Making Out-of-School-Time Programs More Available

 Last week I shared the 2026 State of Chicago Youth report from A Better Chicago in this post.

One of the insights of the report focused on Out-of-School and Community-Based Programs and Spaces.  

Visit this page and open the PDF report to view this page. 

The text above says that "Citywide, during the 2024-2025 school year, 31% of CPS youth K-12 participated in out-of-school programs.  Students in grades 3-8 were the most likely to engage in out-of-school programs (37%) compared to k-2 (29%) and high schoolers (27%).   The North Central (39%) and Far South (34%) regions of the city had the highest percentage of youth engaged in out-of-school programming, while the Near South region had the lowest percentage (23%)."

What the report did not include was an interactive dashboard showing out-of-school programs in Chicago, with an ability to sort by age-group served and type of program.  I would loved to see a page on their website listing the programs that are included in the 31% where CPS youth were engaged.  

For instance, they could point to the MyCHI. MY Future program, which does have a searchable map. I show the result of using the menu at the far right and asking for 'reading and writing' programs for youth between age 16 and 18 in this graphic.

You can enlarge the map and zoom into a specific neighborhood. You can drag the map view so it shows a different part of Chicago. 

When you click on a circle representing a program, you can see a description and find a website.  That's good.  What I found is that many of these are programs hosted at Chicago Public Libraries. While the site has many categories, it does not differentiate between nonprofit youth serving programs and government funded services, like the libraries.  

One strength of MyChi MyFuture is the on-going effort to bring stakeholders together for citywide meeting and to share information via email newsletters, their website and social media.  Furthermore, they have empowered the formation of 14 neighborhood networks of stakeholders to support youth in their communities.  

Visit this page on the MyChi MyFuture website and look at the community plans developed in 2023 and 2024 by each of these networks.  I just finished skimming through them. Some have great data. Some have maps. Most list stakeholders involved.  Most have comprehensive plans that stretch into 2025.

However, I found no links to websites for each of these networks, where they were actively implementing the plans, learning from what works, and each other, and developing actions for 2026 and beyond.  If you have a list of these, please share it and I'll put the link in this article.

What I wanted to find when I looked at the websites of A Better Chicago and MyChiMyFuture was a site that worked like the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator, which was built for the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 2004.  Below is the screen users would use to search for tutor/mentor programs in different zip codes of Chicago.  Below that is the first page of a visual essay that shows features in this version of the Program Locator.

Open this PDF to see a description of how to use this Program Locator.   In 2008 this was re-built as a map-based directory.  This PDF shows its features. 

These were intended to help youth, teachers, parents, volunteers, donors, media and others find existing programs in different parts of the city, with features that narrowed the search by type of program (pure tutoring, pure mentoring, combination tutor/mentor) and age group served (elementary, middle school, high school). 

This page shows my long-term goal of "Using Maps to Build Capacity".  Due to funding challenges since late 2000s I've never been able to reach this goal, but still share it with hopes that it will inspire work of others.  

The report from A Better Chicago shows that "Chicago has a problem" and "They are part of the solution". And, it uses maps to show which parts of the city need more programs. However, it does not point to any listing or directory of existing programs, to help attract attention and resources to all of them.

The My CHI My Future site seems designed to help kids find opportunities.  I don't see any form of analysis that says "Do we have enough programs? or "Where are more needed?" Or for donors and volunteers to reach out and support existing programs.  I found this type of analysis on many of the community plans hosted by MyChiMyFuture, but in looking at the lists of stakeholders it seems that many of the organizations on my lists are not included in any of these efforts.  

Since I was looking at PDFs of plans developed in 2023-24, it's possible that a greater number of tutor/mentor programs are participating in these networks.

Below is the front cover of the 1995 Tutor/Mentor Connection Chicago Programs Directory.  It was created before we learned about the Internet. It used maps to show where programs were needed, and listed programs with the same sort features as the Program Locator that we put on line in 2004.

Here's a link to an archived version of the 1997 Director. We used this format each year from 1994 to 2003.  If you look at the listings in this Directory you can see the basic outline of the library that you can now found on the www.tutormentorexchange.net website. 

Below is a graphic showing year-round communications intended to draw people together to learn, share and generate resources for youth-support efforts in specific areas.

On this page I share strategies that the Tutor/Mentor Connection piloted, beginning in 1993 and that I still continue in 2026.  

