THESE PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED THEIR TIME AS SPEAKERS FOR WORKSHOPS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AT THE NOVEMBER 20 AND 21 CONFERENCE.
WE THANK THEM AND OTHERS WHO ARE WORKING TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND HELP TUTOR/MENTOR PROGRAMS GROW WHERE EVER THEY ARE NEEDED.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A SPEAKER FOR A FUTURE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, EMAIL THE T/MC AT tutormentor2@earthlink.net
Adam Alonso, MSW
Mr. Alonso is the Director of Illinois MOST. Under his direction, MOST has
rolled out Competency Based Trainings of the NSACA Standards statewide. In
addition, he was instrumental in managing the pilot to develop Youth Standards
in collaboration with the Chicago Department of Human Services. Contact Adam at
alonsoa@daycareaction.org
Alumni Panel, Friday, Nov.21 --Aaron
Phillips, Sheila Woods, Na'Tasha Smith, and April Pettis.
All are alum of the Associated
Colleges of Illinois College Readiness Program, and had various other memberships
as well. Aaron was one of the original ACI Scholars (pilot group of College
Readiness) and is now a junior at Northwestern. Sheila was in Junior/Senior
Scholars and the I Have A Dream Believers Program, and is a sophomore at
Wright College. Na'tasha was part of Chicago Scholars Foundation, and is a
junior at Chicago State. April was part of College Bound, and is a junior at
North Park University.
Kathy Anderson
Ms. Anderson is the founder of Wicker Park Learning Center. She was a special
education teacher for four years prior to starting Wicker Park Learning Center
in 1989. She saw a need to start a tutoring program which targets low-income
students who need the services, but could not afford to pay the huge fees that
large corporate tutoring companies charge. The West Town community had no
tutoring organizations at that time until Kathy Anderson started Wicker Park
Learning Center there.
kandersonwp@hotmail.com
Deborah Baker
Ms. Baker is Vice President of The Chicago Mentoring Institute of Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago. The Mentoring Institute develops
partnerships with corporations and organizations to recruit, train and provide
site support to employees who spend one hour per week mentoring a child in a
school or work site setting. Additionally, the Institute provides training,
technical assistance and consulting for other non-profit organizations, as well
as an annual workshop series. Deborah has a BA in English Literature from
Swarthmore College and a MS from the School of Education and Social Policy at
Northwestern University.
Karina Ayala-Bermejo
Ms. Ayala-Bermejo is Executive Director, Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A
Hand Program of the Chicago Bar
Association (CBA). She is also Director of Community Services, for the
Chicago Bar Association (CBA). Prior to joining The CBA, Ms. Ayala-Bermejo was
an assistant attorney with the Chicago Board of Education (CBOE). She has been
active in a variety of community service activities in Chicago for over 10 years
and received the Mayor's Leadership 2000 Award. She was selected to participate
in the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Program in 2001-2002. In September of
2002, she was awarded the DePaul University College of Law Outstanding Service
as Young Alumnus. In March 2003, she was awarded the Latino Law Student
Association Distinguished Alumnus Award. Ms. Ayala-Bermejo is the President of
the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and serves as secretary for the Our
Children in the Courts Foundation.
Daniel F. Bassill
Daniel F. Bassill is president of Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor
Connection, organizer of the Leadership Conference series. Dr.. has spent more than 30 years, mostly as a volunteer,
reaching out to children and youth living in Chicago's Cabrini-Green
neighborhood. Bassill first became a tutor in 1973, then became the volunteer
leader of the Montgomery Ward/Cabrini Green Tutoring program in 1975. More than
3,500 volunteers and 3,300 children have participated in programs Bassill has
led. Some volunteers have participated for more than 10 consecutive years and
some students from first grade through high school. With six other volunteers,
Bassill formed Cabrini Connections in 1992. Learn more. Visit the
About
Cabrini Connections section of
http://www.tutormentorconnection.org and read "The Tutor/Mentor Business" by
Sara Caldwell. Contact Dan at tutormentor2@earthlink.net
Minister Lorraine Bogan
Dr. Lorraine Bogan began her ministry in 1978 implementing and directing a
youth outreach ministry at Chatham Fields Lutheran Church. In the fall of 1992,
The SAFE – SPORTS AFFECTING FUTURE EDUCATION – Haven was formed. Lorraine
began to work in the “trenches” through sports, tutoring, mentoring, and
counseling specifically for young people who display disruptive behaviors and or
participated in gangs and selling of illegal drugs. Lorraine has endured many
life threaten events, including eluding shootings from rebel gangs, single
handling breaking up gang fights, rescuing youth and parents from stabbings and
other domestic and community violence. For the past 25 years, Lorraine has
personally worked and mentored over 500 “at-risk” children and youth.
