Building Consulting Practice
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In 35 years leading a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program I helped create three of the most respected volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in Chicago, as

* Volunteer Director of the Montgomery Ward-Cabrini Green Tutoring Program from 1975-1990. Program grew from 100 to 300 pairs of teens and volunteers
* Executive Director of Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Inc. from 1990 till October 1992. Number of youth grew to 440 and the number of volunteers grew to 550.
* Founder and president of Cabrini Connections from 1993-2011. The program started in 1993 with five teens and 7 volunteers and enrolled more than 600 teens and 800 volunteers in the next 18 years

I helped grow the Lawyers Lend A Hand to Youth Program ([www.lendahand.org www.lendahand.org]) from a $2k award in 1994 to a $2 million foundation in 2007, as

* I was a non-profit partner and founding member of Executive Committee of the Lend A Hand Program from 1994 to 2001 while it operated as part of the Chicago Bar Foundation
* I was a member of the Executive Board of SunTimes Marovitz Lawyers Lend A Hand to Youth Program from its founding in 2001 through 2008

I created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 as part of the Cabrini Connections organization’s strategic plan, with a goal of helping high-quality tutor/mentor programs reach more youth in all poverty areas of Chicago. Today the T/MC is a resource used by people in Chicago and throughout the world.

With no professional fund raising staff, limited dollars, no board members with connections to City Hall or wealthy families, I raised more than $6 million between 1993 and 2011 to support operations of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection.

I created Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in 2011 to support the continued work of Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago and to help similar intermediary organizations grow in other cities of the US and the world.

Awards & media: http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/awards-and-recognition

I can help you

If you are a business seeking to develop an employee engagement strategy that supports you workforce development and diversity goals, I can help you build a strategy similar to Lawyers Lend A Hand to Youth.

If you are a city seeking to build a comprehensive strategy to support volunteer involvement in youth programs throughout your city, as part of a strategy to improve the number of youth who finish school and move on to 21st century jobs and careers, I can help you build a strategy based on what we have learned from the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

If you seek to create a new volunteer-based tutor/mentor program or improve an existing program, the resources of the Tutor/Mentor Connection are available to support your efforts.

- Need Short term - quick answer - something that takes 5 to 30 minutes?
Send me email or connect with me on Skype @dbassill. I'll share ideas, point you to information on my web sites that you can learn from.

- Long term - takes thought, analysis, review, additional research on my part… -
Based on the scope of your request it would take some thought, analysis, review, additional research on my part to help you; as you may know I have transitioned my organization to the Tutor/Mentor Institute and offer my services for my extensive requests as a consultant, I am very interested in your project and think I can help, do you have any funding available for this project?

- Pro Bono clients -
I'm looking to form mutually beneficial partnerships and am willing to take on a few pro-bono clients, for the short term or medium term, because it helps the Institute build its client base or there can be a good reciprocal exchange of information, ideas, contacts.

Tutor/Mentor Institute Consulting Packages

Some Idea Packages I could offer

a) Any of the essays in the Library could be the content for keynote presentations, or small group meetings of 2-4 hours.

b) Company volunteer recruitment and support. Based on Role of Leaders PDF I could help companies design year-round communications and volunteer recognition strategies that grew the percent of employees involved and the number of facilities involved.

c) Youth as Leaders - I could help a school, district, or youth organization build an on-going program where young people take on role of Tutor/Mentor Connection, focusing on their own school district, zip code or a community area that they choose to build expertise in. Such a program would teach youth research and communications skills, while expanding the talent involved in drawing attention and resources to tutor/mentor program strategies in high poverty. Thus, kids could be the missing leaders needed to draw more assets into their own community and school district.

d) Citywide Intermediary Strategies like Tutor/Mentor Connection - every major city in the world has areas of high poverty like Chicago and thus could apply the thinking and technology of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC in their own efforts to reduce the poverty gap and help more youth to jobs and careers.

I've been working on a page where I could show various consulting packages and fees. This is based on what I've seen from a few others. Can you all help me develop this?

Hope this helps. Growing a consulting practice takes time, but you need to leverage referrals and ask whether the client has money for consulting, sometime they will say yes or refer you to others contacts.

Consultant advice. 15 Things to do to start your business. Between July 15 and Aug. 30 I've done most of these.

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