Master plan for saving Chicago youth - 1997 version

Does your city have
A MASTER
PLAN FOR
SAVING
YOUR KIDS?
Read through the following pages, showing a plan
developed by a small non profit in Chicago, starting in
1993. This presentation was created in 1998, as a
script for a video. If the ideas make since, give it a new
birth with leadership in your own city.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present), Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present)
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net @tutormentorteam on Twitter

From Chicago Tribune, May 15, 1995
The Tutor/Mentor Connection first offered a plan to Chicago leaders to combat
poverty...in 1994. It has never been well-supported. Yet, the plan is still available, with
many updates since then.
Review the original plan. View video created from these slides
https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2023/02/borrow-from-lessons-of-tutormentor.html
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
www.tutormentorexchange.net
NOTE: This page was created in 1998 showing T/MC goals. We have continued to seek partners who adopt these recommendations.

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present), Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Pg 3
View video at
https://youtu.be/ESa99DVfNhI?si=3qVnush4KxoCAYKI
The slides in this presentation were
used to create a video that was
shared at the 1997 Presidents'
Summit for America's Future. You
can now view the video on
YouTube.

View the video at https://youtu.be/ESa99DVfNhI?si=3qVnush4KxoCAYKI
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The Tutor/Mentor
Connection (T/MC) is a
marketing plan designed to
channel this outrage into
positive actions that end
violence and poverty – one
child at a time. Creating safe
places where
adults and
children can
gather is a
Summit goal
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Note: Since 2011 the T/MC has been operated
as part of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.

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RESEARCH:
The first step is a research
process which intends to
know every tutor/mentor
program in Chicago, which
we can map (show a map) to
show the location of every
known afterschool program.
Last November (1997) the
T/MC distributed the first
report to ever summarize the
availability of afterschool
tutor/mentor programs (cover
shown). According to the
1997 survey of 272 programs,
fewer than 6% of children are
now (1998) participating in
any of the programs which
responded, our of a total of
500,000 school-aged children
in Chicago.
NOTE: Funds to repeat this survey every year were never received,
thus, this was the only time in the past 20 years a summary of T/MC
data was achieved.
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RESEARCH:
A map like this (from
the 1997 survey) shows
levels of high poverty in
Chicago, locations of
public schools on
probation and locations
of non school tutor
and/or mentor programs
that responded to the
1997 survey.
In each Chicago Public
School region the total
number of kids served is
shown, along with the
number in the
tutor/mentor programs in
each region.
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RESEARCH:
These maps show the
number of programs,
and the number of
children served by grade
level. There are quite a
few programs on the
map, but the total
number of children
served in each grade
level is quite small and
the distribution of
programs into all high
poverty neighborhoods
is weak.
T/MC research can also
locate models from
anywhere in the city, or
the country, which are
more successful than
others (Big Brothers,
Quantum Opportunities,
I Have a Dream, etc)
which can be examples
to use in setting
standards which all
others can aspire to
(with proper support and
funding).
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What Does a Tutor/Mentor Program Look Like?
There is no single model and there is very little research attempting to differentiate between different models. However, the Tutor/Mentor
Connection seeks to encourage the growth of site based programs where mentors from many different career and college backgrounds
provide multi-year support to participating youth. On the next few slides, the ideal of what in 1997 we called “Total Quality Mentoring
(TQM) would look like is described.
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Map of Chicago
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Map of Chicago
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As you view the maps in these slides,
imagine icons in high poverty areas,
showing existence of youth programs
providing specific types of learning and
mentoring.

Map of Chicago
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If someone did the research, and many
provided talent and dollars, the map
could have icons in every high poverty
area, indicating youth technology learning
support in each of those places.

Map of Chicago
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A map showing hospitals, health care
centers, insurance companies, etc. could
have flags showing which were hosting or
funding youth tutor/mentor programs with
healthcare mentoring included.

Map of Chicago
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Arts, music, performance mentoring and
learning should be available to k-12 youth
in every high poverty area. Professionals
should champion, and fund, such
programs.

Map of Chicago
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Map of Chicago
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Volunteers modeling STEM careers
should be reaching youth in every high
poverty neighborhood, through
organized, non-school programs.

