Intro To Tutor/Mentor Institute - Version 1

Introduction to The Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC
If you agree with the logic, become a partner or sponsor or,
adopt these ideas into your own leadership and actions .
What are some of the

actions that could
dramatically change the
availability and impact of
programs helping youth
born in an inner-city
neighborhood be in a job
and starting a career by age
25?
We started asking these

questions in 1993 when we
formed the Tutor/Mentor
Connection. They still need
to be answered 40 years
later.
Pg. 1
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net
About the Author: Daniel F. Bassill
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection
• Illinois Wesleyan 1964-68, History Major
• Army Intelligence, 1968-71
• Joined Montgomery Ward as advertising

writer in 1973. 17 year advertising career
(1973-1990)
• Became a tutor same year, matched to a 4 th

grade boy named Leo
• I became leader of the tutoring program in

1975. By 1990 we had 300 pairs of kids
and volunteers meeting weekly at the Wards
HQ in Chicago.
• Left company in 1990; converted original

program to non profit, Cabrini Green
Dan & Leo Tutoring Program, Inc.(now Tutoring
Chicago)
Leo Today
Circa 1974
• President, Founder of Cabrini Connections
in 1992; Tutor/Mentor Connection, in 1993
• Created Tutor/Mentor Institute, July 2011

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg. 2
Why Do We Do What We Do? These headlines are from 1992.
Best precaution: Just don't

forget.
“If the story of the murder of 7-year
old Dantrell Davis......sounded
vaguely familiar, it might have
been because it had strong
parallels to the story .....of the
murder of 9-year old Laketa
Crosby in 1985.”
Chicago Tribune, Tuesday,

October 20, 1992
Column written by Eric Zorn
..................................................
"The children are so needing of

attention. They are emotionally
deprived. Anytime you can give
them quality one-on-one
time is really fortunate."
Quote from Janis Todd, Principal of

Byrd Community Academy,
located in Cabrini-Green
Chicago Tribune, Thursday,
October 8, 1992
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 3

Why Do We Do What We Do? Headline from 1994 Chicago Tribune
"With help, kids in America's

war zones can thrive"
"The cost of failure is a new
generation of children, too many
of whom will fail in school, join
gangs, deal drugs, .....and start
still another generation of
children in urban war zones."
Chicago Tribune, Monday,

May 18, 1992
Editorial written by Joan Beck
..................................................
.....
"L.A. Riots' Wake-up Call Fell

Mostly on Deaf Ears."
"We are not very good as a
country in dealing with long-
term problems, except when
they present themselves as a
crisis."
-Stuart Eizenstat, domestic

policy adviser to President
Jimmy Carter
Pg 4
In 2011 young people in Chicago
still don’t have the support
system they ALL need to thrive in
adult roles and responsibilities.
Why should business care

enough to invest corporate
non-philanthropy resources?
This is a cost to business
However there are other reasons to

be strategically involved:
1) Skill and network building of current

employees
2) Development of future employees to
fill predicted shortages
3) Access to current and future
customers

The problems of the 1970s, 1990s and 2015 and 2023 are the same.
There is no Master Plan and no consistent, long-term, leadership.
Pg 6
Tutor/Mentor Programs are places youth
can get help from non-family adults
Youth Programs Volunteers
In a structured program a youth can

connect with volunteers, learning
opportunities, technology, intern
opportunities, friends and more.
Without a place to connect with volunteers,

these connections seldom take place.

Pg 7
Cabrini Connections 1993-2011
Tutor/Mentor Programs are a Collective Effort

Involving Many People over Many Years
Organized, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs expand “who you know”
for kids in high poverty areas. They are a form of bridging social capital.
What might we accomplish working toward shared

goals that we cannot do when working alone?
What can volunteers
do to help youth
through school and
into jobs?
Not just tutoring, mentoring,

arts or technology, but adults
helping kids get more of the
support they need to grow up.
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg. 9
To SUCCEED
T/MC Goal: We must recruit business
leaders who will use their
Help inner-city youth resources in PULLING
Youth to Careers
reach Careers.
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
Each industry has reason to

invest in this strategy:
To SUCCEED For instance, the Health Care
We must help tutor/mentor
program leaders, volunteers, industry faces severe shortages of
schools and parents be more
effective in PUSHING
healthcare professionals and a high
Youth to Careers cost of emergency room services in
inner-city neighborhoods
Great Tutor Mentor programs needed in
Every High Poverty neighborhood!
Chicago All programs need same

area resource every day!
* volunteers
* public visibility
* operating dollars
* technology
The shaded * training/learning
areas of this
map of
Chicago are
* leadership
the areas of
most
concentrated Not every program is equally
poverty.
good at attracting resources.

INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED: A mentoring-to-career strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection
Without infrastructure and support for mentors and mentoring

programs, the mentoring movement will never reach its potential. Ways
mentoring falls short of its potential:
- missing infrastructure
- missing knowledge regarding effective
practices
- missing follow-up
- emphasis on marketing and recruitment instead

of program support
- poor or no coordination
- matches made and then abandoned by program
- conducted in isolation
- few programs with resources to serve mentors
as well as mentees
- missing operational expenses
Infrastructure is what you don't notice when you see a youth & volunteer
connecting at a site, or in a ZOOM call.
Not every program is equality good at
getting needed resources.
Program Resource
While all tutor/mentor programs need

volunteers, dollars, etc., not every program is
equally effective at getting these resources on
a regular basis.
Yet, if the youth served by a program are to

succeed, a tutor/mentor program must be
able to grow and survive.
2023 Research on mentoring shows funding challenges. Read at
https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2023/07/new-research-on-mentoring-shows-funding.html
Pg 13
Understand the Role of a Tutor/Mentor
Connection (T/MC)
The T/MC was formed in 1993 to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs

grow in high poverty areas of Chicago. Since 2011 T/MC has been operated
as part of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. This is an Intermediary role, providing
resources that leaders in business, government, philanthropy and other sectors
can use to help high quality programs be located where more are needed.

With master directory we can help volunteers, parents AND donors find
contact information and web sites for programs throughout the region.
This is a web
page created in
2004 to help
people find
tutor/mentor
programs in
different zip
codes of the
Chicago region.
Click one box in

each category,
and choose zip
code then click
“FIND A
PROGRAM”
As of 2021 this site is an archive. View at https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorSearch

As of 2021 this site is an archive. View at https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorSearch
When a search is
conducted, any
programs in this
search shows up
on a Google map.
Info for each

program is shown
below the map,
based on what
T/MC has received
from each
organization.
Use the “find nearby”

feature to located
other resources in
map area.
Pg 16
Interactive Tutor/Mentor Program Zip Code Search Map
enables users to see program availability in entire region.
In 2008 this map-

locator was
created.
Instead of using the

chart to search for
programs, you can
use the Zip Code
Map. If you click on
the map for any zip
code, it will take
you to the same
Green stars on Google map and
map are locations
list of programs.
of youth
organizations.
As of 2021 this site is now an archive. View at: https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive

What does it take to fill a city with great tutor,
mentor and learning programs?
These are challenges. If we find solutions, these are
tipping points.
• There are not enough of these programs in Chicago particularly in
neighborhoods with high levels of poverty. Until communities begin to use GIS
and visual information tools, they will never develop strategies that distribute
good programs to all of the places where they are needed.
• There is no consistent funding stream available to support the multi-

year operations of constantly improving tutor/mentor programs.
Without continuous, flexible operating dollars, programs cannot attract and
retain key staff, which is the most important part of a long-term tutor/mentor
program’s success
• No common vision focusing on long-term birth-to-work support

system. The nation spends billions on education, youth development, violence
prevention, workforce development, etc., but most of the money funds
programs with short term goals, not process aimed at leading a youth to a
job/career. Until every stakeholder defines his/her work in context of what it
does to help a youth move to a job/career, we’ll have many soldiers, but they
will not all be fighting the same war

Pg 18
Leaders needed in non profits, business,
colleges, politics, media and faith groups
• No source of leadership development. While the Tutor/Mentor Institute
provides a mentoring-to-career vision, and hosts more than a thousand web
links that anyone can use to learn more ways to help a youth connect with a
volunteer, or a learning experience, or a job, there is no university teaching
people to learn from this information on a consistent basis. Thus, we can hire
good people to lead our programs, but they don’t have a built-in map that
guides them in what they do.
• Lack of leadership/advertising. Faith communities have spent more than

2000 years encouraging members to read scripture, reflect on it in groups,
then put it to work in their lives. Advertisers spend millions to draw customers
to their stores. Until there are leaders in business, politics, media, religion,
who advocate for mentoring to career strategies every day, we’ll never have
enough people looking at the information we offer, or growing in their own
leadership roles.
• Collaboration and eLearning Portals need to support vision of leaders.

