June 7 Tutor/Mentor Conference Map

The map below shows participants in the most recent Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, held in Chicago on June 7.



Total attendance was 103-105 with multiple participants from a few organizations such as Ada S. McKinley Community Services, The Black Star Project, Chicago Cares, Ball State University, etc. You can see some of the registered attendees on the conference attendee list.

From looking at the map you can see that while most participants were from the Chicago region some came from other parts of Illinois and other states. You can see previous maps like this on this page.

If you've read about Collective Impact on the Stanford Social Innovation Review web site you understand the role of intermediaries, or "backbone organizations" in bringing together a wide range of organizations in a geographic region and in focusing them on a common shared purpose.

I've used graphics like this in PDFs like this to illustrate my own long-term efforts of bringing people in Chicago together to support the growth of mentor-rich programs in high poverty neighborhoods.

I've also shared graphics like this to illustrate the range of people I think need to be connected and working collectively. This concept map shows intermediary organizations focused on the well-being of youth who I invite to participate in the conferences that I've hosted since May 1994.

When you look at the conference maps I've done you quickly can see that there are few representatives from business, philanthropy, media, politics, religion and other networks working with youth. This could be because I have so few resources to reach out an invite them to attend or because they are hosting their own events and don't see value in participating in the Tutor/Mentor Conferences.

This graphic illustrates the need to connect people in on-going networking, relationship building and learning so that groups begin to build a shared understanding of common goals, challenges of meeting those goals, and ways to work collectively to overcome those challenges. The process of building these databases and inviting people to gather is on-going. The maps can show how well we are doing.

If others are doing similar work I encourage them to share maps showing participation in their events and graphics showing the goal and strategies that they believe will result in more support for k-12 youth in more of the high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago.

If others are not doing this then I invite you to provide the resources needed for me to expand the invitations to the conference and maintain the information libraries that we can all draw from in supporting our various actions intended to help keep youth in school and prepare youth for jobs and careers.

With your help, the next conference which will be November 4th, and future conference maps will show a broader range of participants and blogs and other documentation systems will show actions many are taking to use their time, talent and dollars in strategic and on-going efforts that reach youth in more places and stay connected to youth for more years.