Introduction To Tutor/Mentor Connection, University of Iowa Education Conference, April 2010

Understanding the Availability and Supporting the Growth
of Dropout Prevention Programs in a Geographic Area: the

Tutor/Mentor Connection Model
By Daniel F. Bassill, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/library
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net
TIPPING POINTS
What are some of the
actions that could
dramatically change
the availability and
impact of programs
helping youth born in
an inner-city
neighborhood be in a
This mentor and student were connected job and starting a
to each other for more than 8 years. What
strategies and actions need to be career by age 25?
developed so that thousands of matches
like this are connecting youth in poverty
neighborhoods with adult mentors and
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
learning beyond poverty? http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Tutormentor2@earthlink.net
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 2

What this presentation includes:
Instead of focusing on specific programs, I focus on
strategies that are needed to make high quality tutor,
mentor and learning programs available in many
places throughout a city and for many years
•What are goals of T/MC – mission, vision

• Throughout this presentation I’ll show uses
of mapping and other visualization tools.
DISCUSSION: How does (could) T/MC offer a vehicle for

connecting, not just mentoring programs, but programs and
organizations that support healthy youth development more
generally, in your own communities?
•It’s on the web at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/library

Pg. 3
This has been a 50 year journey.
(and it’s not over yet)
I became volunteer in 1973;
leader of the tutoring
program in 1975. By 1990 we
had 300 pairs of kids and
volunteers meeting weekly at
the Wards HQ in Chicago.
Left company in 1990;

President, Founder of Cabrini
Connections in 1992; Created
Tutor/Mentor Connection, in
1993
Dan & Leo
Circa 1974 Created Tutor/Mentor Leo Today
Institute, LLC in July 2011 to
expand support for
Tutor/Mentor Connection in
Chicago and help similar
groups grow in other cities.
Pg. 4
Lessons Learned:
• How to apply mass
communications, advertising
concepts.
• How to use computers and

technology for program
management; evaluation
• How to connect youth and

volunteers in non-school
Helping kids from early grades .. tutor/mentor program
• Importance of mapping and

visualization strategies
• Mentoring is a strategy to expand

the number of people working to
help kids grow up
Into adult lives and responsibilities. Pg. 5

Kids living in inner-city poverty face
challenges that most kids do not have.
Tutor/Mentor Programs can provide extra adult support, hope
and opportunity for youth in many of these neighborhoods…if
they are available
• The pink and blue areas of this map are areas
where poverty concentrations are 20% or
higher
• The flags are locations of schools where more

than half of the students fail to meet state
standards on reading, writing or both
• In Chicago more than 40% of youth drop out

of high school before graduation
• Visit the Research Links at

https://tinyurl.com/TMIL-EducationResearch
and you can learn more about how poverty is
an environmental disadvantage and how some
organizations are using tutoring/mentoring to
help youth stay in school and move to careers
Pg 6
Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection 1993-2011
Collective Effort
What might we accomplish working
toward shared goals that we cannot do “Maurice has
“Cabrini
Connections
when working alone? his GED and
now works in
played a major construction...
role in my life ”
during my high
school years.”
Pg. 7
If a single program is valuable in one neighborhood, what can a city do to
make similar programs available in all high poverty neighborhoods?
Chicago In 1993 no one had a

master database of all
Cabrini
volunteer-based, non-
Tutor/Mentor Connections school
Connection serves teens in
helps programs the Cabrini- tutoring/mentoring
Green area of
like Cabrini
Connections Chicago. programs in Chicago.
grow in every
poverty area of Dan Bassill led
this program
the city and
suburbs from 1993 to And there was no
2011.
consistent marketing
Now led by
Tutor/Mentor drawing volunteers and
Institute, LLC.
donors to all of the
programs in the city.
We decided to fill that

void.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg. 8

Created
Tutor/Mentor
Connection
in 1993
• Our aim was to create a master database of all tutor/mentor programs in the city
• Then to increase the number of media stories talking about tutoring/mentoring, in

order to draw more consistent volunteer and donor support to every program.
• So each program would be more able to innovate ways to connect inner city youth with
adults who will act as tutors, mentors, coaches, advocates and friends … and that many of
these adults to stay involved in the lives of kids for many years.
• The long term goal is that these programs help K-12 youth finish high school and that
the 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.
This article was written in 1995 … read the article at

http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/tribune5_15_1995.pdf
Pg. 9
We asked these questions
daily:
What will it take to assure

that all youth born in
poverty areas are entering
careers by age 25?
What does it take to make

mentor-rich programs
available to more youth, in
more places?
Pg. 10
These are just a few of the questions that need to be
answered in Chicago, and in most other communities:
How do we help good tutor & mentor 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 11
How do we get individuals, and teams
of people from colleges, business,
media, education, arts, etc. thinking
about this every day?
How do we connect those who are already

deliberating and discussing these questions in ways
that share knowledge and good ideas and encourage
others to be involved?
Pg 12
These are some of the questions.
We don’t claim to know the answers.
However, we believe that by

aggregating information, we help
others think through these
questions and find their own
answers.

