"It takes a village" - please share

Last Sunday I shared some videos in this post. These show strategies I've developed over the past 30 years to build and sustain volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs that reach kids in high poverty areas of cities like Chicago and help them through school and into adult lives, with jobs and careers that enable them to raise their own kids free of poverty.

Below is another video that shows how the information and ideas that I collect and share are intended to be used by leaders and workers in many places. 

I'm showing work that was created five and 10 years ago and a strategy that I began developing over 30 years ago when we formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago.  

That means, anyone, or MANY, could create new,  updated, improved versions of these, sharing the same information and motivating people in Chicago, or in their own community, to provide the time, talent and votes to implement these strategies.

The ideas I share come from my own experiences and from what I've learned from others.  I led volunteer-based programs from 1975 to 2011 and am now seeing posts on Facebook by alumni of those programs, showing their own kids finishing high school and college.

When donors asked in the 1990s "What are your results?" I could not have predicted this future.  Yet, that's what we were working to achieve.

You can see more of my videos on this page and my visual essays on this page.   Use them as teaching tools and as planning resources, to help you develop your own leadership. 

It takes more than a few leaders and workers and donors.  It takes a village.

I've led this strategy via the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC since 2011 and have had only a trickle of dollars to support my efforts.  Yet, the daily news and research reports keep showing that there are millions of people living in areas of persistent poverty who need a "village" of long-term support to help them break that cycle.  Helping their kids through school and into jobs is one way to do that.

The graphic below is on page 21 of this visual essay.   The focus of this essay is how YOU can make a difference, using your own talents and networks.

This slide demonstrates how I've used concept maps to visualize the ideas I'm sharing and how interns from various universities have created their own versions.  Since many of these were created using Flash Animation, which is no longer supported, I've embedded some in my videos, so you can still see the work that was done.

My goal is that others will be inspired to create and share their own versions.  

Thanks for reading.  Please reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, BlueSky, Instagram and/or Twitter.  Find links on this page.

And, if you're able, consider making a contribution to help me do this work. Click here.