Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in Chicago...and On-Line

[Daniel Bassill]

Thank you Connie for suggesting that I start a discussion on this forum. I lead the the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, based in Chicago.

The Cabrini Connections is a site based, non-school program that connects inner city kids with workplace volunteers. In our Success Steps we show a goal of helping these kids move from when we first connect with them in 6th, 7th or 8th grade, through school and into jobs.

I started leading this program in 1975 while I had an advertising job at the Montgomery Ward headquarters. In this job my role was to create advertising that drew customers to all 400 of our stores on a daily basis. I began to realize, I was doing the same work in my volunteer role. I was drawing kids and volunteers to our tutor/mentor program, and to INFORMATION, that they needed to know in order to build and sustain their mentoring, tutoring.

Thus, while one part of my job focuses on what we do in a tutor/mentor program, the second part is "what does it take to have programs like this in all of the places where they are most needed?"

I map my own thinking in many articles on the Tutor/Mentor Institute. I also point to thousands of others, through the links on our blogs, web library, and in forums like this.

The conference in May and November is an opportunity for some of these people to connect face to face, and for us to build public visibility that draws essential resources more directly to all of the different people who need to be involved in helping kids move through school and into jobs.

I hope you'll visit some of the links I point to, and that in this forum we can not only talk about ways to help attract speakers and participants to the Conference in Chicago, but ways we can draw people to on-line forums like this, where they learn to become active in one or more ways to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in more places where they are most needed.

One result of this might be that one or more of the people in this forum become recorders in the T/MC OHATS, documenting actions that you take which lead to better information being shared, more people involved in learning about this topic, and more volunteers and dollars flowing to different tutor/mentor programs throughout Chicago, Detroit, NYC and other cities. When more people act every day to achieve these goals we'll begin to build more opportunity in the lives of disadvantaged youth.

[Connie Weber]

Great, Daniel, wonderful stuff. Thank you for this extensively linked, informative and exciting post. Now, how about adding it to the Events section, too? (Under the tab for Events)
You're changing the world, one learning-relationship at a time. Inspiring!

[Daniel Bassill]

The event is posted on the calendar although we've not posted November details yet on the web site. We're still recruiting workshop presenters, so if you can help, please point people to us.