Sharing Birth to Work Graphics

Imagine having all the wealth of Mike Bloomberg and being able to purchase millions of dollars worth of advertising to share your ideas.  I've never had such wealth, thus spreading the ideas of the Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC since 1993  has been much more difficult.

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Between 1993 and 2002 I grew our mail list from 300 people to more than 12,000 and sent a printed newsletter four times each year to share the maps and visualizations that I had created to communicate the ideas of supporting youth in high poverty areas with long-term, mentor-rich programs.

Then in 1998 we launched the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web site to share these visuals in a library of PDF essays.

The financial crisis of 2000-2001 and our loss of Montgomery Ward as a host and major donor led to a discontinuation of printed media and we began to rely on Yahoo Groups, email, collaboration forums like the Omidyar Network and Social Edge, and our May and November conferences to share ideas. In 2005 I began to use this blog and in 2008 we added the MappingforJustice blog. Since 2009 we've relied more and more on social media, sharing ideas on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc. (see list of sites).

So let me show some Tweets I've posted in the past two days that share #birthtowork graphics.

Here's another version of this graphic, showing need to recruit teams of people who will help build support systems in every high poverty neighborhood that help kids move from #birthTOwork. pic.twitter.com/TTewU6nWzP

— Daniel Bassill (@tutormentorteam) March 3, 2020

This #conceptmap shows the same #birthtowork vision, but it's easier to see the many age-level supports kids need as they go through school. Does your community have a map like this? #mentors show on this map as extra adults. https://t.co/BuxsowZumv pic.twitter.com/rSUw4kqNVz

— Daniel Bassill (@tutormentorteam) March 3, 2020

If you're flying from point A to point B you want the airplane to have enough fuel to get there. If you're helping a youth go from #birthtowork the same rule should apply. However, that's not the case the way current philanthropy & gov't funding work. https://t.co/NqiA3JuROK pic.twitter.com/ys6ZVyYM5V

— Daniel Bassill (@tutormentorteam) March 3, 2020

Learn & Share

Anyone can spend time each week at their computer or on their tablet or phone looking at my blog articles, websites, or Tweets. While my voice is barely a whisper in the noise of the internet and traditional media, and I don't have Mike Bloomberg's wealth, the ideas I'm sharing can become a roar if more and more people take time to look at them, think about them, then find ways to share them.

This can be informal or part of formal learning hosted at high schools and universities throughout the USA and the world.  Here's one article where I share that goal.

How many times have you heard someone say "Our kids are our future"?  If you believe that then help share these ideas so more people are building the systems of youth support needed in high poverty areas of Chicago and the country.