Map of Chicago
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Map of Chicago
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While newspapers and
media do headlines of
negative events, with
rising and falling levels
of indignation,
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...it is our commitment to
turn media outrage into
positive action, creating
public awareness even
when the media has
moved on to other stories,
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… with a focus on
individual programs in
EVERY neighborhood of
Chicago, not just those
with the most notoriety,
or a celebrity
spokesperson.
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That is what separates the
from any other non-profit
or government agency in
America.
In 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was
created to continue this vision.
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This commitment was launched in 1993
and shared in this 1997 slide
presentation. It is still the commitment of
Dan Bassill and Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC in 2023.

Public Awareness, Marketing:
The Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) was created with a goal of helping existing non-school, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs
in Chicago get the resources each needs to grow and expand, while helping new programs start in areas which are underserved.
T/MC creates events which draw attention to existing programs, while providing training, recruiting volunteers, or raising dollars. And
we provide “rest of the story” reports for the media to use as follow-up to “negative headlines”.
The goal of our follow up is to show the need of a neighborhood where the “news” occurred. The example on the following page
shows
* Degree of poverty in area where shooting took place
* Public Schools on state warning list for poor performance
* Locations of any existing non-school tutor and/or mentor programs in the area (if any)
Map stories also add information showing businesses, churches, hospitals and/or universities in the areas who are assets that should
be involved helping tutor/mentor programs grow in the area. Maps also show expressways that pass through or near the map area,
providing access routes for potential volunteers and leaders who pass through the neighborhood each day.
In most cases, there are not enough programs in a map-area, the existing programs don't serve every age group, and/or only reach a
small number of children, and the programs are not all as good as they need to be in helping children move from the streets to a job
and career.
While T/MC sends these maps to editorial writers, none has yet been published. While we send them to some of the business leaders
of companies in the map area, non has yet resulted in a new involvement strategy (that we know of).
T/MC has not had cheerleaders with enough clout to get our message published. We have not had the financial support needed to
create professional looking, full-color, materials that might motivate more leaders to spend more time trying to understand our
message. With your help we will overcome this hurdle. We will integrate these maps into videos our students produce and put them
on public TV and into training videos like this, which you can use to advocate in your business or professional circle.
Furthermore, we will put them on an Internet web site, which will allow millions of people to go directly to us for “the rest of the story”.
NOTE: This is from a 1998 Tutor/Mentor Connection video script. It is being shared in 2023 to show a vision that still needs to be adopted
In Chicago and in other metropolitan areas of the US. Visit http://www.tutormentorexchange.net to learn more.
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This 1992 front
page is a constant
reminder of the
on-going work of
supporting kids
that a city needs to
do, but does not do
very well.
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These slides show just a few of the news
stories we had collected up till 1997,
which show the need for more support
programs helping kids in high poverty
areas move safely from birth to work.

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View this and other media stories showing T/MC strategy
https://tutormentorexchange.net/news-pr

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Both of these stories focus on the same
Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago
Neither showed assets who could be
working together to make youth tutoring,
mentoring and jobs programs available that
could reduce the problem the story was
focused on.
See “Rest of the Story” on following slides.
These illustrate Tutor/Mentor Connection’s map-based media strategy:
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NOTE: This page was created in 1998 showing
T/MC goals. We have continued to seek partners
To develop this since then.
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Map View Shows Assets in Area
Every news story could be followed with information like this.
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See what was built in 2008
While the previous slide shows how T/MC built map stories and provided information about assets in
the map area, such as businesses, colleges, hospitals, and faith groups, a team from India built an
interactive program locator in 2008 that enabled anyone to create a map story showing this
information for all of Chicago, or just a small segment. That platform was not funded after 2011 and
is now an archive, viewable at https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive
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Map view created using Program Locator
These are two map views created using the Program Locator. See them in article at
https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/07/west-side-community-cant-fight-gun.html
While the Chicago Program Locator is now (2023) and archive, the need for a
platform like this still exists in every city with high concentrations of poverty. Use the
files showing the program locator built for the T/ MC and create a new version for
your own city. Read about it at
http://tutormentorinstitute.wikidot.com/project:program-locator-database-and-survey
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T/MC Training Strategy
While T/MC marketing
and resource building
intend to bring
reinforcements to
tutor/mentor programs,
our training is intended
to help these programs
keep their volunteers
and do a better job
each year of moving
children toward a
career. Very simply,
training is a product of
on-going market
research, intended to
learn who does it well
and how they do it, then
to create forums where
others can be motivated
to learn from those
examples.
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How data supports outcomes-info flow -
http://tinyurl.com/TMC-Info-flow

