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Getting Attention for a Cause

Network Building - An Essential Skill for All Leaders

What's
YOUR
Is this
YOU? Cause?

Presented by Daniel F. Bassill, President, CEO, Tutor/Mentor Institute,


LLC & Tutor/Mentor Connection

Find this and other strategy ideas at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net


Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present)
How Would You Respond?
This is my Cause.
This was the front page of a
major Chicago newspaper in
October 1992....the day after a 7-
year-old boy was killed while
walking to school in Cabrini-
Green.

What actions have leaders taken


to prevent tragedies like this?

The idea for the Tutor/Mentor


Connection was birthed in the
weeks following this tragedy.
Since 2011 it has been led by
Daniel F. Bassill and
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 2
MY CAUSE: Helping youth in high poverty
areas move through school.
More youth stay in school, are
safe in non-school hours,
graduate, and move to careers If Step 1 to 5 are happening in every
poverty neighborhood, youth and families
will have access to more of the help they
Better programs in more need, better programs, and more consistent,
places for more age groups
longer-term services.
Actions that increase the
flow of resources to each This will begin to achieve the changes in
program
school performance and career preparation
Building Better that we all want:
Understanding of Needs,
Opportunities
• better attendance in school
Building a network of • lower drop out rates
tutor/mentor leaders
• less youth violence
Volunteer Mobilization • better academic performance
Database • business reports better prepared
workers

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
The Tutor/Mentor Connection focuses on four on-
going strategies:
To help tutor/mentor programs
grow in more places

Resource
Generation

Collaboration,
shared learning

Public
Awareness The Tutor/Mentor Connection was created in 1993 as part
of a Chicago nonprofit youth program. In 2011 the
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to continue this
Research strategy in Chicago and help it spread to other cities. The
goals are the same. Throughout this and other
presentation the names will be used interchangeably

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Building Tutor/Mentor web library has been the first priority.
It provides information anyone can use to learn why youth need extra help, where help is most
needed, and how to build and sustain mentor-rich programs. The cMap below shows one
section of the library. This link points to a cMap showing the four major sections.
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-library

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 5


A primary part of the library is a list of Chicago non-school tutor/mentor programs, which
T/MC has hosted since 1993. T/MC has led on-going efforts to help others find and
support programs on its list. Maps are used to emphasize the need for programs in
every high poverty neighborhood of the city and suburbs.

See map and list of programs on this cmap


http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Volunteer-Opportunities
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
A Tutor/Mentor Program is a Collective Effort where many people work to
help young people grow up and lead lives out of poverty.

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection

•How do you recruit volunteers and youth to join a program?

•How do you keep them participating throughout a school year?

•How do you keep them coming back from year to year?

I’VE BEEN WORKING WITH THESE QUESTIONS EVERY DAY FOR 45 YEARS
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Pg 7
If the goal is to help kids living in high
poverty neighborhoods be starting
jobs/careers by their mid-twenties….

School-Time Programs
High Career
Pre-K K - 5th 5th - 6th 6th - 8th
School Track

3-5 PM Non-School Programs After 5 PM and Weekend Programs

Tangela joined Cabrini


Connections in 1993, after
being part of the MW/Cabrini --- 18 years later.
Green Tutoring Program
when in elementary school.
We are still
connected, via the
How do we help tutor/mentor programs connect Internet, 25 years
later.
with youth when they are young, and stay
connected to those kids from when we first meet
them, to when they need our help as adults?….
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Change takes Time. Change Makers Need to Have Long-Term Commitment

We use graphics like this


to illustrate the long-term
commitment it takes to
help a youth go from first
grade to first job.

Between 1973 and 2011 we applied


these ideas through volunteer-
based tutor/mentor programs we led
in Chicago.

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 9


To make change happen, become a
NETWORK BUILDER: Connect people
you know to ideas you show on your site.