In this article I show organizations who participated in each of the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences that I organized between May 1994 and May 2015. 

Last week I included this map in my first article about the 2026 State of Chicago Youth report.

Ideally each year when I look at the community networks hosted by MyChiMyFuture I would find updated maps and graphics showing participation in their meetings and the sites of youth-serving programs in their community areas.  

And when I see new research from organizations like A Better Chicago, I'd find a page pointing to work being done by others to address the same issues.

Young people could be collecting and updating this information!  Maybe it's something the new Obama Center could champion.

Here's just one more map. 

This concept map shows intermediary organizations who support youth-serving programs in the Chicago region. It includes a link to the website of each organization, so that anyone finding my website and map can also learn about others working to make life better for Chicago youth and families.  Creating and constantly updating a concept map like this could be a project done by youth in each community area.

Read more

* 2019 article - What Tutor and/or Mentor Programs Operate in Chicago Region?

* 2019 article - "Now is the time for action. We can't let perfect be the enemy of good".  See the link to the LISC Chicago "Quality of Life Plans".

* 2020 article - "MyChi. MyFuture. Feedback"

* read these articles about "program design" and building a segmented understanding of what youth-serving programs exist, and where more are needed.

As today's article, and these articles from 2019 and 2020 illustrate, I've been sharing ideas that city leaders could be using for a long time.  

The challenge is motivating people to find time to read these articles and look at what others are doing.  I saw an announcement that "The Obama Foundation and After School Matters will provide paid out-of-school time opportunities to Chicago teens in surrounding communities on the South Side."  

This is exactly the type of program that could encourage teens to dig into articles I've been sharing and the organizations I point to in the Tutor/Mentor library.  As they do that they could be leading efforts that draw more people to the information and into actions that make more and better youth learning and development activities available during out-of-school hours.

That's something A Better Chicago's report is calling for.

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, Twitter and Mastodon and share my posts with your networks.  

And, if you're able, visit this page and make a small contribution to help me pay the bills.

Digging Deeper using ThingLink

If you've spent time on this blog you'll see I use visualizations frequently to communicate strategies. A few years ago I created a few articles, using ThingLink to help people dig deeper into the visualization.

Below is an article from 2017.  I had created this blog post, pointing to a 2017 report, by the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at UIC that focuses on the State of Racial Justice in Chicago . Then in a follow-up article, I used the same image, and embedded links,  using Thinglink.

I learned about this from my #clmooc educator network.



Click on any of the nodes and you'll find an article related to that part of the graphic. Read the article and more like it.  Share with people in your own network so more people will get involved and we can increase public will and the number who care. 

Below are two more graphics I shared  using ThingLink.

Service Learning Loop:   In the early 2000s I created a pdf that shows how volunteers who get involved in a tutor/mentor program often become evangelists who draw other volunteers and donors to support the program. In 2007 an intern created an animation to illustrate what I call a "service learning loop".  Below is a screen shot of his animation, using a Thinglink to point out different parts of the loop. Click on the dots and read the information provided.



All five parts of this loop are important. The weakest links are 1) support for knowledge aggregators who collect and share information others can use to get involved, and 2) not enough intermediaries who use their time, talent and communications ability to draw attention to the knowledge (right side) on a regular basis, so that more people use it to find where and how they can help (left side).

Below is another graphic showing my role as an intermediary, connecting people who can help (the list on the left) with information (the blue box) and people and organizations in places where help is needed (the tutor/mentor organizations I  point to from the web library I host. .



I've used versions of this graphic in numerous articles and presentations.  It's critical that more people understand the on-going role of intermediaries as well as the role of information libraries.  See more graphics showing role of intermediaries at https://www.pinterest.com/tutormentor/role-of-intermediaries/ 

I've used this and similar graphics to emphasize the many years it takes for kids to grow up.  There are no quick fixes.   

While many are needed in this intermediary role, investors need to also fund the work done by groups who collect and organize information. This needs to be done on a regular basis, and for many years.  I wrote an article a while back showing some of the challenges involved.

I hope those who read this article will see themselves in this intermediary role and will share the article with others using social media and personal communications channels.  That's putting this lesson into action.  In fact, I encourage you to rewrite it, with your own interpretation, pointing to your city, and youth serving organizations operating in your city.  

If you value these articles please consider a small contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.  Click here to find a PayPal link you can use. 

