several years ago. Do you agree with it? What would you add?

* Home page features "mentoring or tutoring" with headline words and/or pictures

* Home page has easy-to-find sub-feature of "mentoring or tutoring" with words and/or pictures

* Volunteer involvement opportunity is clear

* Contact information is clear so volunteer or donor can contact program

* Case made for why tutoring/mentoring is important

* Site shows role of tutoring/mentoring in workforce development

* Site shows benefit of volunteer involvement in tutoring/mentoring on the volunteer

* Site provides links to research related to tutoring, mentoring, poverty, education, etc.

* Site links to other tutor/mentor programs in the same city

* Site links to one or more Tutor/Mentor Connection web sites and/or Program Locator

We need many more people looking at this information and discussing these ideas. Where can we gather people who can help (resource providers, talent, media, political leaders, information organizers, facilitators, etc.) with people who need help (programs, clients) and with ideas (research, best practices, benchmarking) so we’re all connected to each other in ways that help youth organizations build and sustain the organizational strength needed to grow to be “great” organizations who can sustain youth/volunteer participation for as long as it takes to help the young person be out of school and in a job beyond poverty?

Furthermore, how can we expand this conversation to one where we’re trying to help all high poverty neighborhoods of a metropolitan region have “great” programs helping youth in each neighborhood work from birth to work?

And how do we sustain the flow of resources and talent to these programs in times when public attention is drawn to more high profile issues, such as elections, tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes and war?

Each of the essays posted in the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library, the links in the Tutor/Mentor Library, and the articles in this blog are intended to be starting points and stimulants for discussions taking place in thousands of other places.

You can use these ideas where you are and I might never hear anything telling me that you have found this information useful.

But I hope some of my readers will join me in the Tutor/Mentor Connection forum, on Facebook, on Linkedin, and on Twitter to add your own ideas and vision or to help me develop and share these ideas with more people.

If you're in Chicago come to the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference on November 19 at the Metcalfe Federal Building and introduce yourself to me and others who will be attending the event. See http://www.tutormentorconference.org.

Special Events of Tutor/Mentor Conference

Here are some special features of the November 19 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference being held in Chicago.

Twitter Chat - Nov. 7 - Pre-Conference Twitter discussion. Alyssa VandeLeest, president of ProsperPR will host a workshop at the conference. Alyssa (Twitter handle @alyssaLvan) will also host a live Twitter chat prior to the conference at 1:30-2:30 CST on November 7, 2012 . To submit a question for Alyssa to answer during the chat, email Alyssa@propserpr.com prior to the chat or Tweet them to @alyssaLvan. She'll pick the top three. To join in on the discussion, simply tweet with and follow the hashtag #tmconf_chi during the chat time.

Don't wait. You can post a Tweet today to show your participation. Just use hashtag #tmconf_chi

One-on-One Publicity/Marketing consultation 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 19
Ever wish you could just pick up the phone and call a consultant when you're stumped about something, get the advice, but not an invoice to go with it? Here's your chance. Mary Gerace specializes in marketing, publicity, special events and fund raising for community-focused nonprofit organizations and local small businesses. During the conference on November 19 you will be able to meet with Ms. Gerace for a free half-hour meeting. Bring any questions or problems you'd like to discuss. Read more about this opportunity at http://tinyurl.com/ConfPR-Consultation

Panel Discussion in formation for Noon Time Frame
A Panel Discussion titled "How do Community Organization Leaders, Community School Officials, Clergy, Congressional {Local, County, State and Federal} Leaders and Community Federal Agencies invest in tutor/mentor programs operating in their own neighborhood and/or in neighborhoods with schools and school districts not meeting State or Federal requirement for Academic Progress" will be held during the mid-day break.

Moderator, Rev. Terry Weston, TW's Ministry

Panel Members (invited):

* Maria A. "Toni" Berrios, Illinois State Representative 39th District
* Scott McFarland, ServeIllinois Commission,
* Sheila Wesonga, Grassroots Community Organizer/Education Activist
* Yvette Moyo-Gillard, Founder, Real Men Cook,
* Rev. Dr. Janette C. Wilson, Assistant Pastor of the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church
* Michael Levesque, Leap Learning Systems

See photos from past conferences

Find more photos like this on Tutor/Mentor Connection


One of the goals of the conference is to increase media attention and public understanding of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region. Over the past 18 years many news reports were done that focused on the conferences and other events organized by Tutor/Mentor Connection. See this and other media stories from past conferences. Click here.

