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tutormentor.bsky.social
tutormentor
@tutormentor.bsky.social
1K followers 2.9K following 1.6K posts
I collect & share ideas others can use to fight poverty & inequality & help volunteer-based tutor/mentor orgs grow in more places. Piloted since 1993 in Chicago. I have posted on social media since mid 2000s. Testing this platform now
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tutormentor.bsky.social
My latest article on Substack explains how the "carrot" represents a good idea, innovators inspired to used this idea is the "rabbit". Others who might use the idea are the "dogs" chasing the rabbit. I explain this at danielbassill319958.substack.com/p/knowledge-...
I’ve used the image of a “carrot” to represent a “good idea”. Someone who is inspired by the good work being done by others, is represented by the “rabbit” who is always looking for good ideas, or better ways to operate. In this graphic, the “rabbits” are the most aggressive innovators. The dogs, chasing the rabbit, are other organizations, who are following the example provided by “rabbits”, and trying to use the same good ideas to improve their own organizations.
December 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
This was what I wrote on the #Tutor #Mentor blog in December 2005 - 20 years ago. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2005/12/crea...
This is a December 2005 article on the Tutor/Mentor blog. It starts with "Creating a Service and Learning Organization that Mentors Kids to Careers: My 2006 Resolution" Then it says, "If you've read some of the messages I've posted to this Blog you'll see that I lead a small non profit that seeks to connect workplace volunteers with children and youth living in neighborhoods of highly concentrated poverty. Our goal is to create an organized framework that encourages volunteers to serve as tutors, mentors, coaches, advocates, friends, leaders in on-going efforts that make a life-changing difference for these kids. By life-changing, I mean that the kids will not be living in poverty when they are adults because they will have the academic, social/emotional and workplace skills needed for 21st century jobs, plus a network of adults who can and will open doors to jobs and mentor them in careers."
December 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Ten years ago this was what I wrote on the #tutor #mentor blog. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2015/12/what...
This 2015 article starts with the question, "What are all the things we need to do to help kids move from birth to work?""
December 8, 2025 at 3:45 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
In this article I shared a Child Care Systems #ConceptMap created using Kumu. mappingforjustice.blogspot.com/2025/12/usin...

I've shared uses of #maps on this blog since 2008. Does someone in your city have a similar collection, written for so many years?
This is the MappingforJustice blog hosted by Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present). In the feature article I focus on using concept maps to understand systems. The graphic is a view of a Child Care Systems map, created using Kumu.io. At the right is a map of Chicago with green icons representing volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in my library. The map is hosted on map-a-list.
December 7, 2025 at 3:25 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I've used #maps since 1994 to show where volunteer-based #tutor #mentor programs are needed & to point resource providers, parents & volunteers to existing programs in #chicago. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2023/02/what...

Does someone in your community do this?
This is the front cover of the 1995 Tutor/mentor Connection Chicago Programs Directory. It includes a map of Chicago with high poverty areas shaded. The stars on the map are locations of tutor/mentor programs that are included in the Directory.
December 6, 2025 at 3:01 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I've shared my lists of #Chicago #tutor #mentor programs since 1994. Who in your city has a similar map/list? I use this to draw attention & resources to every program. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/06/help...
Green icons on this map are locations of volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs in Chicago. This draws from a list of programs that Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) started building in 1993.
December 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Year-end giving provides needed funding for 2026 operations. This section of #tutor #mentor library points to many crowdfunding and fund raising resources. tutormentorexchange.net/resource-lin...
This is a page in the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) resource library. It shares links to crowd funding and fund raising resources. It's part of a much larger library started in the 1990s and aimed to help donors and volunteers connect more consistently and proactively to volunteer-based youth-serving organizations in high poverty areas of cities like Chicago.
November 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I point to more than 100 #Chicago area #tutor #mentor programs from tutormentorexchange.net/chicago-area...

I've picked a few to support every #GivingTuesday w small contributions. I urge others to do the same.