WHAT ARE MAIN COMPONENTS OF
the Tutor/Mentor Connection?
The following slides show the
steps we’ve taken to create this
network.
I'm Dan Bassill. When myself and six other volunteers decided to create the Tutor/Mentor
Connection in 1993 we did not have a guidebook to follow. We also had no money invested to
support us. We built the T/MC from 1993 to 2011 based on what we saw as a need, what we
learned from our work, and from others, and with what resources we could find each year. We did
this while leading a site based tutor/mentor program that enrolled 80 pairs of teens and volunteers
each year from 1998 to 2011.
By 1998 we had developed a calendar of events, a public awareness strategy, and a growing
database of people to share ideas with and to invite to conferences we hosted in Chicago. As we
put this on the Internet in the late 1990s we expanded our reach and our knowledge and built
creative portals to share information.
Since 2011 I've not had resources to support my efforts so much of what we built is not longer
active.. However, the need is still present, in Chicago and in other cities, and the T/MC now is a
template that others can use in building their own intermediary strategy.
Pg 14
FOUR-PART STRATEGY: A mentoring-to-career strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection
The Tutor/Mentor
Connection focuses on
four on-going
strategies
Resource
Generation
Collaboration,
shared learning
Public
Awareness
Research
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Pg 15
Step 1: Build and Maintain knowledge base
Information Collection
Prior to 1993, no organization
was attempting to maintain a
comprehensive database of non-
school tutor/mentor programs.
The T/MC database now includes lists

of most volunteer-based tutor/mentor
programs in the Chicago area, as well
as links to
* Research,
* Capacity-building information,
Database * Homework help
(see Program Locator at
www.tutormentorexchange.net
* Collaboration & Innovation resources.
Pg 16
RESEARCH – knowing all we can about tutoring/mentoring
Chicago Area Program Locator https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorSearch
A printed directory
shared Chicago
program
information from
1994 to 2011. This
search page was
built in 2004.
This now is an
archive, but serves
as a template for
others to use in
building a similar
resource.
Pg 17
The programs in this
search show up on a
Google map. Info for
each program is shown
below the map, based
on what T/MC has
received from each
organization.
This now is an
archive, but serves
as a template for
others to use in
building a similar
resource.
Pg 18
Interactive Zip Code Search Map – was built in 2008
Due to lack of funding it has been inactive since 2018
Instead of using the chart

to search for programs, this
platform showed all
programs in our database.
You could zoom into any

part of the map to see what
programs were in that
area. You could also sort
by type of program, or age
group served, and get a
map view showing only
those programs.
The tabs show l
ayers of information. Use as a template for
building your own platform.
The Program Locator is now an archive: https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive
Pg 19
Click on tabs
And find links
To external sites
The Tutor/Mentor Library contains a wide range of information

anyone can use to develop tutor/mentor program support
systems. See this concept map at
http://tinyurl.com/T-MC-Library
Pg 20
Step 2: Volunteer Mobilization: Public Awareness
Because the T/MC maintains a

database with contact
information for most tutor/mentor
programs in Chicago…
a) The T/MC is able to lead advertising and
public education efforts that recruit
volunteers and donors for more than 150
other programs throughout the Chicago
region.
Volunteer Mobilization b) The T/MC web site is a portal that can be

used by anyone in the Chicago region to
Database find information about existing tutoring
and/or mentoring programs
This information is now at

www.tutormentorexchange.net
Pg 21
While we link to more than 2,000 organizations
on Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC sites...
programs
INDIANA
programs
ideas
CHICAGO
resources
ideas
resources programs
NYC
ideas
resources
…each site we link to, links to even more sites. It’s a vast
information network, if we connect with each other in more ways
than web links.
Pg 22
Creating Learning Circles
This is one of many
graphics created by
interns working with
Tutor/Mentor Connection
and Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC between 2006 and
2015.
Youth in high schools and

colleges in many places
could be doing similar
work.
View intern work at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/definition-of-issues/ideasanimation/intern-strategies
Pg. 23
See this article at https://tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/chitribune12_30_1994.pdf
Using the same advertising principles that corporations use to

create awareness and draw customers to stores, T/MC created
a strategy that seeks to
• reach more people every day, and

