Issue 244
Build Learning Networks. Support Youth.
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!
www.tutormentorexchange.net
Find youth-serving programs and give them your support.
Open this concept map and use it to help you find youth serving programs in Chicago and beyond. At the left are nodes that point to sections of the Tutor/Mentor library with lists of Chicago area volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs. In the middle are nodes that point to lists of Chicago area programs on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. At the middle-right are links that point to other platforms that anyone can use to find places to volunteer and/or donate.
Note. each of my concept maps has a "can you help" node, with a link to my "Fund T/MI" page. If you value this resource please consider making a small contribution.
Network-building articles on the Tutor/Mentor blog
This graphic shows a goal of reaching K-12 kids in every high poverty area of cities like Chicago with on-going, age-specific, support that helps them move safely through school and into adult lives, with jobs that enable them to raise their own kids free of poverty.
Building such systems requires the involvement of many people, representing every sector of society. I've posted many articles since 2005 about "knowing your network" and "nudging your network" and shared mapping tools that can be used to understand "who's participating" and "who's missing". I point to many of those articles from this blog article.
Do any leaders in your community use graphics like this to show the long-term support needed by youth in many zip codes? Share the links if you have them..
Look at how leadership strategies are shared on the Tutor/Mentor website
While much of the information on the Tutor/Mentor website focuses on what volunteers and leaders in youth-serving programs can do to help kids, many of the resources focus on what leaders in business, media, entertainment, philanthropy, universities and hospitals can do to help make comprehensive, long-term, tutor, mentor and learning programs available in many locations.
This graphic shows how the "leadership strategies" link on the left side of the home page opens to show two articles. Each has links to many other resources that leaders can use to learn more ways to support youth serving programs. Each also has a link to the most recent Tutor/Mentor blog article about leadership. These ideas can be used by leaders in any part of the USA or the world.
This shows a collection of concept maps
This is an example of how concept maps can be used to share information. In this case I'm pointing to many visualizations showing how networks can be mapped to build greater understanding of who's participating. View the concept map in this article.
Youth and volunteers in organized programs could be creating their own visualizations, using the tools I point to in my blog articles and Tutor/Mentor library. Such collections should be aggregated and hosted on a local website, providing on-going ideas for solving problems and creating a better future.
Do you have a library like this? Share your links.
The Partnership for Student Success at Johns Hopkins University
This is a recent addition to the library.
The Partnership for Student Success at Johns Hopkins University supports a nationwide effort in local and state communities across the country to bring evidence-based and people-powered support to all students. This is one of many resources added in the past month to the Tutor/Mentor library. Visit the "new links added in 2025" page and scroll through the list. Each has a link to the organization's website along with a link to the page in the library where that link, and many others like it, are hosted.
The purpose of the library is to provide information that supports the decisions and innovations of people across the world who are working to help children born today be healthy adults starting jobs and careers by their mid to late 20s. Spend time browsing the various sections of the library so you know what's available.
Below are resources to use.
(I repeate many of these each month. That does not mean the information is old. These websites keep adding new resources to their own sites!)
* ForGood - a technology-enabled donor-advised fund - click here* Grantmakers for Education - click here
* Loving Cities Index 2025 - Schott Foundation Report - click here
* Campaign for Grade-Level Reading - Focus on Tutoring - click here
* City of Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard - click here for overview
* UCLA Center resources - Guide to Learning Supports pdf - click here; and, here
* Every Hour Counts - network of intermediaries building after school systems - click here
* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here
* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here
* Chicago Learning Exchange supports Out-of-School-Time community in Chicago - click here
* ACT Now - Championing Quality Afterschool Programs in Illinois - click here
* Chicago Community Area Hardship Index (2019-2023) - click here
* To & Through Project website - click here
* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here
* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here
* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here; New report - click here
* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here
* National Mentoring Resource Center - click here
* YouthToday online magazine - news for people working in youth development sector - click here
* Knowledge Alliance - research and evidence to support education policy - click here
* South Side STEM Asset maps - read about using maps - click here
* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here
* Prison Policy Initiative - click here
Most Recent Tutor/Mentor blog articles
(Do you have a blog? Share it on social media.)
Mapping Event Participation - click here
Knowledge-Based Problem Solving in Era of Government Chaos - click here
Athletes Doing Good. What's the Game Plan? - click here
What's Your Problem-Solving Process Look Like? - click here
Retaining Volunteers in Volunteer-based Tutor/Mentor Programs - click here
Building Youth Networks - click here
Reaching Youth in High Poverty Areas. Distance Matters. - click here
Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources
* Lists of Chicago area, volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs - click here
* Homework help and volunteer training resources - click here
* Resource Library - click here
* Strategy essays by Tutor/Mentor - click here
* Work done by interns in past - click here
* Maps and Map-Stories from past 30 years - click here
* Political Action resources - click here, and click here
* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here
* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here
* About T/MI articles on blog - click here
* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here
* Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here
* Reaching out to Universities to adopt the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy - click here
* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.
Thank you for reading this month's newsletter.
Please share this with people you know who work in non-school youth serving programs, or in sectors that should be strategically supporting such programs, such as business, philanthropy, education and public policy. If they are not receiving these newsletters then we have no way of engaging them. Also encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter.
I encourage others to duplicate what I'm doing. Write a blog and share your own vision, strategy and challenges. Share your link and I'll add it to this list in the Tutor/Mentor library.
View current and past newsletters at this link.
To subscribe, just Click here.
(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).
Please help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Visit this page and add your support so I can keep this information available to you and the world.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present)
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present)
Serving Chicago and the world since 1993. Connect with Dan Bassill, founder and leader on one of the social media platforms.
eMail Dan at
Social Media Connections
Do a web search for "tutor mentor" and you'll find us on many platforms.
Connect with Dan at
BlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/tutormentor.bsky.social
Dan Bassill on LinkedIn
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLCon Facebook group
Dan Bassill on Facebook Page
Dan Bassill on Mastodon - https://mastodon.social/@tutormentor1,
https://mastodon.garden/@tutormentor1 and @
Dan Bassill on Instagram and on Twitter (X)
Dan Bassill on Medium - https://medium.com/@danielfbassill