Those YOU Those


Who can Who Need
help help
T/MC
Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC

CONNECTING

The first challenge is to put yourself in the role of network-


builder. If you don’t accept this, nothing more will happen.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 10
Most youth programs can’t get these resources by
themselves. They need the help of many leaders.
Every city needs leaders in every sector who take this role, not one or two high profile people.

faith business media


volunteers
dollars

college
you Talent &

technology

Elected
leader
others Chicago

Use personal and organizational leadership, web site. Social media and other communications
to connect members of your network to Tutor/Mentor programs in all parts of Chicago on a
consistent, on-going basis, using lists of youth tutor, mentor programs hosted by Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC, as resource for finding programs.
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Strategies to build public awareness:
THINK ADVERTISING!
REACH: more people
hear your message

FREQUENCY: your
message is repeated
often every day.

Without big budgets


for advertising, you
need to enlist your
network.

Put your company logo here. IDEA: get companies to carry


Put this add in the local paper, your message with their own
or a trade magazine. advertising
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Do you think of yourself as a network builder? You can do this!

The World’s Largest


Ping Pong ball table.

Every intentional action of


a leader, volunteer or
network-builder causes a
chain reaction that moves
every other ball.

What you say can reach


people around the world.

YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
EFFORTS SHOULD SEEK
TO CREATE THIS CHAIN
REACTION EVERY DAY

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Econo
e my
l lif
ul tura
C
Ed

i ty
uc

l
ita
at
i ty

io
Point

il V
n
l
ita

Civ
il V

to…
Civ

Environment
Transportation

YOU PICK
YOUR
PURPOSE

Ho
Once you have a cause/goal, how do you
gy

us
olo

g in
n
ch

draw attention to it? Use these ideas.


Te

He
Safety a lt
Public
•Maps/data – create understanding;
h

understand needs in entire region; zoom to


block level
Role of Leaders.
Point daily to places where •Knowledge – library; share info. Everyone in
people can get informed, and region can draw from same body of knowledge, and add
involved, sharing same to it at same time
information with others from
same community, and the
world.
•Places – connect; get involved; donate. Push
resources to all of the places where help is needed.

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 14


Use Multi Channel Marketing Social
media

Use website as central


location for your ideas
and “call to action”. There are many places
on the web where you
can learn ideas like this.
Your BLOG

Put your message and


strategy on a web site. Draw YouTube
attention to it using traditional
and new media tools.

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Enlist visible leaders to help draw attention to your website and ideas.

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 16


Create on-line and face-to-face places to share and discuss information
hosted in libraries like the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC library.

Outline your thinking where


others can read, act, follow
or expand on your idea.

Share ideas at http://debategraph.org/mentoring_kids_to_careers or at


Http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com Also use blogs and social media platforms.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 17
Use Media as “attention-builder”. A page in Chicago SunTimes costs over
$200k. Create stories on your blog following negative news. If you can
draw readers to your web site via maps, blogs, you don’t need to spend
nearly as much money to draw people to your ideas.

See maps created between 2008 and 2010


at http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com

See examples of “telling rest of story” on http://tutormentor.blogspot.com


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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Create on-going events, repeated each year, to build
media attention that leads to news coverage.

een 1 994
b etw
ts o rg anized
rt er l y even
o m qu a ew s-pr
g fr et /n
re s re sultin exc h ange.n
e e me dia sto //tutormentor
S
01 5 : http:
and 2

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Create your own media:
Create videos and post to YouTube and other sites.

This is video about Tutor/Mentor This is video showing


Conference held every six months in activities at youth program in
Chicago between 1994 and 2015. Chicago

View these and others. Browse our Tutor/Mentor Institute Theater


at https://tutormentorexchange.net/tmi-video-1

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Pictures worth 1000 words.
Create visualizations to share your strategies..

This shows use of


concept map to
illustrate
commitment of
organization to
help kids through
school and into
jobs.