• draw them to on-line learning sites,
• then to maps,
• then to websites of tutor/mentor programs in specific zip codes.
• where they learn how they can volunteer, donate, or get their kids
involved, based on information provided by each organization.
Pg 24
Step. 3 A successful collaboration or partnership is built on
trust and mutual self-interest.
The T/MC created an annual sequence of

capacity-building events that drew more
than 150 programs together for regular
knowledge sharing, resource building.
These actions are essential for building

trust and relationships.
Without the regular invitations from the

Building a network of
T/MC, and the constant information sharing,
tutor/mentor leaders most organizations would remain isolated
from each other. Without the database,
Volunteer Mobilization
we’re not inviting all of the programs to
Database come together.
View Tutor/Mentor event calendar:

https://tutormentorexchange.net/planning-strategies/52-calendar-of-activities
Pg 25
This strategy aimed to have more leaders in the Chicago region taking roles
that raise the level of volunteers, operating dollars and other needed resources
for all tutor/mentor programs in the city and suburbs. Pg 26

Step 4: Information sharing results….
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….
Building Better
Understanding of Needs, T/MC seeks to create a better
Opportunities understanding of what works, who/how
Building a network of many are being served, where
tutor/mentor leaders
programs are needed, and what it takes
Volunteer Mobilization to help good programs be in every
Database
place where they are needed.
Build a similar strategy in your

community.
Pg 27
We can connect in deeper thinking, with more of the
same people involved more often if we use on-line
tools for collaboration and innovation.
The T/MC made a commitment

to an Internet strategy in early
2000s with the goal of
connecting people and ideas
from many places with greater
frequency than is possible with
face-to-face events.
Find Dan Bassill on many social

media platforms.
https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-
media
This is one tool we’ve found where all of us can share our ideas about helping kids to careers.
http://debategraph.org/mentoring_kids_to_careers
Pg 28
Step 5: Actions that increase flow of resources
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

Actions that increase the programs generate greater impact than
flow of resources to each most programs could generate by
program themselves.
Building Better
Understanding of Needs, This is intended to draw volunteers, dollars,
Opportunities public attention, technology and training
Building a network of directly to tutor/mentor programs in every
tutor/mentor leaders neighborhood.
Volunteer Mobilization
Without a steady flow of these resources no
Database
program can succeed.
Pg 29
All youth serving programs have same needs.
Not all are equally able to get them.
Each program needs these

Chicago resources every day, in
area every neighborhood:
* volunteers
* public visibility
* operating dollars
The shaded * technology
areas of this
map of
Chicago are
* training/learning
the areas of
most * leadership
concentrated
poverty.
Create a similar map/directory for your community.
Pg 30

This focus on drawing funds directly to every program is what
makes the Tutor/Mentor Connection a unique strategy.
To influence “Birth
to Work” we must
influence the flow
of operating
dollars.
Pg. 31
WHY SHOULD BUSINESS
To SUCCEED
TAKE THIS ROLE? We must recruit business
leaders who will use their
resources in PULLING
Read: R&D for Business Support: Youth to Careers
https://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/
2015/01/r-for-business-support-of-tutormentor.html
School-Time Programs
High Career
Pre-K K - 5th 5th - 6th 6th - 8th
School Track
3-5 PM Non-School Programs After 5 PM and Weekend Programs
To SUCCEED View Strategic investment by Business concept map

We must help tutor/mentor - http://tinyurl.com/TMI-WhyShouldBusinessInvest
program leaders, volunteers,
schools and parents be more
effective in PUSHING Then Read Role of leaders -
Youth to Careers http://tinyurl.com/TMI-RoleOfLeaders
Pg 32
As volunteers bond with kids many become leaders who recruit more volunteers
and other resources from their industry, faith group, and social network
Technology Arts, Culture.

Communications
Religion Government
Insurance Education
Healthcare
Science,
Hospitality
Math
Recreation Engineering
Natural Resources
Recruit volunteers, and
Agriculture donors, from all industries. Manufacturing
Transportation
Finance, Personal & Built environment Retailing

Business Services Engineering Wholesaling
Pg 33
The Result -- After Many Years…
More youth stay in school, are
safe in non-school hours, If Step 1 to 5 are happening in every
graduate, and move to careers poverty neighborhood, youth and families
will have access to more of the help they
Better programs in more
need, better programs, and more consistent,
places for more age groups longer-term services.
Actions that increase the This will begin to achieve the changes in
flow of resources to each
program
school performance and career preparation
that we all want:
Building Better
Understanding of Needs,
Opportunities • better attendance in school
Building a network of • lower drop out rates
tutor/mentor leaders
• less youth violence
Volunteer Mobilization • better academic performance
Database
• business reports better prepared
workers
Pg 34
Any organization can take on this
intermediary role…even youth in local high
schools and colleges.
TUTORMENTOR
INSTITUTE, LLC
Pg. 35
Recruit leaders who will put their
name/logo in the blue box on this map.
View at http://tinyurl.com/tmc-strategy-map
Pg. 36
Importance of Maps and Visualization
Pictures worth “1000 words”

Creative uses of information visualization,
maps, video, animation
Strategies that mobilize public/private
sector resources in specific zip codes
Focus on distribution of resources needed to
operate effective programs in many places.

