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

Helping Inner-City Youth from Birth to Work:
A Networking Strategy
Pg 1
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present), Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present)
tutormentor2@earthlink.net http://www.tutormentorexchange.net http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
Creating a Network of Purpose:
NETWORK BUILDER:
Tutor/Mentor Connection/Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Those
Who Can
Help
Those
Who Need
Help

“Monique left for Howard University last
week, where she has a FULL RIDE
SCHOLARSHIP.”
Message from Joey Molenda who was
Monique’s tutor/mentor for six years.
“Maurice has his GED and now
works in construction...”
thanks to Mike Mazucca who has
been part of his life for more than
10 years, and to Tom Li, another
CC volunteer who helped set up
a job interview for Maurice at a
company where he now works.
“Cabrini Connections played
a major role in my life during
my high school years.”
Marquita Hall (l) 2004 college
graduate; with sister, Alicia Hall,
who attends Northeastern
Illinois University.
The goal of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC)* is to connect inner
city teens with adults who will act as tutors, mentors, coaches, advocates
and friends in structured programs that encourages many of these adults
to stay involved in the lives of kids for many years.
The long term goal is that our teens finish high school and that our
volunteers help open doors to advanced learning, jobs and careers. In
such programs, volunteers also must learn to take on roles of leaders,
fund raisers, advocates, etc. so that programs constantly expand the
resources available to them.
Dan Bassill, founder of T/MC operated a volunteer- based tutor/mentor program
in Chicago for more than 35 years. 520 teens and 700 volunteers have
participated for 1 to 7 full years since 1993. On this page are some of our
alumni. Dan is connected to many more on Facebook.
*In July 2011 the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to innovate new ways
to support the T/MC in Chicago and help similar strategies grow in other cities.
Pg. 2
“Isaiah graduated from Bradley University in 2001
and now works for Westwood College..” Isaiah was
a keynote speaker at a 2008 Tutor/Mentor
Conference in Chicago and in Nov. 2010 led a fund
raising effort to help raise money to support Cabrini
Connections. He’s one of more than 100 alumni
connected to via Facebook.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net

We created the Tutor/Mentor
Connection (T/MC) in 1993 to
help programs like Cabrini
Connections grow in every
poverty neighborhood of the
city and suburbs of Chicago.
Chicago
Using the Internet, the T/MC is now
connected to organizations throughout the
world, and is helping tutor/mentor
programs, and citywide networks grow in
Chicago and other cities.
Every major city in the country has areas of
high poverty. The larger the city the bigger
the bureaucracy and the more isolated high
poverty neighborhoods become. Through
the Internet we can connect people from
many cities in a network focused on
expanding the social capital for youth in
these neighborhoods by helping volunteer-
based tutor/mentor programs grow.
While we operated a single tutor/mentor program in one neighborhood...
Pg. 3
Cabrini
Connections
serves teens in the
Cabrini-Green area
of Chicago. This
program was where
T/MC idea
originated in 1993.
Tutor/Mentor
Connection
helps programs
like Cabrini
Connections
grow in every
poverty area of
the city and
suburbs

The Tutor/Mentor Connection focuses
daily on one big questions:
What will it take to
assure that
all youth born in
poverty are entering
careers by age 25?
What does it take to make
mentor-rich non-school
programs available to more
youth, in more places?
Pg 4
Since 2011 the T/MC has been part of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. Same goals. Different tax structure.
Daniel F. Bassill, founder, leader of
Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC, started as a volunteer
tutor/mentor in 1973. He and Leo are still
connected in 2023. Leo has two boys, who
are both college graduates.

We know others are asking the same question….
The T/MC seeks to connect people and groups who are
already spending many hours doing research and
innovating ways to help kids to careers, into one on-
going tutor/mentor learning network.
In such a network people and organizations can share
ideas, learn from others, create collaborations, and can
apply new ideas and resources at any time to their own
efforts to help kids in their own community.
Dan Bassill's daily participation in on-line forums and
social media is part of the this network-building strategy.
Pg 5

All kids grow on the same 25
year timeline:
From birth to starting a career, takes about 25 years for
most kids. There are well defined stages along the way.
For kids living in concentrated, inner-city poverty, there are
extra challenges to reaching careers.
School-Time Programs
3-5 PM Non-School Programs
Pre-K K - 5th 5th - 6th 6th - 8th
High
School
Career
Track
After 5 PM and Weekend Programs
Pg 6
Understand T/MC Logic