Use time, talent, dollars to help youth

Below is a graphic I created to show ways I've been trying to draw attention to youth tutor and/or mentoring programs operating in the Chicago region who I include on this list that I've been building since 1993.

Browse this list of Chicago programs. Create your own graphics.

This is actually a montage of three different graphics that I shared on Twitter and Facebook several times over the past year.

Below is another graphic, visualizing my role as an intermediary, connecting people who can help with tutor/mentor programs in places where extra help is needed.

The list of "who can help" includes almost everyone.  With so much daily attention focused on national and local politics, international issues, natural disasters, along with sports and entertainment, it's important to keep in mind that kids take 20 to 25 years to grow from birth to work, which they do one day at a time!

That means that programs giving these kids extra support need to be in place in every high poverty neighborhood and they need consistent support from volunteers, donors and the public, to sustain and constantly improve their efforts.

View photos from conferences

This photo visualizes my efforts since 1975 to get people involved in youth tutor/mentor programs, and to get people to talk to each other about ways we can make great programs available to youth in more places, and what "great" really means.

If you look at the list of tags on the left side of this blog, imagine each as a topic of an on-going conversation involving people from many sectors, many places, and many cities.

I just don't see enough of this happening, with maps and concept maps serving as guides to where programs are most needed and what program designs and support systems need to look like.

You're welcome to use my articles as thought starters in any conversation.  You're welcome to create your own versions of my graphics.  You're encouraged to duplicate my efforts, to help kids in the Chicago region, or kids in other places.

Visit my FundMe page

Finally, you're invited to provide small (or large) contributions to help FUND ME so I can continue to do this work, and do it better.

That means you're also invited to become a partner and not only help me, but build your own knowledge so  you can take on this role in future years, and /or in other places.

If you're doing this work on a daily basis, as I am, or want to learn how, let's connect on Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIN.

The Day after Labor Day - Network Building Continues

 I did not stop working on Labor Day. I continued to reach out via social media to people in Chicago and around the world who are concerned with the well-being of people and the planet.  I've been building a web library that points to some of these people since 1993 and spend time every day trying to connect them to each other and to myself, while increasing attention and support for everyone in the network.

Here are two Slideshare presentations that show what I've been trying to do.

This one focuses on the process of network building

Networking for Purpose - Bringing People Together to Help Inner City Youth from Daniel Bassill

This one shows role of intermediaries, consultants and others who could be doing the same as I'm doing, or helping me do it.

Intermediary and Consulting Role to Support Youth Programs in High Poverty Areas from Daniel Bassill

These are just two of 46 presentations I've placed on Slideshare since 2011.  I started creating visual presentations in the late 1990s to explain work of the Tutor/Mentor Connection and the youth tutor/mentor program I was leading.

In 1998 we created the www.tutormentorexchange.net web site and I started putting the PDFs on line.  Now in the Library page on the site you can see a long list of presentations, including some I've place on Scribd.com as well as on Slideshare.

Read about this - here

Between 2006 and 2015 interns who worked with me in Chicago created many new versions of articles that I first launched as PDF essays and/or blog articles. My hope is that students and volunteers from many places will continue this work, as part of their own effort to expand the network and help other people get strategically involved.

I've used many visualizations over the past 20 years to communicate ideas. Some I've embedded in presentations. Others in blog articles. I've put some of those on Pinterest. Others can be found by doing a Google search for "tutor mentor" than adding any of the words from the column of tags on the left side of this blog. Once you do the search, look at the images. You'll find many of mine.



Of course, to keep doing this work I must find a sponsor, benefactor and/or a whole lot of people willing to make small contributions to fund me.

If you're one of those people, visit this page and use the PayPal to send a contribution.

Apply Service Learning LOOP to Disaster Recovery

In the aftermath of hurricane Harvey and in anticipation of hurricanes Irma and Jose many are creating information platforms that use maps to show where the storms are hitting and resources that people can use to survive and recover. These also point to organizations who are providing service and who need donations and volunteers to do their work.  I point to some resources in this section of the Tutor/Mentor web library.

In the early 2000s I created a pdf that shows how volunteers who get involved in a tutor/mentor program often become evangelists who draw other volunteers and donors to support the program. In 2007 an intern created an animation to illustrate what I call a "service learning loop".  Today I created a Thinglink to point out different parts of the loop. Click on the dots and read the information provided.