Every city with concentrated poverty needs a strategy like Tutor/Mentor
Connection has piloted. Don't “reinvent the wheel”. Learn from our history.
View map at https://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/2022/09/neighborhoods-of-concentrated-poverty.html

Examples of information visualization – ROLES OF INTERNS
This shows how idea is first visualized in power point and posted on a blog
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/10/transforming-adults-involved-in.html
This video shows how intern

converted the blog article graphic
into a flash animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=C0ieJRBrk_I&t=3s Students in your community
could do the same work.
Pg. 39
New ways of showing value of volunteer-based
tutor/mentor programs:
Social Capital and Network Analysis
Understanding the T/MC network, and our
impact on bringing people together has
always been a challenge. Understanding
how tutor/mentor programs expand
networks for youth has also been a
challenge.
Social Capital research has grown in the

past decade. Read articles at
https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/lab
el/social%20capital%201.
Imagine if we could map network of youth,

or volunteers, when they join a program,
then show changes over time?
INTERNS COULD BE DOING THIS WORK
Use this 2010 discussion on Ning to spur

your own thinking about this -
http://tinyurl.com/TMC-youthSNAmap
Pg. 40
Duplicate this strategy! Make the T/MC library part of your library.
This interpretation of the T/MC's 4-part strategy map was created by an intern
View at http://tinyurl.com/TMI-4-Pt-Strategy
Pg 41
It works. If done right. But it's a long-term process.
Many of the youth and volunteers who were part of programs I led from 1975 to
2011 are connections on Facebook. I see them posting stories of their own kids
finishing high school or college.
That's the good news. I also see many who still struggle with the challenges
and violence of big city poverty. They city still has no comprehensive, long-
term strategy to make these programs available to more youth, in more places.
What about your city?

Pg 42
Find Me on Social Media
“Haven't you had ENOUGH?”
• Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute
• Twitter @tutormentorteam
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tutormentor/
• Social media sites:
https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media
• Blog – http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
• Mapping blog – http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
• Email – tutormentor2@earthlink.net
• Find this presentation on

http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/library
Pg. 43
Tutor/Mentor Institute: A Theory of Change
proposed by the Tutor/Mentor Connection
“If this (initiative) is accepted and acted upon, 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. Invite Tutor/Mentor Institute to be your
guide to understanding and applying these ideas.”
--Daniel F. Bassill,
President of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and the Tutor/Mentor Connection
Let's connect: http://www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net

Introduction To Tutor/Mentor Connection, University of Iowa Education Conference, April 2010

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Introduction To Tutor/Mentor Connection, University of Iowa Education Conference, April 2010

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Understanding the Availability and Supporting the Growth

of Dropout Prevention Programs in a Geographic Area: the

By Daniel F. Bassill, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 2

•What are goals of T/MC – mission, vision

DISCUSSION: How does (could) T/MC offer a vehicle for

•It’s on the web at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/library

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net

Left company in 1990;

• How to use computers and

• How to connect youth and

• Importance of mapping and

• Mentoring is a strategy to expand

Into adult lives and responsibilities. Pg. 5

• The flags are locations of schools where more

• In Chicago more than 40% of youth drop out

• Visit the Research Links at

Chicago In 1993 no one had a

We decided to fill that

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg. 8

• Then to increase the number of media stories talking about tutoring/mentoring, in

This article was written in 1995 … read the article at

What will it take to assure

What does it take to make

How do we help good tutor & mentor programs

How do we help each program have effective,

How do we increase the number of volunteers

How do we connect those who are already

However, we believe that by

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg. 13

The T/MC database now includes lists

Instead of using the chart

You could zoom into any

The Program Locator is now an archive: https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive

The Tutor/Mentor Library contains a wide range of information

Because the T/MC maintains a

Volunteer Mobilization b) The T/MC web site is a portal that can be

This information is now at

Youth in high schools and

Using the same advertising principles that corporations use to

• reach more people every day, and

The T/MC created an annual sequence of

These actions are essential for building

Without the regular invitations from the

View Tutor/Mentor event calendar:

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net

By bringing programs together on a

Build a similar strategy in your

The T/MC made a commitment

Find Dan Bassill on many social

By working as a group, T/MC helps

Each program needs these

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net

3-5 PM Non-School Programs After 5 PM and Weekend Programs

To SUCCEED View Strategic investment by Business concept map

Technology Arts, Culture.

Finance, Personal & Built environment Retailing

Pictures worth “1000 words”

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg. 37

View map at https://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/2022/09/neighborhoods-of-concentrated-poverty.html

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg. 38

This video shows how intern

Social Capital research has grown in the