As we approach this conference and move through December we encourage any organization working with youth to work with local media to get their story told. However, while you are building attention for your own organization, provide a final line pointing to the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and saying "Learn more about the need for tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region and about other programs that also need your support."

See conference goals. Register here.

Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, Nov. 19 in Chicago

Collective effort needed to keep attention focused on Volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs while nation focuses on Storms, Elections, War.

One goal of the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference has been to build public attention for volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs leading into the year-end holiday philanthropy period. No single organization has the resources to build a public attention campaign that can compete with corporate and political advertising and natural disasters like "Sandy".

I've been bombarded by political ads for past few months. Today I'm listening to live reporting of Hurricane Sandy while I'm networking and sharing ideas to support volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs throughout the Chicago region. Over the past decade there have been all sorts of man-made and natural disasters that make if difficult for small non profits to draw attention and resources to support their efforts.

I've organized the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference every six months since May 1994 in order to a) bring programs together to learn from each others; and b) build greater public awareness that helps each program attract volunteers, operating dollars and other resources they need to stay in business.

The next conference will be held on November 19, 2012 at the Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 W. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, Il. Please add your support to this public awareness effort by participating in the conference, or by connecting on Twitter, Facebook and/or Linked In.

See the conference agenda: http://www.tutormentorconference.org/agenda.asp
All speakers are volunteers and we thank them. If you are a presenter, please check the time I have you scheduled for and make sure you have registered and your name shows on the attendee list.

See speaker and workshop presenter bios. Send me corrections if you'd like me to update the description I have for you: http://www.tutormentorconference.org/speakers.asp

Register and add your name to the attendee list so others can see you are participating. Go to http://www.tutormentorconference.org/RegistrationStep1/index.php

As you register, add yourself to this conference map: Click here. Adding yourself to the map enables others to find and connect directly with you and your organization. It also enables groups in the same zip code to connect and work together to build support for their organizations.

Come early. Plan for security check in. Plan for extra time with the security screening in the lobby of the Metcalfe Federal Building. Don't forget to bring a photo ID.

Expanding network of support for kids

Wow. I just watched the Chicago Bears pull victory from the jaws of defeat after playing one of the worst games I can remember them playing.

What's this got to do with helping inner city kids? For the past few months millions of dollars and countless TV, Radio and print advertising messages have told us why to elect one person or another for national, state and local elections. Yet after the election we won't be any further than we are now in building a system of non-school supports for kids living in high poverty.

I've been sharing some of the PDF essays I've written over the past decade in my blog posts. This one focuses on network building.

Ideas for Expanding Network of People Working for Social Benefit

During the coming week I'm going to continue to reach out through Facebook, Twitter, Linked in any my blogs to connect with others who are trying to increase the flow of needed resources to all of the volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs operating in Chicago and other cities.

I hope some of these people will participate in the Nov. 19 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference or connect on Twitter at #tmconf_chi. I hope some will provide talent and dollars to support my efforts. I hope some will want to take ownership of these ideas in the coming years.

This graphic shows the talent and skills I hope to connect with in my network-building over the coming week. If you can help let's connect.

We can snatch victory for inner city kids and volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs from the jaws of those who seem to be ignoring them.

Understanding Violence

I support volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs because they can connect people who don't live in high poverty neighborhoods with youth and families who do. The longer the volunteer is involved the more they begin to build a personal connections, an empathy, and an understanding. This is an essential step for building and sustaining the types of investments of time, talent and dollars that might some day reduce the growing violence in our inner cities.

This video is part of what we need to look at to try to understand the root causes of this violence.

Watch More News Videos at ABC

If this concerns you and you agree with me that volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs can help build bridges of understanding between poverty and non poverty neighborhoods, support the Tutor/Mentor Conferences that I host in November and May.