All five parts of this loop are important. The weakest links are 1) support for knowledge aggregators who collect and share information others can use to get involved, and 2) not enough intermediaries who use their time, talent and communications ability to draw attention to the knowledge (right side) on a regular basis, so that more people use it to find where and how they can help (left side).

Below is another version of this graphic.



I've used versions of this graphic in numerous articles and presentations.  It's critical that more people understand the on-going role of intermediaries as well as the role of information libraries.  See more graphics showing role of intermediaries at https://www.pinterest.com/tutormentor/role-of-intermediaries/ 

I've used this and similar graphics to emphasize the many years it takes for kids to grow up.  There are no quick fixes.  The same is true for disaster recovery.

While many are needed in this intermediary role, investors need to also fund the work done by groups who collect and organize information. This needs to be done on a regular basis, and for many years.  I wrote an article a while back showing some of the challenges involved.

I hope those who read this article will see themselves in this intermediary role and will share the article with others using social media and personal communications channels.  That's putting this lesson into action.

Can One Person, or a Small Group, Really Change the World?

I created this graphic several years ago to show how the ideas of one person, or a small group, could spread throughout the world, as a result of a consistent effort to share ideas and expand the network. You can see the graphic in this presentation.

So, yes. One person, or a small group, can change the world. But it's really, really difficult.

I've been trying to apply these ideas in Chicago for over 40 years. Initially my focus was the tutor/mentor program at the Montgomery Ward headquarters in Chicago, which I began to lead in 1975 when the program was starting the school year with about 100 pairs of employee volunteers and 2nd-6th grade elementary school kids.  By recruiting other volunteers to share leadership and organizational roles with me, and applying mass communications strategies learned in my advertising work, the program grew to 300 pairs of kids/volunteers by 1990, with less than 24 hours a week of part time college student staff.  We were changing the world for the kids who participated. That program still operates. It's called Tutoring Chicago now.

During the 1970s and 1980s I began to draw leaders of other programs together to share ideas that helped me in my own program, but also helped them in their programs. Through my work at Wards I was learning how a small group at the corporate office could support the activities of 400 stores in 40 states reaching millions of potential customers. I began to understand that the work of a single program could have a positive impact on a few kids, but well organized, mentor-rich programs, were needed in every poverty neighborhood of Chicago, where more than 200,000 kids lived.

I also began to see that while we were serving 2nd to 6th grade kids, there was a need for programs that helped these kids move through high school and into college and work.  Furthermore, while volunteers could provide tutoring and mentoring support, parents, youth, schools and communities often needed other support such as health care, jobs, transportation assistance, which was more than we could provide in our single program.

In late 1992, no one had a master database of tutor/mentor programs serving Chicago, thus no one could organize and lead an on-going effort to help each program be great (which was the store support goal of the Montgomery Ward Corporation), so when the opportunity presented itself in late 1992, I and six other volunteers formed Cabrini Connections to serve 7th to 12th grade youth, and we formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) to help programs grow throughout the Chicago region.  That started with building a master database of tutor/mentor programs, launched in 1994.   This 4-part strategy presentation and this Tutor/Mentor Learning Network presentation are two of many similar presentations that show the work I've been trying to do.  I'm still leading the T/MC strategy 23 years later, but through the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC structure.

There have been many, many challenges to helping tutor/mentor programs grow in all poverty areas of Chicago. One is that new organizations keep emerging to do similar work, or to segment the market, both locally and nationally.  That would be fine if they were also applying the same thinking and network building strategies, but just by looking at web sites, it's difficult to see that happening.

This concept map shows organizations who are intermediaries, focused on the well-being of youth in the Chicago region. They support multiple organizations doing similar work, such as arts, technology, STEM, etc. They are not direct service organizations themselves. Click on the link at the bottom of each node and you go to that organization's web site. Look for maps, visualizations of a birth-to-work thinking. Look at the resource section and see if there are links to the T/MC or the other organizations on this map.

While I've been creating maps and visualizations for many years and writing this blog since 2005, too few people have actually seen these ideas. Many of my visualizations are out of date.  I'm constantly updating the concept map showing intermediaries, and my other maps. I have less help today, than I did prior to 2011. And had far too little help before then.

I started creating videos in 2010, using a screen capture feature that I learned from a lady in England. However, after leaving Cabrini Connections in 2011, these all need to be updated, just to provide new contact information.