Some people are beginning to use the Internet to draw millions of people to
specific locations. Some of these locations are trying to covert these visitors
into armies of on-going support for specific causes. Until such portals are
available to the Tutor/Mentor Movement, we’ll be unable to reach the tipping
points that could change the impact of all tutor/mentor programs in the world.
Due to lack of investment since 2011 much of the work started in 1993 is now only
available as archive pages. However, it remains a template that others could use to build
their own Tutor/Mentor Connection in any city.
Pg 19
FOUR-PART STRATEGY: A mentoring-to-career strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
Browse each section quickly to know what’s on
Problem-Solving Strategy the site. Open links on top and both sides.
- four on-going strategies

http://tinyurl.com/TMI-4-part-strategy-pdf
Resource
Generation
Collaboration,
shared learning
Public
Awareness
Research
This is the home page of the main Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC web site. Http://www.tutormentorexchange.net Pg 20
VOLUNTEERS
YOUTH
STAFF
TALENT
IDEAS
$$$
TUTORS,
MENTORS DONORS
TECH.
CUSTOMERS
IF WE INFLUENCE FLOW OF
DOLLARS, TALENT AND POLICY YOUTH
RESOURCES WE CAN IMPROVE MAKERS
MEDIA
DISTRIBUTION AND QUALITY OF
ALL PROGRAMS.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Build Learning, R&D, Teams in
EVERY industry, faith group,
college, high school. Connect
them to each other via Internet
collaboration portals.
Groups can meet in places like http://

tutormentorconnection.ning.com
View concept maps like this at

http://tutormentorexchange.net/conceptmaps
Pg 22
Connect with others
Teams from different companies
in one city can connect and
share ideas with teams in other
cities, and with teams from
different companies and interest
groups.
Use the business tools of

collaboration to solve social
problems and business people
will learn to use these tools to
innovate new solutions to
business problems.
View TMI on Debategraph at

http://debategraph.org/mentoring_kids_to_careers
Pg 23
Network Building- Increasing Involvement of More People
This can
be
YOU
Intermediaries like Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC share ideas on blogs &

websites. Everyone has a role in sharing those ideas.
Quarterly Event Strategies that repeat each year build greater flow of
resources to programs. And greater visibility for leaders of this strategy!
3-months 6-months 9-months 12-months

from now from now from now from now
Immediate
Impact
Growth of
volunteers & $$
Turn bad news and corporate
Into good news. leaders involved
A collective effort might result in more leaders in the Chicago region taking
roles that raise the level of volunteers, operating dollars and other needed
resources for all tutor/mentor programs.
Pg 25
T/MI Added Value – TIME Savings
By collecting, sorting, sharing information related anyone can
use to build strategies and support actions that help kids from
poor neighborhoods expand their network of adult support and
learning opportunities, we offer a “TIME SAVINGS” to millions
of potential users who would have to spend a considerable
amount of their own time searching for this information, or,
understanding how to apply it.
In this article “time” is a commodity that has value.

Corporations that influence how people use their “time” will
reap 21st century profits.
"A Brief History of the Corporation."

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/06/08/a-brief-history-of-the-corporation-1600-to-2100/

T/MI Added Value –
Lower costs to non-profit youth
programs of acquiring dollars
By maintaining a map-directory containing more
than 175 tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and
creating events and advertising that draws donors
and volunteers to tutor/mentor programs included in
the Directory, we lower the costs of acquiring
needed resources for each organization offering
tutoring/mentoring in the region.
See http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Volunteer-Opportunities

T/MIC Added Value –
Increase talent retention
and human capital in NPO sector.
By helping programs attract volunteers and donors

at lower costs, we improve the consistency of
funding, lower the emotional stress of fund-raising,
and encourage more people to stay in jobs
longer…..thus increasing the level of knowledge and
experience within each organization and across the
entire sector

Value to Business –
Increase opportunities for employees to
expand skills and build informal
networks
By helping companies from many sectors develop
employee engagement strategies within tutor/mentor
programs we provide informal learning opportunities
for volunteers who take on leadership and project
management roles in NPOs.
By encouraging volunteers from multiple sectors to

participate in individual programs, we expand the
informal network for every volunteer involved….as
well as for every youth involved.