Emmy
Bright
Emmy Bright is the
School Partnerships Program Manager for the Office of Community Arts
Partnerships (OCAP) at Columbia College Chicago http://www.colum.edu/ocap
. She has worked with community based organizations and Chicago Public Schools
to develop college readiness, youth development, arts and after school programs
for youth, parents and teachers in North Lawndale, West Garfield Park,
Washington Park and the Grand Boulevard Neighborhoods. E-mail:
ebright@colum.edu
Thom
Clark
Mr.
Clark is
co-founder and president of the Community Media Workshop. Since 1989 the
non-profit Workshop has trained over 1,500 nonprofit organizations to use media
more effectively. The Workshop operates an extensive internet site for
journalists and community activists www.newstips.org.
and publishes a comprehensive media guide, Getting
On The Air & Into Print : A
Citizen’s Guide to Chicago-Area Media and a Newstips sheet for
Chicago-area reporters, editors and producers.
Clark also teaches in the graduate journalism program at Columbia College
Chicago, where the Workshop is housed.
Clark is producer and host of the weekly Community,
Media & You on Chicago cable channel 21 and for nine years has been a
rotating host on WNUA-FM’s City Voices
Paul Collins
Mr. Collins, of Jordan-Webb, Chicago, Illinois, has been an independent
consultant since 1981. Since 1989, his company has focused on facilitating
collaborative work groups and helping clients deploy tools that support group
facilitation, collaboration and decision making. Mr. Collins facilitation style
would be described as empowering and leading without directing, and making
sessions highly productive and fun.
Mr. Collins is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Midwest Facilitators' Network (MFN), where he is a co‑founder, director and webmaster. Mr. Collin's client experience in the corporate, government, academic and not-for-profit sectors, has included: National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), GATX Corporation, Mc Donald's Corporation, Motorola, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), BP Amoco Corporation and Graduate Business Schools at the University of Chicago, Loyola University, De Paul University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois Benedictine University and the University of Wisconsin (Madison). http://jordan-webb.net
William R. Conrad, Jr
Mr. Conrad is President of the Institute For Voluntary Organizations (IFVO).
He founded IFVO in 1975. He has provided effective consultations and workshops
throughout the United State and Canada. He has written 23 monographs on
nonprofit Leadership and Management. Ohio University press has just published
the 3rd edition of his popular book, "The Effective Voluntary Boards of
Directors: What it is and How it works".
www.ifvo.org
Kate Cusack
Kate Cusack, the Volunteer Admissions Director, has been at Metro since her graduation from the University of Dallas. She is responsible for
both student and volunteer recruitment.
http://www.midtown.org Email:
kcusack@midtown-metro.org
Latesha Dickerson
Ms. Dickerson is a Middle School Math & Science teacher at the Academy
of Communications and Technology Charter School (A.C.T.) where she has served
on the school leadership team and as the Math/Science Department Chair. Having
earned National Board Certification, she provides mentoring to new teachers
and professional development for her colleagues at the school. She is the
founder and Executive Director of "Akoma Educational Services" which
provides schools with technical assistance and professional development in
designing student centered educational programs. This organization also works
directly with youth, allowing them to develop their voice and to foster
relationships across social, cultural and economic lines.
David DuBois, PhD, University of Illinois at
Chicago
Dr. DuBois is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. He received a Ph.D. degree in
clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and is a licensed clinical psychologist. He has published
several research articles on mentoring programs for youth. In one of his most
recent studies, Dr. DuBois identified best practices for youth mentoring
programs based on a review of evaluations of existing programs. He also has
written about his own experiences as a volunteer Big Brother. Currently, Dr.