In the past couple of years I've been gathering new ideas from educators I've met via a Connected Learning #clmooc network.  One idea was the use of Vialogues to post and annotate videos. Last week I decided to post my videos, and use the annotation to provide updates. Below is one.



This video is relevant because we're nearing the conclusion of National Mentoring Month. While there have been hundreds of social media posts recognizing volunteers and showing the impact of mentoring, I've not seen many (any?) showing strategies intended to expand what volunteers do to help youth move from poverty to careers, or to help programs constantly improve, or grow in more places.

This has always been needed, and important. However, as we head into a new era of government that may have less interest in helping the disadvantaged in America, it's even more important that volunteer-based organizations learn to influence what their volunteers will do to help keep America Great, or make it as great as it should have been since its founding.

That means more programs need to be creating and sharing videos like this, to show their own theory of change and strategy.  More need to be creating concept maps to show who else focuses on similar goals.  More need to be following each other's blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, etc. It also means business, universities, foundations, etc. need to encourage, recognize and provide talent and dollars to support this work in hundreds of locations.

If you are doing videos or maps to show these strategies, please share with me on social media, or via the comments section.  If you'd like to help me, or discuss these ideas, I'd be happy to connect.

'Too many walls and not enough bridges"

I just read a fascinating article about how bridges enhanced the growth of major cities around the world. In it's conclusion the author wrote "We build too many walls and not enough bridges".

I created the graphic at the left in 2008 for this blog article which is one of many that focus on mentoring as a form of "bridging social capital". The divides I seek to bridge are social, economic, age and racial, not rivers and canyons.

I've used it often, along with other graphics, such as this one, to show how people can take on intermediary roles of connecting people and places where help is needed, with people, ideas and resources in places where help is available.

Volunteers who serve as mentors to young people who live in concentrated, segregated, high poverty neighborhoods, are filling that role, even if they don't recognize that they do it.

As we head into 2017 and a new Presidential administration I feel it's more important than ever to find ways to build bridges instead of walls.

Let me know how you're doing that.  Dig into past articles on this blog to find more ideas that you can apply in your own community.

Where do you find ideas for helping Tutor Mentor Orgs Grow?

I send a monthly email newsletter, with graphics like this, and with links to articles I've written in the past. These all aim at mobilizing more people to take roles in helping inner-city youth have access to volunteer-based, non-school, tutoring, mentoring and learning programs that build multi-year connections between youth, volunteers and the host organization.  I have been maintaining a list of Chicago area programs since 1994. You can find it here and here.

This is another graphic that I've used often.

This graphic shows the role of intermediaries, such as myself, who seek to motivate people who don't live in high poverty to provide consistent flows of time, talent, dollars, technology and ideas to different programs in high poverty neighborhoods of the city and suburbs. The information I share is intended to be used by resource providers and policy makers, not just program leaders. This article about building intentional influence illustrates this work.

I use maps in many of these articles to illustrate the need to reach every place where kids need long-term help.  I include these graphics in blog articles and illustrated presentations I post on Scribd, Slideshare and the library on the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC site.  I focus on uses of GIS maps and concept maps in articles on the Mappingforjustice blog.

This is another graphic that I've included.

In this graphic I illustrate the goal of creating a shared vision, and collaboration among programs and supporters, that leads to better information and more frequent stories about where and why non-school programs are needed, what they look like, and where to find contact information that people can use to shop and choose what programs they will support.  At the same time, I am illustrating how difficult it is to get programs and supporters to work together. The way programs are funded through competitive grants and inconsistent donors leads to a "I can't drain the swamp" mentality.  

As I watch the MLB baseball playoffs and cheer for the Chicago Cubs today, and the NFL football games and cheer for the Chicago Bears, I'm reminded of what it takes to put great winning teams on the field.  My articles are intended to reach people who will help put great, winning youth support teams in all high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities around the world.

#EnoughisEnough Stop the Violence!

Another senseless act of violence in Chicago took the life of a young woman, this time the cousin of NBA basketball star Dwyane Wade.  Over night Wade Tweeted a call to end the violence, using the hashtag #EnoughisEnough.

I've been using this phrase for nearly 10 years, to show steps of involvement that anyone can take.  Here's an article written just two weeks ago, that is titled "Stop the Violence. Where are the Leaders?"

I started the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) in Chicago in 1993 with the goal of helping non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs grow in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago, as an alternative to the negative influences available to youth in high poverty neighborhoods.