Small neighborhood-based NPOs with very tight budgets might consider adding a line item they shy away from….

This article was contributed by Mary Gerace who will be sharing her expertise at the November 19 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in Chicago:

Small neighborhood-based NPOs with very tight budgets might consider adding a line item they shy away from -- namely, several productive hours of carefully chosen consulting services to assist them either in general or on a specific project. If you’ve never tried it, are unsure if it’s worth the expense, or don’t know any consultants suitable for your program, here’s an opportunity for you if you’re in the Chicago metro area.

On Monday, November 19, at Tutor/Mentor Institute’s Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, we will offer an opportunity for you to  meet one-on-one, free of charge, for a half-hour session with a marketing/publicity/special events consultant. And that consultant is me, Mary Gerace. My firm, Mary Gerace Enterprises, is a 10-year-old Chicago company specializing in marketing, publicity, events and in-kind donation solicitation for small nonprofits with modest budgets and small staffs. It’s my privilege to “give back” to my community, and I consider inner city youth mentoring essential to our democracy's success. Visit me at www.marygerace.net. Learn more about the November 19 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference -- and schedule your consultation slot -- here: [ http://www.tutormentorconference.org/agenda.asp ]

What is Your Network Doing to Help?

Almost all of the articles I've written have been intended to expand the number of people in business, religion, politics, etc. who are becoming strategically involved, meaning on a daily and weekly basis, in helping volunteer-based, non-school, tutoring, mentoring and learning programs grow in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other urban areas.

In many articles I point to newspaper stories or new research which shows where and why these programs are needed. In other articles I point to maps and an Interactive Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator that anyone can use to connect with over 170 existing organizations offering various forms of tutoring and/or mentoring in the Chicago region. The same maps can also be used to understand what neighborhoods are under served. They can also be used to identify businesses, hospitals, colleges and faith groups who share the same geography and could be working collectively to support the growth and constant improvement of programs.

In the past couple of years I've been focusing on Social Network Analysis concepts. How do we know who is in our network? How do we assure that we're reaching people who have time, talent and resources needed to assure success?  Last spring one of my interns created a map showing the growth of the Tutor/Mentor Connection network. This graphic is from this report which shows how the forum has grown from 3 people in 2007 to over 400 in 2012.

Recently I was able to use the same Gephi.com software used in this analysis to look at my network on Facebook.  This image is from that analysis.

Using the Gephi.com software I was able to zoom into each of the major groupings on this map to take a closer look at who was part of each cluster and how they are connected to each other.  One thing I was looking for was evidence that people in my college, family or tutor/mentor program networks were connecting with people in my other networks who share ideas on social innovation and problem solving through regular on-line interaction.  I created a PDF with some of the maps from this analysis. You can see it here. 

Over the past weekend I was introduced to another SNA tool that enabled me to map my Facebook network.  This graphic shows the major groupings of my friends. It's similar to what my Gephi.com analysis shows.  As with Gephi.com this Network Graph allows me to zoom into each cluster and learn more about who is connecting to others and who is connecting from one major grouping to another.   What's exciting is that anyone using Facebook can create their own map just by going to https://apps.facebook.com/challenger_meurs.

In both sets of maps one feature I've been looking for is evidence that youth, volunteers and staff who were connected to each other in past years because of the efforts of an organized tutor/mentor program are still connected to each other.  By clicking on a node in the network I can highlight an individual and see their connections.  This shows a student who was part of Cabrini Connections from 2001-2007 and has now graduated from college is connected to former volunteers and staff.

If tutor/mentor programs were doing network mapping like this and can demonstrate that many youth and volunteers are still connected, long after the donor money was spent to build the initial connection, can we demonstrate a longer-term impact of that donation, and can we provide different ways for donors to value the impact of long-term tutor/mentor programs?

All of these maps and the articles I write have little value if too few people are looking at them.  I've created other maps showing the talent needed in my own efforts, as well as in the operations of most volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs.  See this graphic at http://tinyurl.com/TMC-Talent-needed

This shows that many talents are needed.  My Facebook network has more than 860 friends. My Linked in network has over 1000 friends. This network includes people with all of these skills.  Furthermore, the people who my friends are connected to may be people who have influence, power, wealth and additional talents that can influence the growth of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities.