DuBois is co-editing a comprehensive Handbook of Youth Mentoring. Contact David
DuBois at dldubois@uic.edu
Mark Duhon
A native of Akron, Ohio, Mr. Duhon graduated in 1988 from Ohio State
University. He lived in New York City and worked in a soup kitchen before moving
to Chicago to work for the University of Chicago. He began volunteering as a
second grade tutor at St. Joseph's Elementary School and became chairman of its
school board. In the spring of 1992, armed with a lot of heart and a few loft
ideas about providing access to educational opportunities for the children of
St. Joseph's and Chicago's inner-city, Mr. Duhon helped found HighSight.
www.HighSight.org
Jan Fitzsimmons and Team Leaders
Ms. Fitzsimmons is the program administrator for the North Central College
Junior/Senior Scholars Program, a fifteen year old college readiness program
that works with students from age 6 to 18. Jan is also an instructor at NCC and
the curriculum coordinator for the Associated Colleges of Illinois College
Readiness and Teacher Education Initiatives. The presenters include the team
leaders from the many facets of the North Central College Junior/Senior Scholars
Program. Email Jan at
jcfitzsimmons@noctrl.edu. Team leaders assisting in the presentation
will be Danielle Bank, Rachel Harden, Lara Levine, Erin Sackett and Becky
Hoffman.
Gary Goldman
Mr. Goldman is a nationally recognized leader in education reform and youth
empowerment, and he is the author of the book "Empowering Students to Transform
Schools". As President and Founder of the non-profit International Quality
Leadership Institute. Mr. Goldman has taken his message of harnessing the power
of a generation of young people across the country. Mr. Goldman is currently
involved in several city-wide youth/adult initiatives in Indian and Ohio and
with empowering disabled students in workforce development in Chicago. He is
also working on a national youth empowerment movement and youth/community development. Mr. Goldman has been featured in the
media including CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN and hosted his own weekly Chicago radio show,
Champions of our Children. www.iqli.com
Michael G. Hanlon
Michael is Director of Legacy Creators, LLC. Most
recently, Michael served as Campaign Director on behalf of Archbishop Harry J.
Flynn for the Archdiocese of St. Paul / Minneapolis while working with CCS Fund
Raising. The Growing in Faith Campaign, the nations fourth
largest diocesan campaign, raised more than $115 million while reaching nearly
775,000 families. In addition, he
played a key role in the success of Today’s Gift…Tomorrow’s Hope
Campaign, a $20,000,000 endowment campaign benefiting the Diocese of Des
Moines. After earning a Bachelor of Science in
Communication Studies from Northwestern University in 1997, Michael served one
year with Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Portland, Oregon. Contact Michael at
michael@legacycreators.com
Sharon Hefferan
Sharon Hefferan, Director of the Metro Achievement Center for girls, has been
working with tutoring programs for fifteen years. Originally from Connecticut,
she graduated from Georgetown and then received her MBA from Iona College.
http://www.midtown.org
Brenda L. Jackson
Ms. Jackson is Director, Pre-College Programs for Greenville College in
Greenville, Illinois. Ms. Jackson grew up in Canada and Illinois. From
1970 to 2000 she and her husband did church related work in East Africa. She
graduated from the University of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1995, with a degree in
Special Education/Regular Education, and taught in the St. Louis City Public
Schools. Prior to her present position, she directed an urban family
support center in St. Louis. http://www.greenville.edu
Contact Brenda at brenda.jackson@greenville.edu
Thomas Keller, Ph.D., University of Chicago
Dr. Keller is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Service
Administration at the University of Chicago and a Faculty Associate with the
Chapin Hall Center for Children. He earned his Ph.D. in social welfare at
the University of Washington. Dr. Keller¹s research focuses on the
development and influence of children¹s relationships with non-parental adults.
He currently is conducting a study of school-based mentoring in collaboration
with Chicago Public Schools and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Chicago.
He worked for several years with a Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate in Seattle
as a case manager, supervisor, and program director.
Contact Thomas Keller at
tkeller@midway.uchicago.edu
P. Kenneth Komoski
Mr. Komoski is Executive Editor of www.eLearningspace.org.
eLearning
Space was developed by the nonprofit EPIE Institute’s Smart Families Project,
with support by the United States Department of Education, Cisco Learning
Institute, and W.R. Hearst Foundations. Its pilot testing is being carried out
with the cooperation of school and community projects in Long Island and New
York City, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Oakland. Most pilot communities are
affiliated with LINCT Coalition ‘learn and earn’ programs, through which
thousands of low-income families have learned and earned home computers and
connectivity. EPIE Institute is a founding member and the Managing Partner of
LINCT Coalition.