I've reached out to athletes to take a role in "building great teams" to support youth, with graphics like the one below.

This graphic is included in this 2014 article titled "Build Great Youth Teams in Every Neighborhood - Role of Intermediaries".  It's one of several articles showing roles athletes and coaches can take, which you can find in this set of articles,

There's a lot of information here. It's not something you can master in just one session. Yet, athletes like Wade, our Olympians, pro baseball and football players, all know that to be great you spend lots and lots of time practicing and building your skills.

That's why they should focus on motivating fans to spend their own time, talent and dollars, learning ways to be strategic and consistently involved, and motivating them to stay involved for many years.

I started sharing these strategies 23 years ago. Had anyone accepted this leadership role at that time, maybe things would be different now in 2016 Chicago.

#EnoughisEnough - share this with athletes, leaders and celebrities.  I'd be happy to serve as a coach.

It's not too late to start changing the future.

#EnoughisEnough Stop the Violence!

Another senseless act of violence in Chicago took the life of a young woman, this time the cousin of NBA basketball star Dwyane Wade.  Over night Wade Tweeted a call to end the violence, using the hashtag #EnoughisEnough.

I've been using this phrase for nearly 10 years, to show steps of involvement that anyone can take.  Here's an article written just two weeks ago, that is titled "Stop the Violence. Where are the Leaders?"

I started the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) in Chicago in 1993 with the goal of helping non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs grow in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago, as an alternative to the negative influences available to youth in high poverty neighborhoods.

I've reached out to athletes to take a role in "building great teams" to support youth, with graphics like the one below.

This graphic is included in this 2014 article titled "Build Great Youth Teams in Every Neighborhood - Role of Intermediaries".  It's one of several articles showing roles athletes and coaches can take, which you can find in this set of articles,

There's a lot of information here. It's not something you can master in just one session. Yet, athletes like Wade, our Olympians, pro baseball and football players, all know that to be great you spend lots and lots of time practicing and building your skills.

That's why they should focus on motivating fans to spend their own time, talent and dollars, learning ways to be strategic and consistently involved, and motivating them to stay involved for many years.

I started sharing these strategies 23 years ago. Had anyone accepted this leadership role at that time, maybe things would be different now in 2016 Chicago.

#EnoughisEnough - share this with athletes, leaders and celebrities.  I'd be happy to serve as a coach.

It's not too late to start changing the future.

Role of Intermediaries in Building Solutions to Poverty, Violence

I just posted a new article on the Tutor/Mentor Exchange blog using this graphic to illustrate the role of intermediaries in in building and sustaining groups of people and organizations that focus on complex problems like poverty, violence, health disparities, etc.  I hope you'll take some time to read it.

Than, I encourage you to view this presentation, showing the role "talent volunteers" and consultants can take, either as volunteers, or in paid roles (if funding can be found).

Recruiting Talent Volunteers for Youth Tutoring, Mentoring, Learning Programs by Daniel F. Bassill

Teams of of volunteers and/or students could be forming in colleges, high schools, faith groups, businesses and neighborhoods to take on this role. 

They could be meeting in on-line communities to share what works, what does not work, what challenges they face, and what ways they might work together to overcome those challenges.

I hope I can be a resource to those conversations.

Follow the Leader(s): Connecting the Dots.

I attended an event on Saturday at the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club, which was led by Tavis Smiley, a well known Black entertainer. This was one of many visits to different cities, where he's drawing attention to poverty and inequality, not just focusing on Black Americans, but on all who live in poverty in America (read more). Much of his focus is on inequality for Black Americans, which is a huge issue for Chicago and other major cities. His closing message was that we need to get this into the 2016 presidential campaign debates, and that will happen on January 17, 2016. He encouraged all of us to use #2016povertydebate often in our social media to build attention for the debates, and to draw viewers to his web sites.

Over the past year I've found a few other highly visible people focusing on inequality. Robert Putnam wrote a book titled Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis which he promotes with his Facebook page. Robert Reich has a website and Facebook page, and is releasing a new book this week, titled “Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few,” Hedrick Smith is now on Facebook and has a web site titled Reclaim the American Dream.

Are these guys talking to each other? I can't find links on their web sites pointing to each other.

When I started the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 I could have created a web site with just my ideas, based on 20 years of leading a tutor/mentor program in Chicago. Instead, I said "let's build a library full of ideas from anyone who is working in this arena". The map below shows the many different sections in my library. In this link, I've posted links to the men mentioned above so that anyone who visits my library, can find their ideas, too.