• The light pink shaded areas
have poverty rates of 20% and
above.
• Poverty rates in the dark red
areas are 40% and above.
• Icons on this map are schools
placed on the Illinois State
Warning list in November 2009.
• Other icons show locations of
known non-school tutoring
and/or mentoring programs.
• Children growing up in these
neighborhoods need extra
adults to help them reach
careers.
CHICAGO
We use maps and charts to create visual understanding
Pg 7

These are just a few of the questions that need to
be answered to to achieve this goal:
How do we help good volunteer-based tutor, mentor
and learning programs be in more of the places
where they are needed?
How do we help each program have effective, long-
term leaders?
How do we increase the number of volunteers from
different work backgrounds who get involved, and
stay involved for many years?
How do we provide consistent, flexible, multi-year
funding in all locations, not just a few?
Pg 8

How do we get
individuals, and
teams of people from
colleges, business,
media, education,
arts, etc. thinking
about this every day?
Pg 9
How do we connect those who
are already deliberating and
discussing these questions in
ways share knowledge and
good ideas and encourage
others to be involved?

Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC)
A Strategy That Can Be Duplicated in Any City
Since 1993 Dan Bassill has been building a Chicago
area network of programs and supporters and a
nationwide network of knowledge centers.
We call this a
Tutor/Mentor Learning Network (TMLN). We host the
information we share in a Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC library.
This strategy has never been well funded or consistently supported in
Chicago. Since 2011 it’s been supported by the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.
The following slides show the steps we’ve taken to create this network. As you
review this, imagine how much greater impact you could have if you had full
support of civic leaders, business and philanthropy in your city.
Pg 10

Database
(see lists of Chicago
Youth tutor/mentor orgs
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-
Volunteer-Opportunities
Information Collection
Prior to 1993, no organization
was attempting to maintain a
comprehensive database of non-
school tutor/mentor programs.
Web library also includes LINKS to
more than 2000 other organizations
working to help kids succeed in school
and move to careers. See map of
library at http://tinyurl.com/TMI-library
The T/MC Chicago programs database
now includes most tutor/mentor
programs in the Chicago area, as well
as lists of potential resource providers.
Step 1: Build and Maintain knowledge base
Pg 11
Step 1 of 4-Part Strategy
Http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Library

What types of organizations are in the library?
Who needs to be involved?
Birth
Career
Pre
School
Family Industry
Church
Elementary
School
After
School
Programs
High
School
College or
Vocational
A child
Middle
School
Arts,
Sports,
Recreation
Travel,
Internet
For most children, their Birth to Age 25 support system looks like this. Neighbors, family,
and a variety of community supports model education as a path to careers, while opening
doors and providing learning experiences as youth grow up.
This is an informal network and it works for most kids.
Mentors
and Tutors
Pg 12
Understand T/MC Logic

The Support System for Kids in Poverty is Different
than for middle and upper income kids.
Birth
Career
Family Industry
Church
After
School
Programs
A child
living in
poverty
Arts,
Sports,
Recreation
Travel,
Internet
Youth living in neighborhoods of concentrated, segregated, inner city poverty
have less of these positive learning influences .
While the church is a factor, many church groups do not have a diversity of
workplace volunteers, and many who do have diverse congregations, do not
have strategies to mentor neighborhood children to careers.
Pg 13

More Negative Role Models
Birth
Career
Family Industry
Church After
School
Programs
A child
living in
poverty
Arts,
Sports,
Recreation
Travel,
Internet
Gangs Welfare
Ex Offenders
Ill legal jobs
Along with fewer positive influences, there are far more negative influences in communities
with high concentrations of people in poverty, living on welfare, and working in illegal jobs.
For many kids the most common role model is a man with a fancy car, flashy jewelry, new
clothes, a wad of money, and many girl friends. All of this was earned through illegal work,
such as selling drugs. For many other kids the role model is an ex-offender.
Pg 14

As a Result, Schools Struggle. The Prison system grows.
Birth
Career
Pre
School
Family Industry
Church
Elementary
School
After
School
Programs
High
School
College or
Vocational
A child
living in
poverty
Middle
School
Arts,
Sports,
Recreation
Travel,
Internet
Gangs Welfare
Prison, Juvenile Homes
Ex Offenders
Ill legal jobs
As a result youth go to school unprepared to learn and with too few adult models showing the
value of education for jobs and careers. Schools struggle. High School drop out rates exceed
35%. Many careers are learned while in prison or in the juvenile justice system. Few youth go
to college and too few of these graduate.
Pg 15