I support the same ones each year because I know the value of on-going support.
This shows the portion of the www.tutormentorexchange.net website where I share lists of Chicago area volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs. I point to the website of each program so others can visit and learn what they do. The list is part of a much larger range of resources aimed at helping on-going programs reach k-12 youth in high poverty areas.
November 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
The #Chicago Sun Times & WBEZ Chicago published article showing the gap in life expectancy between some neighborhoods & others, w race a factor. I wrote about it at tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/11/targ...
This is a Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC blog article that shows reports about poverty and inequality in Chicago, using maps to show where these inequities are the greatest. This map can be found on the WBEZ website.
November 24, 2025 at 10:29 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I’ve used visual essays since the 1990s to share strategies I’ve developed to help volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs grow in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other places. I'm unpacking one in this article. danielbassill319958.substack.com/p/unpacking-...
This is the cover page of a Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) visual essay titled "Building a Network of Purpose". The graphic uses a horizontal figure-8 to show how the library I've created is intended to draw "those who can help" to places where "People need help".
November 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
This graphic shows many of the challenges facing youth and families in high poverty communities. By reducing many of these challenges, kids have a better chance to move through school into jobs. See at tutormentor.blogspot.com/2020/11/help...
This graphic combines three concept maps created since 2005 by Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present). The one in the upper left shows a "commitment" needed from many leaders to help kids move through school and into jobs. The one in the lower left shows a four-part, information-based, marketing strategy intended to help youth programs reach kids in all high poverty areas of cities like Chicago. The map to the right shows that there are many challenges facing youth, families and schools in high poverty areas. These need to be reduced, while youth programs need to be expanded.
November 19, 2025 at 9:43 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Here are 2 articles on my blog with "Tips for starting and sustaining a volunteer-based #tutor #mentor program". Based on my own experiences. tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label...

Research keeps showing too few programs in #Chicago and other places.
This image shows a volunteer with a youth in a non-school tutor/mentor program. The text reads: Tips for Starting, Leading a Volunteer-Based Tutor/Mentor Program I led a volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs serving 2nd to 6th grade youth in Chicago from 1975 to 1992. Based on what I had learned from my networking with other programs in Chicago, and my 17 years working in retail advertising for the Montgomery Ward corporation, I formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) in 1993 to collect and share information that anyone can use to build personal and/organizational strategies that reach more k-12 youth living in high poverty areas and help them stay in school, stay safer in non-school hours, expand their network of adult support, and move toward graduation, advanced education and to jobs and careers.
November 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Twitter just deleted my message history and replaced it with a "chat" feature that I have to sign up for. I wish more of the people who still post on Twitter had moved to BlueSky and/or Mastodon so I could still connect with them and the information they share.
This is a view of the side bar on my Twitter home page. The "message" feature has been replaced with a "chat" feature.
November 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I think #dataviz people will love the maps created for the Global Futures Network Society. I featured them in this #Tutor #Mentor blog article. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/11/map-...
This is the GIS map view of the Global Futures Network Society's Kumu.io map. It shows the same interactions. Zoom in to see who's on the map from different continents. Try our the sort features.
November 17, 2025 at 11:03 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
There are hundreds of youth-serving programs that included volunteer-based #tutor #mentor activities in their core strategies. We need to be asking "how can we do better at helping them?" danielbassill319958.substack.com/p/tutor-ment...
This images shows a page from the Cabrini Connections-Tutor/Mentor Connection 1999 annual report. In the upper right is a hub/spoke graphic that shows how organized, volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs can connect kids living in high poverty areas with a wide range of adults who have various business and education backgrounds. This is part of an article on Substack.
November 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
This is a section of the #Tutor #Mentor library w links to articles/websites about #ConceptMaps & #Visualization. tutormentorexchange.net/resource-lin...

These are tools leaders need to teach & use.
This is the page on the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) website where I share links to articles focused on using concept maps and visualization in planning, marketing, network building and problem solving.
November 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I've more than 100 #Chicago area youth #tutor #mentor programs on lists at tutormentorexchange.net/chicago-area...