This link points to a map of the four sections of the graphic above. Open each, and you'll see sub sections. Each has links pointing to dozens of web sites.  (note: in January 2016 I created this blog article, with links to individual sections of my web library and to articles I refer to often.

This has two purposes.

One, it enlarges the pool of ideas anyone draws from to fight inequality in America, or the world.

Second, it is an attempt to connect all of these people and organizations to each other, in on-line, on-going, conversations that might actually generate enough support to change the public will and generate the resources needed to help close the opportunity and inequality gaps we face.

There were nearly 200 people in the audience Saturday. During the 30 minutes question and answer session a few had the opportunity to ask questions. Most used the time to offer their own self-promotion and/or opinion. Out of 200, perhaps 15 had one chance to talk. Even the panel members only had a few opportunities to offer their own ideas.

I'd love to go to Tavis Smiley's web site and find links to the web sites and blogs of each panel member, just so I could reach out and learn from them and try to connect where it fits. I do encourage you to visit his site and many others in my web library, then organize a discussion group at your faith group, school, business, etc,. and start a real discussion around the ideas you're going to find.

I created this graphic many years ago to show how any one of us can invite people we know to talk about ideas that help improve equality and opportunity in America. One of the panel members on Saturday, a young man named Jamal Cole, said "Every one of us has agency. There is something we can do."

I agree. Everyone can pass on information to others about ideas and web sites where we can learn, gather, share and innovate solutions to complex problems. Furthermore, we can build upon what we're learning, and create new ways of understanding.

This graphic was created a few years ago by an intern who first looked at the graphic I posted above, then created her own interpretation. This is in two parts. Below is the second. Student in schools, non-school programs, universities and/or faith groups, aided by adult mentors, could be creating their own interpretations of these ideas, in a collective effort aimed at building the public will needed to turn ideas into solutions that reach into every high poverty area of the country.

I hope that the people who I point to will apply some of these ideas on their own web sites. I'd like to become an important resource and part of their own conversations, not just someone who follows their lead.

2017 Update - 
Since I wrote this Donald Trump  has been elected President of the United States and the anger of a neglected rural and small town American population has began to come into view.

My work has focused on urban poverty, focusing first on Chicago, then on other cities. The issue of urban poverty in Chicago is shaped by long-term segregation between classes and races, with a large African American population living in high poverty neighborhoods. Much of the research in my web library focuses on this population and the reasons youth and families need the extra help offered by organized non-school tutor/mentor programs. 

I created the graphic at the right to show that while all youth need help, kids in poverty need extra help.  I think I'll update this to show that the size of your geography, big city vs small town, also offers difference in terms of needs and challenges.

I'd like to find people building web libraries like mine who are focusing on this population.

Poverty Among Whites Deserves Attention, Too

For the past 40 years my work has focused on engaging more people in fighting urban poverty, through the creation and support of well organized, mentor-rich, non school tutoring, mentoring and learning organizations. I've also been using maps to focus attention on places where poverty levels are highest. You can find many of these maps on the Mappingforjustice.com blog site. The one I show here is from a GatewaytoCollege site.

I've hosted Tutor/Mentor Conferences since 1994 and often participants would come from rural areas and comment that most of the ideas and links in my library focus on urban poverty. When I've had that conversation I've said, "Duplicate what I've been doing. Build a rural-focused Tutor/Mentor Connection."

Today I read an article in the Huffington Post, titled "Poverty Among Whites Demands Philanthropy's Attention". This report says, "According to recent census data, 42 percent of the poor -- some 18.9 million people -- are non-Hispanic whites."

The article below shows the four-part strategy I've developed since 1994, which focuses on urban poverty and ways people can connect, learn, innovate and work collectively so solve complex problems. This could be duplicated by anyone, or more than one organization, to focus on rural poverty, or other social/environmental issues.

Problem-Solving Strategy-Explanation and Overview by Daniel F. Bassill

I'd be happy to help groups understand this strategy and apply it to other sectors and other places than Chicago.

Sharing ideas. Who's Listening?

This graphic illustrates the purpose of this blog, and the work I've done for the past 40 years. I'm trying to connect people "who can help" with people and organizations in places "where help is needed"..usually defined by high levels of segregated poverty.