This graphic illustrates how I'm constantly communicating ideas and information to people I know, with the goal that they are passing the information on to people they know.  If this happens continually we eventually reach people who have the talent, wealth, civic reach and commitment needed to build and sustain a long-term system of extra supports for kids living in high poverty areas.

How do we know if this is happening? How do we know what members of our networks are doing to help?

In 2000 Steve Roussos, a volunteer and friend of the Tutor/Mentor Connection,  created an on-line documentation system that would enable people to document actions they took to support the mission and strategy I've outlined in these blog articles and in this 4-part strategy pdf.

In 2007 this was rebuilt in its current format by a volunteer from Baltimore working with a team in India.  Over 1600 actions have been documented, mostly by myself.

Imagine how much more could be accomplished if just 10% of the people I connect with in social media, or through the Tutor/Mentor Conferences I hold in Chicago every six months,  were documenting what they were doing each week to support the growth and quality of non-school tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities.

We represent an army of untapped potential. 

I've created a page on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC site which points to research and other information about Social Network Analysis. I hope some of you will help recruit talent and dollars to help us expand on this work. 

Using Twitter Chats to Expand Network

I've been writing articles on this blog since 2005. Prior to that I published a printed newsletter every four months from 1993-2001 and sent it to a growing list of people, maxing at about 12,000 by 2001.


The goal has been to reach a growing number of people who would use these ideas to support the growth of non-school, mentor-rich programs that support youth as they move from first grade to high school graduation, post high school learning, and  ultimately jobs and careers.

Without advertising to spread this information I have to rely on networking efforts and social media.  Recently I've begun to participate in Twitter chats. You can do this by searching for any term then following people who include a hash tag (#) to the same search term. For instance a few weeks ago while NBC and Public Broadcasting were hosting discussions about the dropout crisis, you could have followed the discussion using #amgrad or #EdNation. 

That's one way.

Another is to find a platform that supports Twitter Chats. I started using http://tweetchat.com about a year ago. So to follow a discussion on a specific topic I log in, post the topic I want to follow and begin to participate under a URL like http://tweetchat.com/room/bmaforum

The benefit of this is that you don't need to put in the hashtag when you post a comment. Every comment you post shows up in the thread, along with comments of everyone else who is participating in this chat.  By following this you can identify others who care about the same things you care about and reach out to them via direct messages, by following them, or by visiting their web sites and learning more about what they do.

This is all part of an on-going network-building process that I apply every day in my efforts.

Here's a list of hastags for chats that I follow. I keep this list so I can go back to different conversations from week to week to see if new people are posting messages and to post new messages myself so more people are looking at the ideas I share on this blog, my web sites, or in the May and November conference I host in Chicago.

#volunteerism
#tutormentor
#mentor
#tmconf_chi  (Join chat on November 7, at 1:30-2:30 CST, hosted by Alyssa VandeLeest of ProsperPR.com (Twitter handle @alyssaLvan).
#networkweaving
#collectiveimpact
#volunteer_recruitment

#mapping
#GIS
#SNA
#visualization
# Socialchange
#oppindex
#eChicago

#gradnation
#educationnation
#blackedu
#achievementgap
#educationFirst
#skillsgap
#strivec2c
#stem
#BMAforum
#BusinessEdNet
#AmGrad
#ObamaEdNet
#CollabEdNat
#npredchat
#sharedvalue

#NextSocEnt
#SCWF12
#SocBiz
#SMWChicago
#civiced




Obviously there are an unlimited number of chats you could follow. However, I focus my time on building a network of people who work together to solve a deeply entrenched social problem - poverty in America.  If that's what you're interested in I hope to connect with you in one of these chats. If you'd like to add to my list please post new search terms (related of course!) below.

My Twitter handle is @tutormentorteam

I've not forgotten Dantrell Davis. Have you?

Today in the Chicago Tribune you can find a half-page story by Mary Schmich titled "Dantrell Davis shouldn't be forgotten.   If you don't know the name Dantrell was a 7-year old boy shot to death in Cabrini Green as he walked to school in October 1992.