Each of these boxes represent HUBS of
knowledge in the TMLN
Birth
Career
Pre
School
Family Industry
Church
Elementary
School
Tutoring
High
School
College or
Vocational
A child
living in
poverty
Middle
School
Youth
Development
Workforce
Development
Each box represents a category of people and organizations working to help youth grow up
safely, succeed in school, and be prepared for 21st
Century jobs and careers. By connecting
them in a Learning Network, we create greater opportunities for understanding, collaboration,
and capacity building in every neighborhood where kids need help.
Service
Learning
Welfare Reform
No Child Left Behind; Federal Juvenile Justice, Workforce Training Programs, etc..
Mentoring
Crime
prevention
After School
Programs
Civic Engagement
Volunteerism
National Service
Pg 16

A web blueprint should show what supports youth
need, and what is available in different zip codes.
See this Mentoring Kids to Careers Blueprint - http://tinyurl.com/TMI-K-CareerMentoring
Pg 17

Every youth
requires a network
of supports as
he/she grows up.
Youth in high poverty areas won’t have
the same network unless efforts are made
to create and sustain it for many years.
These two graphics show the ideas on page 16 and 17 in a different way.
Pg 18

Database
Because the T/MC maintains a
database with contact
information for most tutor/mentor
programs in Chicago…
b) As these volunteers bond with kids, many
will help build better programs, the same
way that Cabrini Connections volunteers
have helped build the T/MC from 1993-2011
a) The T/MC is able to lead advertising and
public education efforts that recruit
volunteers and donors for more than 100
other programs throughout the Chicago
region.
Volunteer Mobilization
Step 2: Volunteer Mobilization: Advertising
c) This increases the number of adults,
businesses and churches that are involved.
Pg 19
View at
https://youtu.be/C0ieJRBrk_I

A successful collaboration or
partnership is built on trust
and mutual self-interest.
From 1994-2015 the T/MC and
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC led an annual
sequence of capacity-building actions that
drew more than 300 programs together for
regular knowledge sharing, resource
building.
These actions are essential for building
trust and relationships.
No other organization brings so many of the
same programs together as often from year
to year. Without the regular invitations from
the T/MC, and the constant information
sharing, most organizations would remain
isolated from each other.
Database
Building a network of
tutor/mentor leaders
Step. 3 Build network of leaders.
Pg 20
Is someone
leading this
strategy in your
community?

Building Better Understanding
of Needs, Opportunities
By bringing programs together on a
regular basis, and by supporting this
process with surveys and an Internet
library of tutor/mentor information,
T/MC seeks to create a better
understanding of what works, who/how
many are being served, where
programs are needed, and what it takes
to help good programs be in every
place where they are needed.
Database
Building Better
Understanding of Needs,
Opportunities
Step 4: Information sharing
Pg 21
The T/MC has never had funds to do all of the
research that needs to be done, and seeks
partnership with universities to do this.

OUR GOAL: SUPPORT THE
GROWTH OF TOTAL QUALITY
MENTORING PROGRAMS THAT
HELP INNER CITY YOUTH REACH
CAREERS
To SUCCEED
We must recruit business
leaders who will use their
resources in PULLING
Youth to Careers
To SUCCEED
We must help tutor/mentor
program leaders, volunteers,
schools and parents be more
effective in PUSHING
Youth to Careers
High
School
Career
Track
Pg 22
The visualizations on this and the next three
pages are additional ways to illustrate a
long-term commitment needed to support
youth living in high poverty areas.

SHARING RESPONSIBILITY
To finish school and
enter a career…
…youth who participate in
great K-8 programs still need
support to finish high school,
college and to enter careers.
EXAMPLE
A program serving 5th
and 6th
grade
kids is able to do more if programs
serving the SAME kids in K-5 have laid
a reading/math learning/motivation
foundation.
High
School
Career
Track
Programs serving youth in one age level,
or one time frame, can do better work if
the child comes to them better prepared.
These are feeder programs. If
kids have access to good K-5
programs they will perform better
in 5th
and 6th
grade and high
school programs.
Pg 23

THE GOAL IS NOT TO FINISH 6TH
GRADE. IT’S TO REACH A CAREER.
Agencies that help each other do
more to help kids stay in school
and reach careers.
Instead of competing for resources, the T/MC
seeks to help programs work together to increase
the availability of resources for all tutor/mentor
programs.
High
School
Career
Track
Every program serving youth on this
time line needs volunteers, dollars,
technology, etc.
Pg 24