Creating a Learning Community
Chicago Tribune, 11-24-96
NOTE: This page was created in 1998 showing T/MC goals.
We have continued to seek partners who adopt these recommendations.
Tutor/Mentor Connection has created a May and November conference where
leaders of programs can gather to share best practices and learn from experts how
to better manage and market their efforts and where training can be provided to
volunteers. We have established a Library at our Montgomery Ward headquarters*.
We include this information in a newsletter we publish quarterly.
However, we are no where close to where we need to be. We must find ways to
capture more information and package it via conferences and the Internet so more
groups can use it more efficiently. The goal of the T/MC is not to franchise our own
program or any other single model. It is to create entrepreneurs who can use the
information and technology we provide to do the best work possible. As Robert
Taggart said in his review of Quantum Opportunities Program, you cannot
“franchise” hugs and understanding, but you can provide the infrastructure so
that “high-tech” and “high-touch” are combined.
While technology can do wonders to help programs find information, it cannot
replace the hands-on touch of a person. While kids need mentoring, so do
programs. And while many programs will come to conferences which constantly
improve in quality and appeal, we must build a training corps of experienced
volunteers who have business experience who can serve as an “inner city tutor
training corps” for one or two year sabbaticals to reach out and touch every single
program in each city, making sure that no program isn’t aware of the hand the T/MC
is extending to help them, and being available to serve as speakers and trainers of
volunteers when-ever and where-ever any program needs them. Such volunteers
will not only provide a tremendous outreach and connecting service to any city’s
programs, they will become a source of trained and motivated leadership to fill the
huge need of additional programs throughout Chicago and America.
* this library is now (2015) on the internet at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
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This conference was held every six months from May 1994 to May 2015

Build this connection on the Internet
This map shows participation in the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking
Conferences, held held in Chicago from May 1994 through May 2014. Zoom into this
map to see participants from the Chicago region. View at
https://tutormentorexchange.net/conferences-and-online-forums/previous-conferences/239-conf-map
See eLearning goals from early 2000s.
https://tutormentorexchange.net/conferences-and-online-forums/88-e-learning-goals
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RESOURCE BUILDING
While T/MC events have put our messages in front of the media over
and over since 1994 (see stores on previous pages), our goal is that
these events provide immediate support to every program in the city, in
the form of volunteers, dollars, training, visibility, etc.
However, they are also intended to draw partners to us who can build a
strategy from within their own organizations which supports schools and
afterschool programs in neighborhoods where they are already
invested. This is an ADOPT A NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGY.
In order to show business locations in neighborhoods where a shooting
took place, we’ve used the yellow-pages to create a data-base of
multiple site corporations. While we know there are business directories
available, we haven’t yet had the funds to use these resources.
With out business database we can not only do a neighborhood
analysis, we can do an organizational analysis. We’ve created maps
showing major corporations, such as McDonald’s State Farm, Citibank,
Burger King, etc.
We send these maps to the CEOs and marketing executives of these
companies asking them to develop a strategy that supports
neighborhoods within a one-mile radius of any of their business sites. If
they don’t have neighborhood sites, we suggest a zip code sort of
employees, which would target groups living North, West or South of
the city, who pass through high poverty neighborhoods every day
coming and going to work.
We follow up news stories to show reasons for companies to focus their
strategy on tutor/mentor programs.
As General Powell has given 6-month reports following
the Summit, he’s been criticized for not naming names.
Our goal is to have a fall business lunch each year, using
maps to show where there is a need, and to highlight
corporate potential to serve different areas in the city.
Each spring we plan to hold a second lunch to show
which corporations took action, and which did not.
As companies look to develop a strategy, we will work
with them to fine tune and focus their efforts, drawing
from our research of best practices in their industry and
in other industries, both in Chicago, and throughout the
world.
The Chicago Bar Association/Foundation, to date (1997)
has the most comprehensive strategy (see next page).
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The Lend a Had Program at the Chicago
Bar Foundation/Association is using its own
media (this is an example) to recruit volunteers
and raise dollars. They have set up a Lend A
Hand Fund to raise and allocate dollars to
fund tutor/mentor programs in Chicago,
partnering with the Tutor/Mentor Connection to
host an annual Tutor/Mentor Week in
November.
They have established a Law Bridges program
with teams of judges and lawyers making
once-a-month commitments to do
presentations at tutor/mentor sites in the city.
This map shows a distribution of Law
Bridges visits. It also shows the
challenge of how many more teams
are needed and how other law
associations could join this effort.
Ultimately, every tutor/mentor
program in the city should have law
bridges, just as every program should
also have a health connection,
technology connection, arts,
science/engineering connections, etc.
led by teams of business and
professional volunteer from each
industry.
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This strategy continued until it was discontinued in 2021.