At the left is the front page from the ChicagoSunTimes of October 15, 1992.  The headline says "7-Year Old's Death at Cabrini Requires Action".  I've kept this page in my office as my own reminder and I've posted it in my newsletters and blog at least once a year to remind everyone else.

Mary Schmich has written about life in Cabrini Green for almost 20 years. Her stories are emotional and focus on the struggles and triumphs. However, like most stories in the major media, they don't focus on all of the neighborhoods in Chicago and the suburbs where kids live in fear of violence and attend poorly performing schools.  The don't point to databases of tutor/mentor programs, like the one I host, where volunteers, donors, public leaders, etc. can learn about existing programs working to help kids succeed in school and avoid gangs, or where there are neighborhoods of high poverty, but few or no existing non-school tutor/mentor programs.

It's been 20 years and not enough has changed to improve the lives of youth in poor neighborhoods.  One story in one newspaper on one day is not enough. Stories that don't point to on-line discussion forums, libraries of deeper information, or call on people to volunteer time, talent and dollars TODAY, and every day, tug on the emotions but don't move people to action like a good 50% off Sale at a local retailer does.

Anyone can look at maps of Chicago to see where poverty is concentrated, where poorly performing schools are located, where incidents of violence occur most frequently.  Using the Program Locator or Chicago Program Links library you can identify nearly 180 youth serving organizations who each constantly seek operating dollars, talent, leadership, volunteers and public attention.

If you are want to remember Dantrell Davis pick a neighborhood near where you live or work, or along the route you travel as you go from home to work and adopt a tutor/mentor program. Use the information in the Tutor/Mentor library to build your own understanding of what these programs do, how they differ and how volunteers and donors and third-party supporters can help each program constantly improve over many years of YOUR consistent support.

Dantrell Davis was 7. He would have been 27 now. Because he lived in a high poverty neighborhood he might still be needing people from Chicago's extended business community to serve as mentors and to open doors to jobs and careers for him. Or he might need the same people to be operating a tutor/mentor program in one of Chicago's neighborhoods for his own kids to be enrolled.

In yesterday's article I quoted General Colin Powell as he called on business to become strategically involved. He said "This isn't charity. You're doing it in your own self-interest."

I also pointed to a Wiki Page with quotes from Abraham Joshua Heschel .  One says "Remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power. Never forget that you can still do your share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and frustrations and disappointments."

We all have personal power to change the world. Unleash yours.  

General Powell - "This isn't charity."

I encourage you to view this video interview of General Colin Powell by Tom Brokaw which was part of the Education Nation Summit held in September 2012.

In this you'll hear General Powell say "This isn't charity. You're doing it in your own self-interest." and "We're not asking you for charity. We're asking you to invest in your own future."

Sounds like the message I've been sending to business leaders, volunteers and donors for the past 18 years.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Last night I attended an event at Northwestern University where Peter Edelman, author of "So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America" talked about his book. Meet Dr. Edelman and hear his views at this site. During the event I posted some of Edelman's comments on Twitter, under the hashtag #sorichsopoor.

In his final comments Edelman said "Our democracy is in danger." He concluded by paraphrasing a quote by Abraham Joshua Heschel,one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century, when he said "We are not all guilty, but we are all responsible."

Herchel also said "All it takes is one person… and another… and another… and another… to start a movement"

This has been what I've been writing about for years. Network building is the process of adding one person, and another and another....until at some point you have an army. The process of network building can be enhance by a greater flow of talent and dollars.

When General Powell said "This is not charity" I take it to mean that you don't just look for organizations with a 501-c-3 tax-exempt designation to support. You look for organizations that have a long-term track record and a vision of community building that focuses on building and sustaining constantly improving "birth to work" support systems in all the places where they are needed.

Follow the command of General Powell and the advise of Abraham Joshua Heschell and provide the talent, time and dollars needed to help me build the social problem solving platform I describe on this page.

Reaching More People

Last October I began posting articles like the one below on Scribd.com in order to give me a better count of who was looking at these and to try to encourage readers to go back to articles written in the past that are still relevant today.