Networking Strategy
As a small non profit, T/MC* has never had the advertising budgets
of large corporations. Thus, it relies on an on-going networking
strategy to draw people together, and to build awareness of
tutoring/mentoring.
* The Tutor/Mentor Institute LLC was created in 2011 in an effort to expand the ways
money and partnerships are formed to support this strategy.
Pg 25

The World’s Largest
Ping Pong ball table.
This shows the power
each individual and
organization has.
Every action of the
T/MC or a member of
the T/MC Learning
Network, causes a
chain reaction that
moves every other ball.
Pg 26
CAN YOU TAKE THIS ROLE?

Aug/Sept
Chicagoland
Volunteer
Recruitment
Campaign
November
Conferences
Jan. National
Mentoring
Month; Feb.
Leadership
Development
May Conferences
Beginning in 1994 the T/MC developed a year-round event calendar intended
to help programs recruit volunteers in Aug/Sept. and help programs train
those volunteers and convert them into leaders as each program moves
through the School year. As each program ends the year it has more people
helping it build capacity and quality for the following year.
By repeating this call to involvement each year from 1994-2011, we created
greater public awareness of tutoring/mentoring, and greater traffic to web
sites of the Tutor/Mentor Learning Network.
Since 2015 these events have not been hosted by T/MC in Chicago, but the
strategies continue to be supported on social media.
This is an on-going, year-to-year growth process
Pg 27
Year-end
Fund Raising
Summer Planning

The T/MC has been committed to using the
Internet to network and learn since 1998
• Blogs – like http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
• Forums – http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com
• Conferences– 1994-2015
http://www.tutormentorconference.org
• Online collaboration spaces like
http://debategraph.org/mentoring_kids_to_careers
• Social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter and
http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute
• At http://www.tutormentorexchange.net we’re hosting
a links library, with links to organizations that we want
to connect with
At www.Google.com you can search for “tutor mentor”
and find the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and numerous
other organizations who could be invited to come
together for networking, learning, collaboration
This Debategraph forum is an
example of a web platform that
shares ideas and can connect
people from throughout the
world.
Visit http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and read articles
about MOOCs and Learning. Read articles about
“social capital” and see uses of maps in stories.
Pg 28

At T/MC web sites we link to organizations that
represent specific areas of expertise. These are
“hubs”, or, sources of information.
Volunteer
Recruitment
Fund Raising
Tutoring
info
T/MC Web Site
These hubs are often in different
cities, and even different countries!
Pg 29

As HUBs link to each other more knowledge is
shared...
Hub
Hub
Hub
…and greater traffic circulates to
each organization in the network
Pg 30
Many of the
websites we point
to from the
Tutor/Mentor
library are also
hubs of
information.

Create a Learning Network
Birth
Career
schools
family Faith
groups
Business
Higher
Ed.
Health
Care
Community
orgs
Gov’t
Law
orgs
Social
Service
Philanthropy
& Volunteers
America’s
Youth
ALL of these groups
need to be involved
in helping kids
succeed in school
and move to jobs
and careers.
Pg 31

Connecting HUBS: A Blueprint
Birth
Career
schools
family Faith
groups
Business
& Media
Higher
Ed.
Health
Care
Community
orgs; social
service
Gov’t
Law
orgs
Entertainment
& Sports
Philanthropy
& Volunteers
America’s
Youth
AND each group
needs to be
connected to each
other, in an on-going
learning process.
Pg 32

This can lead to shared efforts to increase visibility
and draw more volunteers and donors to every
tutor/mentor program in the Chicago area as school
starts every year in Aug/Sept.
Pg 33
TMI Goal - Increase Funding Stream -
http://tinyurl.com/TMIGoal-FundingStream
Read Philanthropy articles on http://tutormentor.blogspot.com

Using the map, and the database,
leaders can stimulate a flow of
resources to all programs, in all
neighborhoods.
By working as a group, T/MC helps
programs generate greater impact than
most programs could generate by
themselves.
Database
Building Better
Opportunities
This is intended to draw volunteers, dollars,
public attention, technology and training
directly to tutor/mentor programs in every
neighborhood.
Without a steady flow of these resources
no program can succeed.
Actions that increase the
flow of resources to each
program
Step 5: Actions that increase flow of resources
Pg 34
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present)