I see posts by many on LinkedIn & Instagram. I wish more would use BlueSky, too.
This is a view of the www.tutormentorexchange.net website, featuring my lists of Chicago area volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs. These are organized by sections of the city and suburbs. On the left side of the home page, under Tutor/Mentor Institute, are a progression of steps that can be used to build and sustain volunteer-based youth-serving programs in more places. At the right is our list of blogs along with mission, history and strategy.
November 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
The Tutor/Mentor Connection, which we formed in 1993, was designed to increase media stories about volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. On this page you can see some of those stories. tutormentorexchange.net/news-pr
This is a page on the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present) website that shows print media stories generated through the strategy we launched in 1993. The features story is from the Chicago Tribune, in 1995, with a headline "There is a master plan for saving our kids"
November 14, 2025 at 9:38 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Here's a good article about volunteer orientations in organized #tutor #mentor program. It's from WITSChicago, which began in the early 1990s. witschicago.org/why-orientat...

Every Sept from 1974 to 2011 I went through this process with volunteers in the programs I led.
November 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
My November #Tutor #Mentor News will be sent tomorrow. You can view the web version at tutormentorexchange.net/2025-newslet...
This is the November 2025 newsletter of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present). The heading includes photos of students and volunteers who met weekly in tutor/mentor programs I led. The text at the left reads: Every November for the past 50 years I've organized holiday events at the tutor/mentor programs I led and through the Tutor/Mentor Connection, which I formed in 1993. The goal was to build activities that supported volunteer and student engagement, that connected programs to share ideas, and to build visibility that drew donors to the fund raising campaigns of our own program, and of others throughout Chicago. It's mid November, which means volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs should already have campaigns in place The text at the right reads: While the primary focus of this newsletter and my website and blogs is to help volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs reach more youth in areas of persistent poverty, many of the sections have information that can be applied to any issue that needs support from many people, for many years. These resources can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world. Please share this so others in your city can find and use these resources!
November 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I hope you'll visit the Tutoring Chicago website at www.tutoringchicago.org and view the videos they have created to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Many show activities and interview students and volunteers from the 1975-1992 period when I led the program.
November 12, 2025 at 11:00 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I included slides from a strategic plan developed by DePaul University students in the early 2000s. This shows a vision of a University Tutor/Mentor Connection. Take a look. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/11/enga...
This is a page from a strategic plan developed in the early 2000s by students at DePaul University, and intended to be used by faculty and leaders at universities. I called it "A Vision of What's Possible". In this slide I show a "vision" of a university being the first, or second, resource that anyone in the world visits to learn about poverty and the roles volunteer tutors/mentors can take in helping children grow up safely and move through high school and college into careers."
November 12, 2025 at 10:58 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
Here's a new article on my Tutor/Mentor blog that may be of interest to #dataviz & #datavis networks. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/11/enga...

In it I point to an "Interactive Research Map" created by a team at the University of Central America in El Salvador.
In 2009 Chris Warren, a Northwestern University graduate and Public Interest Fellow at Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection, created the concept map shown here and shared it in an article titled "Mapping Northwestern University for Tutoring/Mentoring Programs".
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
#EnoughIsEnoug Do the learning. Read this at danielbassill319958.substack.com/p/enough-is-...
This is a list of actions that people can take to get involved with solving big and small problems. It uses the word ENOUGH and starts with Educate yourself.
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
tutormentor.bsky.social
I posted my #VeteransDay article. tutormentor.blogspot.com/2025/11/vete...

Thank you for your service. Too bad government does so little to honor you. Too bad racist GOP is dishonoring so many men and women who have served, and serve now.
The image says "War on Poverty-video". When you think of helping kids in poverty, do you think of battlefield images? Tomorrow the nation will once again celebrate Veterans Day, to honor all who have served in the United States military -- in wartime or peacetime, living or deceased. I've posted a Veterans Day article almost every year since starting this blog in 2005.
November 10, 2025 at 10:06 PM