I've been sharing ideas on web sites since 1998, using email newsletters, social media, blogs and other tools to try to extend the reach of these ideas. Last week I received a copy of the White Papers from the 2013 UIC Forum which focused on uses of information technology in different regions of the country, with a focus on Chicago. The first article in the book was titled "TOWARD CONNECTED, INNOVATIVE AND RESILIENT METRO REGIONS" and written by Karen Mossberger, Chen-Yu Kao, Kuang-Ting Tai of Arizona State University.

Scroll down on the PDF to Table 1 and Table 2, which show high levels of Internet use in more affluent neighborhoods of Chicago, and low levels in low income areas. This disparity is troubling because it means the most of what I've been sharing is not being seen by people in low-income neighborhoods. Many years ago someone pointed out this disparity to me and I said, "I understand the lack of technology access and use in high poverty areas. However, my goal is that people who have talent and resources needed to change this, who live in more affluent areas, are looking at the information I share." This group represents "those who could help" in my graphic. If they are motivated to do so with any consistency, they could dramatically change internet access in low income areas.

However, if you look at Table 1, it shows that while nearly 90% are using the Internet, only about 50% of users in affluent areas are using the internet for on-line courses, or learning. That could mean that almost half of those who could be helping are not even looking at the ideas I'm sharing. That's a concern.

In different parts of the world this gap in Internet access and use is even more severe.

While I was leading volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs between 1975 and 2011 I made an effort to recruit technology-skilled volunteers who set up and managed computer labs at our program sites in the Montgomery Ward corporate office. In the early years these primarily gave kids opportunity to access learning games via disc based programs. As the Internet became a resource in the late 1990s they expanded the range of learning resources volunteers could introduce to kids.

During the 2000s it became more and more urgent that we find ways to motivate kids, staff, volunteers and others to become active learners, who spent their own time visiting web sites and learning from information available. I used weekly newsletters and the tutor/mentor program web site, to point students and volunteers to information in the homework help section of the Tutor/Mentor Connection web site, and in the research section. As I was able to raise funds in the mid 2000s for a technology coordinator at the tutor/mentor program, I created the graphic below, to show learning goals.

At the core of this was a goal of developing a habit of visiting organization web sites, now, and in the future, to get information, give information, connect with fellow student and volunteer alumni, etc. in ways that provide on-going benefit of the mentoring and tutoring community to each participant.

In 2008 the financial crisis began to have a huge negative impact on the program I was leading and by 2010 we had lost funds for a technology coordinator and in 2011 I also left the organization. Thus, the on-going effort to teach web learning habits was not in place long enough to have the impact I was hoping to achieve. I cannot tell from the organization's current web site if they are continuing this strategy.

I created the graphic below to illustrate the need to constantly expand the network of people who were looking at information and ideas we're sharing so that at some point in the future we could tip the scales for people living in concentrated poverty because we've innovated ways to build empathy, understanding and involvement from more people who don't live in poverty...which would also result in the on-line engagement of more people who do live in poverty.

I point to more than 150 Chicago youth serving organizations on this page of my web site. I point to other youth serving organizations and networks around the country on this page. I browse these sites every year and don't see many who show a technology learning strategy similar to what I've shared above.

Is that a reflection of activity not taking place, or the inability or organizations to show process and strategy on their web sites, or both? So many future jobs are dependent on youth learning the skills I show on the Learning Chart above, it would seem that donors would emphasize and encourage technology learning programs within every site-based tutor/mentor program.

I'll close with one final chart. This shows the potential for site-based tutor/mentor programs that operate in the non-school hours in different neighborhoods to recruit volunteers from different business and education backgrounds. These are people who already use technology for everyday work and learning who could be modeling technology uses for kids, and for the tutor/mentor programs where they volunteer. How many programs show this type of graphic as a model of the type of program they are building? This PDF shows more about this chart.

As we start the new school year I hope programs who are trying to build web learning habits in their youth and volunteer corps will share their strategies, on their web sites, in their blogs, and in research papers. As some share, others will learn. I'd also like to find a sponsor/partner who'd create a MOOC that draws programs, volunteers and donors together to talk about this topic and share strategies (or who is already hosting this discussion).

If YOU are one of those who are on line, and looking for ideas, please share this with others in your network.

4-20-2017 update - this blog article, titled Rescuing Student Participation Through Digital Platforms, offers much to think about related to the learning goals shown above.