All Tutor/Mentor Programs have
Common Needs
* volunteers
* public visibility
* operating dollars
* technology
* training/learning
* evaluation tools/staff
Pg 35

THE GOAL IS NOT ONE GOOD PROGRAM IN A FEW PLACES,
REACHING A SMALL NUMBER OF YOUTH, BUT GOOD PROGRAMS
IN ALL HIGH POVERTY AREAS OF EVERY CITY AND STATE
The Tutor/ Mentor
Connection seeks
LEADERS to help raise
and distribute needed
resources to every
tutor/mentor program in
the city and suburbs of
Chicago.
Pg 36
This could be a map of New York City,
Cleveland, Houston, Detroit, etc. This
strategy can be borrowed and adopted,
with help from the Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC

Using maps, databases and
interactive web sites a city can
help attract volunteers and
donors to all neighborhoods with
high poverty.
Does your city have
a map-based
directory with these
features?
See this at https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive
The Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator was built between 2004 and 2008 but has not been funded
since 2011. It is now only available as an archive. However, it's a model of what should be available in
every major city in the world. Learn more at
http://tutormentorinstitute.wikidot.com/project:program-locator-database-and-survey
Pg 37

Each of these boxes represent INDUSTRIES
who need to be involved in the TMLN
Birth
Career
Family Support Youth Development
Religion,
Ethics
Arts,
Culture
A child
living in
poverty
Higher
Education
Law, Justice
Students join a
Tutor/Mentor
Program between 1st
and 12th
grade.
Technology
Finance,Insurance
Until we put names of individuals or organizations in each box, we won’t have the
leadership needed to mobilize volunteers and donors who go from an industry out to
all tutor/mentor programs in a big city like Chicago.
Science,
Engineering
Retail,
Wholesale
Health Care
Hospitality,
Entertainment
Manufacturing
Communications
Pg 38
With the help of volunteers
and structured programs,
they finish high school
With the help of
mentors, they start
jobs and careers.

When business, faith and political leaders use their visibility, advertising and
influence to encourage people to volunteer, or donate, to a tutor/mentor
program, we increase the number of volunteers and donors at every
tutor/mentor program in the Chicago area…or in any other city.
We also lower the costs for each organization to acquire these resources, and
help organizations keep leaders and key staff longer.
Pg 39

Better programs in more
places for more age groups
As a result of the previous steps,
Chicago, and other major cities,
begins to have more effective
tutor/mentor programs serving
more youth in more
neighborhoods.
Database
Building Better
Opportunities
program
Step 6: The result of Steps 1 to 5
Pg 40
Duplicate this in your city!
While this strategy has not been funded in Chicago
since 2011, it’s a template that you could use to
create your own systems of support, without starting
from the beginning.

If Step 1 to 5 are happening in every
poverty neighborhood, youth and families
will have access to more of the help they
need, better programs, and more consistent,
longer-term services.
This will begin to achieve the changes in
school performance and career preparation
that we all want:
• better attendance in school
• lower drop out rates
• less youth violence
• better academic performance
• business reports better prepared
workers
Database
Building Better
Opportunities
program
More youth stay in school, are
safe in non-school hours,
graduate, and move to careers
Step 7: The Result
Pg 41

This SUCCESS is not achieved
in one or two years.
Database
Building Better
Opportunities
program
THE RESULT
It will never be achieved without
the work done at the base of this
pyramid each year.
Step 8: Long Term
Commitment
Pg 42
Since 2011 articles on the Stanford
Social Innovation Review (SSIR) site
have been describing the organization
doing this work as a “backbone”
organization.

Visit these sites:
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com
http://www.twitter.com/tutormentorteam
https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media
Find more strategy essays at
https://tutormentorexchange.net/library
If you host a similar forum, add your
LINK to the T/MC web library.
Database
Building Better
Opportunities
program
THE RESULT
Become part of the this network of
purpose.
This is T/MC
Theory of Change
Pg 43

Tutor/Mentor Connection: A
Theory of Change proposed by
the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
“If this (initiative) is accepted and acted upon in any city, including
Chicago, it can change the way philanthropy and charities work
together in America and throughout the world. It can change the
future for millions of kids born into poverty each year.”
--Daniel F. Bassill, President of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and the Tutor/Mentor Connection
Http://www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Twitter @tutormentorteam
Create a Tutor/Mentor Connection research, learning and action
program at your university. Build from history and archives of
work done in Chicago since 1993. Ask Dan for his help.

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

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