This is NOT just a
strategy for Chicago
The Map of America shows more than 50 cities
with needs similar to Chicago. In Chicago, Detroit
New York and many other cities, youth are killing each
Other at an alarming pace.
More than 150 cities gathered in Philadelphia in
April 1997 to hear five living Presidents of the
United States issue a call to action.
None of these has yet developed an action plan
Anywhere close to the scope of the Tutor/Mentor
Connection, yet each city needs such a plan.
NOTE: This document was created in 1998. As of
2023 this strategy still is not in place in any city.
Visit http://www.tutormentorexchange.net.
Bring this strategy to life in your city so we don't lose
2 more decades of young lives.
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Duplicate this strategy
Any organization can adopt the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) strategy, serving as a “buck stops here” leader in
the crusade to keep America's Promise. The more leaders who take this challenge, the better. The silver bullet
has not yet been invented which raises anyone's child, yours, mine, or a child born in poverty. Every initiative has
the potential to be the best one ever, serving as a model for every other group to duplicate.
Through a Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy your organization can be a leader, not only in Chicago, but in any city
where your organization does business, or is represented. As a leader, you not only need to convene a panel of
your peers to launch the T/MC strategy, in any city, drawing from out planning website, joining in events which
recruit, train and raise dollars in Chicago, which could also do the same thing, on the same dates, in any other city
in America....or the world.
See how Dan Bassill has consistently shared
this strategy through articles on
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com since 2005.
Do the same!
Read this “Role of Leaders” presentation at
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-RoleOfLeaders
View other strategy presentations at
https://tutormentorexchange.net/library
Pg 51

BE A PARTNER:
HELP A T/MC GROW IN YOUR CITY. LET THE T/MC HISTORY HELP YOU.

Money: Each part of the T/MC is under funded and will only grow with financial reinforcements

Brains/People: Your company has expertise in each of the areas outlined in this report. In some cases your
company may be the industry leader, or may see an opportunity to demonstrate a new product, such as
Group Systems, the Internet, GIS information, through a partnership with the T/MC

Marketing/Event Sponsors and Hosts – Provide dollars and advertising to draw more resources to
tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and the nation. Include the T/MC web site address in your ads, and hot link
your web site to the T/MC web site. Host volunteer fairs in your facility. Use your corporate media to promote
the need for tutor/mentor programs

Adopt a Neighborhood – work with the T/MC to do a neighborhood analysis of your locations, your business
partners, where your employees live, non-profits you already support, etc. Begin a strategy which devotes a
slice of your resources each year, for the next 20 years, to a growing number of neighborhoods where you
have operations.

Be a Cheerleader – be proud of your involvement. (Show Colin Powell.) Boast about it in your media.
Encourage your friends to be involved. Challenge your competitors to be involved. Work with the T/MC to
develop a Fall Challenge Lunch and a Spring Recognition Lunch that will raise dollars, visibility and the
challenge that leads to more and better involvements from every organization, in a way that improves quality
and quantity of youth tutor/mentor programs in different neighborhoods, each succeeding year.

Listen to the kids who say “thanks, I'd probably be on the streets without your help.”
NOTE: This page was created in 1998 showing
T/MC goals. We have continued to seek partners who adopt these recommendations.
Pg 52

From 1998 through 2011, Dan Bassill and Tutor/Mentor
Connection continued to develop the ideas shown in this slide
presentation.
Due to a number of factors consistent investment has never been
available, and funds to do this work did not grow from a peak level
reached in 2000, the year our major corporate sponsor,
Montgomery Ward, went out of business.
In 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to support
the continued operation of Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago, and
to help similar intermediary projects grow in other cities.
While these ideas were given birth in Chicago over 20 years ago,
they could be a brand new MASTER PLAN FOR SAVING YOUTH
launched by civic leaders in any other city in the country.
You don’t need to start from scratch. Start by building from the base
of ideas launched by the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993. Let
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and Dan Bassill help you.
Visit http://www.tutormentorexchange.net to learn more.
Connect with Dan on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,
Instagram, Mastodon and other social media platforms. See
links at https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media
Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chicago, Il 60654 tutormentor1@gmail.com
Pg 53
Daniel F. Bassill
D.H.L.
Founder, CEO,
(1993-present)
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
(2011-present)

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