The goal for eLearningSpace is to help learners, teachers, parents, and mentors create a unique place for learning and earning on the Web. By using, sharing and evaluating the usefulness of the eLearning resources available at eLearningSpace youth can learn things they need to know to do well at school, and they can also earn things they want to own. Things like CDs, computer software, brand-name apparel, etc., plus things of more lasting value; U.S Savings Bonds and tuition credits toward college. Learn more at www.elearningspace.org or contact Ken at kkomoski@epie.org
Jean Linsner & Jen Masengarb
Director of Youth Education & Education programs Specialist, Chicago
Architecture Foundation.
Jean Linsner and Jen Masengarb are educators with the Chicago Architecture
Foundation and co-authors for CAF’s resource book for teachers, Schoolyards
to Skylines. www.architecture.org
e-mail:
jlinsner@architecture.org
Mary Mahan-Deatherage
Mary is the Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sauk Valley. Her
role in BBBS is to publicize, promote and market the program to the community as
well as direct the day to day operations of the program. Fundraising, workshops
and community recruitment are all part of her role as well. Mary's
background is in the field of marketing and journalism. She has a BA in
Journal/Advertising Graphic Design from Northern Illinois University and is
currently working toward an MBA from the University of Iowa. She is currently on
the Advisory Council for Community Coordinated Child Care in Dekalb, Illinois
which is an advocacy organization for day care providers and families needing
child care. She is also an executive director of the Dixon Area Pigtail League
which organizes fastpitch softball teams for girls ages 6 to 16. Mary
lives in Dixon, Illinois with her husband and two children.
Lisa McCoy
Lisa McCoy will be talking about Mentoring in Australia. Lisa is a Team
Leader with St.Luke's in the Children and Family Services area. She has been
involved in mentoring since 1992 when she worked as a caseworker for Big Sisters
while living in Canada. Lisa became aware of the need for mentoring where she
lived in rural Australia through her work with families and adolescents. As
there were no mentoring programs running, Lisa developed and implemented
mentoring programs through 2 local schools. The programs supported students to
build skills, self-esteem, and discover their strengths. Email list at l.mccoy@stlukes.org.au
Mary McNulty
Mary McNulty, a writer and editor, was elected president of the Gender
Equity Fund, a 501 (c) (3) organization, in September 2001. She guides the
day-to-day operations of the organization, researches and writes grant
proposals, develops fundraising initiatives, and forms partnerships with other
organizations in Chicago's non-profit community. McNulty represents the Gender
Equity Fund on the steering committee of the Chicago Girls Coalition, a
community collaborative committed to expanding resources and strengthening
support for girls. She has been a member of the American Association of
University Women since 1994 and served as president of the Batavia-Geneva-St.
Charles branch from 2000 to 2002. McNulty holds a BA in sociology from
Washington College and studied journalism at Northern Illinois University. In
addition to writing for magazines, newspapers, and book publishers, she works as
a part-time grant writer for the Executive Service Corps of Chicago, a nonprofit
that helps other nonprofits, schools, and governments improve their performance.
http://www.aauw-il.org/equity/
Ed Mulvaney
Ed is currently the Mayor of Rock Falls and Program Coordinator for Big
Brothers Big Sisters of the Sauk Valley (serving Whiteside and Lee Counties).
He recently ( 2 years ago) retired from 32 years teaching high school
English/Reading, first in suburban Cook County (Bremen HS - District 228) for 4
years and 28 years at Rock Falls High School, Rock Falls, IL. Ed is a US
Army, Vietnam veteran, member of local American Legion and VFW posts. Past
president of Sauk Valley Reading Council, former member of the Illinois Rural
Bond Bank. He has a BA and MA from DePaul University in English and a Masters in
Pastoral Studies from Loyola University (New Orleans). He is also a charter
member of the Rock Falls Community Development Corporation and Executive Board
member. Ed has been married for 32 years, two grown children and one grandson.
Andrea M. Payne
Ms.Payne is the founder and Executive Director of Families of Incarcerated
Individuals, Inc., a non-profit agency founded in 1989, which works with the
children and families of those incarcerated. This organization is based in
Memphis, Tennessee. The Program also includes Project Aware Mentoring Program
that is funded by the US Department of Education. Email:
fiil300@aol.com
Steve Roussos, Ph.D., Akouo, Inc.