Access to customers and future
employees in a single city
By helping companies connect with

tutor/mentor programs throughout a city like
Chicago we help companies share their
values, products and services and work
opportunities with thousands of people who
are potential customers and future
employees.

Access to customers and future
employees in multiple cities
By building a platform that is used in many cities, we

connect volunteers and youth from multiple
programs in a single city with multiple programs,
learning and networking opportunities across the
world.
We expand the range of ideas that volunteers, youth

and supporters can bring to individual tutor/mentor
programs, and that they can bring to their own
work/life experiences.

Social Return on Investment
As a result of the work we do
more youth in high poverty
areas will be able to participate
in mentor-rich non-school
programs.
Investors will enjoy the rewards

of seeing their money do good;
while also earning a reasonable
rate of return from their
investment.

THIS IS A PROCESS: A mentoring-to-career strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection
More youth stay in school, THE RESULT

are safe in non-school
hours, graduate, and move According to Mark Cohen, a professor at Vanderbilt
University’s Owen Graduate School of Management,
to careers
“High risk youths who are kept out of trouble
through intervention programs could save society
Continuous Process as much as $2 million a youth per lifetime”.
Improvement
Recruit & Train, Begin

operations
Set Schedule and action plan
This type of organization is not
achieved in one or two years.
Determine Recruitment
strategies
It will never be achieved without
Find host/sponsor
the work done at the base of this
Define Mission
pyramid each year.
Building a Team
View this in article at
Research
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2020/07/
creating-economic-justice-opportunity.html
Pg 33
Discussion
• How can your organization take a role in this effort?
• What places on the Internet can you, your employees, or
your members connect with Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
and Tutor/Mentor Connection?
• Connect with Dan Bassill on Twitter @tutormentorteam
• Connect on Facebook, Linkedin or Instagram, too.
• For the future: How can your university, or think tank,

take ownership and rebuild this strategy?
Read this article about duplicating T/MC and TMI.

http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2020/12/want-to-duplicate-tutormentor-connection.html

If it is to be, it is up to you and me: A mentoring-to-career strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Tutor/Mentor Connection
www.tutormentorexchange.net
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
While our purpose is focused on social good and all income is uses to
support our programs our tax structure is not a 501-c-3 non profit.

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Introduction to The Tutor/Mentor

What are some of the

We started asking these

• Army Intelligence, 1968-71

• Joined Montgomery Ward as advertising

• Became a tutor same year, matched to a 4 th

• I became leader of the tutoring program in

• Left company in 1990; converted original

• Created Tutor/Mentor Institute, July 2011

Best precaution: Just don't

Chicago Tribune, Tuesday,

"The children are so needing of

Quote from Janis Todd, Principal of

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 3

"With help, kids in America's

Chicago Tribune, Monday,

"L.A. Riots' Wake-up Call Fell

-Stuart Eizenstat, domestic

Why should business care

This is a cost to business

However there are other reasons to

1) Skill and network building of current

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 5

Youth Programs Volunteers

In a structured program a youth can

Without a place to connect with volunteers,

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net

Tutor/Mentor Programs are a Collective Effort

What might we accomplish working toward shared

Not just tutoring, mentoring,

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

Each industry has reason to

Chicago All programs need same

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 11

Without infrastructure and support for mentors and mentoring

- emphasis on marketing and recruitment instead

While all tutor/mentor programs need

Yet, if the youth served by a program are to

The T/MC was formed in 1993 to help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 14

Click one box in

As of 2021 this site is an archive. View at https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorSearch

Info for each

Use the “find nearby”

In 2008 this map-

Instead of using the

As of 2021 this site is now an archive. View at: https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive

• There is no consistent funding stream available to support the multi-

• No common vision focusing on long-term birth-to-work support

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net

• Lack of leadership/advertising. Faith communities have spent more than

• Collaboration and eLearning Portals need to support vision of leaders.

- four on-going strategies

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 21

Groups can meet in places like http://

View concept maps like this at

Use the business tools of

View TMI on Debategraph at

Intermediaries like Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC share ideas on blogs &

3-months 6-months 9-months 12-months

In this article “time” is a commodity that has value.

"A Brief History of the Corporation."

Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, (2011-present) , www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net Pg 26