I've been creating these articles since the mid 1990s to visualize my ideas. I've posted them on the Tutor/Mentor Institute site since the early 2000s. While some people have contacted me asking to use them, I don't get a good tracking of web visits from the library on the T/MI site.

By mid November 2011 I was seeing that the number of people reading this was growing and I predicted that at the end of one year I'd have recorded 25,000 reads. The count today is at almost 27,000 and that's with no advertising support at all.

Economic inequality: The real cause of the urban school problem

Now that I'm headed into a second year I hope that a few advertisers, volunteers and potential partners will look at ways they can help me produce these essays in video, animation and other formats to even more people look at them.

At what visit count do I have to achive before an advertiser/benefactor would want his/her name listed as a producer on the credits page for these projects? If I can attract funding I can enlist people with more writing and creative talent than I have and these presentations will have greater impact and growing readership. That means more visibility to sponsors and partners.

Interested in helping? Connect with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/TutorMentorInstitute/

Networks and Social Innovation - Recommended

Through my Facebook network I've connected with a wide range of innovative thinkers. One who I follow frequently is Giorgio Bertini, who hosts a web site with many articles related to complexity, networks, social change, etc.

I encourage you to read this article titled "Networks and Social Innovation for Resilient Systems"

I set up a new page on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC site focused on Social Network Analysis. It will serve as a central resource to point to the many other places where network building and information sharing is taking place.

As you read this read some of the articles I've written about network building, learning and Networking.

In the final section of this article, the author writes: "If a social innovation network has too few institutional entrepreneurs, it may be deactivated if one entrepreneur is lost."

My goal for the next 3 to 10 years is to expand the number of leaders who adopt and embrace the Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC so that the work I've done over the past 35 years won't be lost when I'm no longer around.

I shared this vision with the long-term leader of a high profile youth organization in Chicago during a meeting yesterday, saying we need a beneficiary who is ready to give $25 million or more to his alma matter to devote that money to building the Tutor/Mentor Institute so we can capture the collective wisdom of many leaders who have devoted their lives to helping youth and make that wisdom and experience available as knowledge that future generations might use.

If you want to associate your name with this vision I'd be happy to hear from you.

High School Leadership Project Opportunity

Students in different zip codes could be taking on a leadership role that helps build resources needed by youth in every high poverty neighborhood.

Community Information Collection: A Shared Effort

If Obama or Romney start asking this question...

I was reviewing the essays on my site with a new follower who I met on Twitter today and he pointed to the graphic below and said "That's a really important question."

I've included this slide and versions of it in many of the essays I share here and here, but don't think I've posted it on the blog before.

We don't know all of the answers for what it will take to assure that every youth born in a high poverty neighborhood is starting a job/career by his/her mid twenties, but if leaders are not asking the question we can never build up enough answers.

Who Else Taking this Role in Chicago Region?

This Slideshare presentation shows the role I've been trying to take for over 20 years to make volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs available in more high poverty neighborhoods of the Chicago region.



In 2010 a team of NetImpact volunteers compared the Tutor/Mentor Connection to mentoring partnerships in other cities and states. This PDF was the preliminary report.

If you work in the corporate office of Sears, WalMart, Walgreens or any other corporation with multiple stores all over the country you are supporting your branch locations with central office resources, including advertising. This is what I've been trying to do via the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Since we don't have hundreds of millions dollars for a central corporate office, we need to create a 'virtual corporate office' where many people take on roles that normally are provided in the headquarters of big corporations.

All of us working with youth are in the same general business of helping kids grow up and prepare for adult lives and responsibilities. Attracting strategic business involvement to support our efforts would serve the self-interests of every sector of the business community. We need their help in many ways, and many places.

It's obvious that I'd not had nearly the level of capital needed to achieve the goals I've set, yet even with the few resources that have been available each year I've built a powerful platform that is not duplicated in many other cities.

If you'd like to help build this, and then use it in your own city, contact me.

If you know of others who are doing the same work in the Chicago region please introduce us and invite them to participate in the November 19 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference. Or send me invitations so I can be part of their events.