View this cMap at


http://tinyurl.com/tmc-strategy-map

This video shows how intern from South


Korea converted the cMap into flash
animation https://youtu.be/pRipJPgenFc
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Examples of information visualization. Put these in your blog.

This shows how idea is first


visualized in power point
and posted on a blog at
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/
2009/10/transforming-adults-
involved-in.html

This video shows how a 2009 University


of Michigan intern converted this blog
article to a flash animation
https://youtu.be/C0ieJRBrk_I

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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
YOU can help inner city
youth have brighter futures. Skills to help
Help build the leadership T/MC
network supporting the
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Someone
Organization
You Know
Or Group That
Can help T/MC

YOU

Tutor/ Skills &


Mentor Networks help
t/m programs
Connection
grow in entire
region
Every one can be a leader. Will you?
Youth and volunteers in schools and tutor/mentor programs across the world
can create graphics like these and use on their own blogs and web sites.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 23
Facilitating Involvement: using social media, and a variety of group facilitation
tools we can help volunteers from many organizations learn from each other so
every week they provide more effective service. We can also learn what works, what
the challenges are, and ways that corporations, foundations, etc. can help all
tutor/mentor programs provide more effective service.

See video showing


Facilitation by T/MC & others animation of this idea at
a) As volunteer goes to do
https://youtu.be/5msRqzynH_c
service at t/m program
Volunteer Volunteer
b) As volunteer shares with
connects w/ shares
others at work, home, faith
youth experience
group
with friends
YOUR students can duplicate work done by our interns between 2006 and 2015:
http://michaelcnt.blogspot.com/2018/05/visit-this-museum-of-intern-artifacts.html
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Our strategy is to enlist volunteers and leaders from
every industry to mentor kids to careers.
Technology Arts, Culture.
Government
Communications Religion
Education
Insurance
Healthcare

Science,
Hospitality
Recreation
Every tutor, mentor Math
program in Chicago, Engineering

and T/MC, seek


business partners to
Natural Resources help in PULLING Manufacturing
Agriculture youth To careers Transportation

Finance, Personal & Built environment Retailing


Business Services Engineering Wholesaling

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 25


THINK OF HOW YOU REACH YOUR NETWORK

Twitter
Face-to-Face
Facebook
(ZOOM)
LinkedIn

Telephone Find us at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net


YOUR WEB And http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
SITE
Instagram

Email Social Events


Other social
media

A WEB SITE IS A DESTINATION. IT’S WHERE YOU PUT YOUR IDEAS


AND WHERE YOU HOST YOUR WORKSPACE.
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
Create map of
your network.
Does it have all of
these skills?

See Tutor/Mentor Institute support network at http://tinyurl.com/TMCSupportNet


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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
A Network can grow from a few people to
thousands over a period of years.

If the T/MC network has


grown from 7 volunteers in
1992 to over 1 million* by
2023
2023. Imagine how much
broader the network could
be if hundreds of
individuals and
organizations applied the
ideas in this essay.
*based on count of web site
visitors from 1998-2020

Contact the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and let us help you apply these ideas.
tutormentor2@earthlink.net and http://www.twitter.com/tutormentorteam
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Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
There are many causes that you can champion. Each needs
leaders who apply the ideas shown in this presentation.
Wh i c
h
you c will
h
to su oose
ppor
t?

See this map at https://tinyurl.com/ChallengesFacingYouth-TMI


Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
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PRACTICE THESE IDEAS
These graphics are concepts intended to encourage you
to think, learn and innovate ways to apply these ideas in
your own leadership.
At the following Tutor/Mentor Institute and Tutor/Mentor Connection web
sites you can see how we put these ideas to practice every day in our
effort to support our goals.
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
Http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
http://tutormentorexchange.net/conceptmaps
https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media

Become a volunteer, intern, or research partner.


Email tutormentor2@earthlink.net Dan Bassill,
@tutormentorteam
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC,
Tutor/Mentor Connection

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-Present) http://www.tutormentorexchange.net


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