Dr. Roussos is a research and evaluation scientist and trainer for community
organizations and initiatives. He specializes in applied evaluation and research
through which measurement and results are used to directly improve program
performance and impact. His focus is on helping volunteer-based initiatives to
improve community health and development. Mr. Roussos is the founder and a lead
scientist of Akouo (www.akouo.org), an organization that serves the research and
knowledge management needs of community initiatives. Mr. Roussos has been
providing workshops at the Tutor/Mentor Conference since 1998.
www.akouo.org
Shary Rubin
Shary Rubin is the Project Coordinator for the Beck Literacy
Initiative. She is a full-time Ph.D student at the University of Illinois
at Chicago in the Policy Studies in Urban Education and has extensive experience
as a tutor. Email her for FREE copies of the Tutoring pamphlet at srubin@uic.edu
Aimee Sherman
Aimee Sherman is the Los Angeles eBus Program Manager for The Community
College Foundation. The eBus is a mobile technology lab that provides free
computer/Internet service to low-income and rural populations, serving
non-profit organizations in Los Angeles County through funding sponsorships of
private corporations. Aimee has a BA in Communications and is nearing completion
of her MBA and Masters of Public Administration. Aimee has a great deal of
experience with the Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference, having previously served
as Conference Coordinator for the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Contact Aimee at
asherman@communitycollege.org
Marcus Spencer
Probation Officer, Mentoring Network for Juvenile Court Wards, Circuit Court
of Cook County, Juvenile Justice Department. Contact at
marcusgspencer@hotmail.com
Cheryl Temple
Cheryl Temple, director of the Gender Equity Fund (GEF) Speakers Bureau,
trains and coordinates the efforts of all workshop speakers and is the project
director for the development of new workshop topics. She also edits the What's
Working for Girls in Illinois, the GEF's online newsletter that highlights
strategies that have improved girls' performance in the classroom. Before
joining the Gender Equity Fund, Temple worked in the education and marketing
department of the Chicago Board of Trade as an electronic trading instructor.
Temple holds a BA in English education from Chicago State University and a MA in
English from Northern Illinois University. She has taught all levels including
elementary, middle and high school, and adult/college level students at the
College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. A member of the American Association
of University Women (AAUW) since 1980, Temple has held local and state AAUW
board positions, including program vice president of AAUW-IL, Inc., (1993-1995)
and president of the Wheaton-Glen Ellyn branch (1998-2000).
http://www.aauw-il.org/equity/
Renee Tucker
Renee Tucker is an Illinois Certified Social Worker. She received a Master's
of Social Work from Jane Addams School of Social Work of the University of
Illinois at Chicago, and a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology from DePaul
University.
Renee is the Program Director of The Associated Colleges of Illinois' College Readiness Program, a preparatory program for high school students throughout Illinois. In previous positions, Renee worked as the Program Director for the I Have a Dream Foundation of Chicago, a tutoring and mentoring program, and Program Manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago. Renee continues to be involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a member of the Program Committee of the Board of Directors. She is also responsible for establishing the first school based mentoring program in Oak Park, Illinois, and has provide training at local conferences, health fairs and to individual organizations.
Practicing what she preaches, Renee is a tutor with High Sight scholarship program, is a volunteer dance instructor at Roosevelt High School in Chicago, and has mentored a "Little Sister" since 1994. Renee is one of the veteran's of the Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference, having attended and served as a volunteer leader and organizer since the 2nd conference in November of 1994. Contact Renee at renee.tucker@acifund.org
Jenny Volpe
Ms. Volpe has been a classroom teacher/teaching assistant/tutor in several
Chicago and Baltimore innercity public schools since 1998. She was a Teach for
America volunteer for two years and earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching from The Johns Hopkins University in May of 2001. She became a part time
coordinator for the Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program (www.cabriniconnections.net)
in June 2003. Her experiences as a teacher and an organizer of a volunteer-based
program give her a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities that
tutor/mentor programs offer. She is working with the Tutor/Mentor Connection
(T/MC) to develop curriculum that tutor/mentor leaders might use to guide their
own actions. Ms. Volpe received her BA from the University of Chicago in 1998.
Contact Jenny at
jvolpe@cabriniconnections.net
Sharon Williams
Ms. Williams is the Assistant Director of Families of Incarcerated
Individuals, Inc. She has a BS in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and
a Masters in Environmental Management from Mississippi Valley State University.
Ms. Williams has been instrumental in developing and coordinating programs and
acting as a liaison between the prison administration and the community. She
also works with the families of those incarcerated, offering a ray of hope to
help them make it through their difficult times of adjusting to separation.
Cindy Yang
Cindy Diehl Yang is a vice president with the Associated Colleges of
Illinois (ACI) responsible for ACI's fund raising
activities, program development, and program administration. http://www.acifund.org