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I heard Chris Bosh, NBA basketball star, talking on the radio the other day about a youth charity he leads. He's shopping his skills to many cities, and will have a new contract at $16.5 million per year by the end of July. Any city that gets his services, might also get his support for youth programs. br /br /I also saw an a href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/ex-bear-chris-zorichs-charity-now-in-disarray.html"article in the Chicago Tribune /aabout how Chris Zorch, a former football star at Notre Dame, and a "not so great" star with the Chicago Bears, started a youth charity, but that it's now "in disarray" with almost $850,000 in un-accounted donations that have not been distributed to help needed people, as was promised. br /br /Zorich never made as much as Bosh, but $850,000 would do a lot to help Cabrini Connections, or other tutor/mentor programs, overcome the loss of donors caused by this depression.br /br /The Tribune article goes on to talk about the charities of many athletes. Lots of good intentions, but not a lot of business experience. Too bad. That star power could do a lot to help us help kids.br /br /I've written articles in the past showing the potential of athletes using their start power to draw more consistent attention to all of the tutor/mentor programs in Chicago than those programs can do for themselves. I encourage you to a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/athletes"read these/a.br /br /El Da'Sheon Nix, who leads our Cabrini Connections program, and is a former football player at Northwestern, also writes a a href="http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Sport%27s%20Concepts"series of articles/a using sports concepts to show how tutor/mentor programs work like sports teams, and need fans in the stands and boosters, to help them be great programs.br /br /I tried to find the Chris Bosh Foundation with a Google search, and could not find it. I started "following" him on Twitter, to see if I can get his attention. If he comes to Chicago, he could be a great addition to the Tutor/Mentor Connection team.br /br /If he goes to another big city, he could still use the ideas on the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net"Tutor/Mentor Institute/a site to add some new plays to his game plan. br /br /If you're in high school, college, or have been lucky enough to make it to the pros, I hope you'll take a look at these ideas.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-6524526999295743655?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

The image below shows the range of different organizations who connected to each other at the May 2010 a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference/a held at Loyola. This was the 16th year we've offered a May conference. It's only possible because so many people volunteer to be speakers and because we've been able to scrape together a few dollars to organize these.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TCJXZupCyRI/AAAAAAAABm8/Vgb1JYPIUlE/s1600/MayConfSNA.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TCJXZupCyRI/AAAAAAAABm8/Vgb1JYPIUlE/s320/MayConfSNA.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486043395619211538" //abr /br /One participant was Charles Cameron, who hosts discussions on the a href="http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/business-models/maps-and-whats-possible"Social Edge forum/a. This week, Charles has taken the discussion from the Conference in Chicago, back to the Social Edge web site, where it is connecting our network with people from throughout the world who might use our ideas to help kids in their own community, or who might add their time, talent, or dollars, to help us provide these services in Chicago.br /br /Join in and see how we're connecting networks. Then visit the a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/group/technologyinternswithtutormentorconnection"Social Network Analysis group/a on our Ning site, and learn how we're trying to map network growth, showing the role of an intermediary like T/MC in helping connect people from around the city, and the world, with each other. As you browse this group, you can also see how we're trying to show how a tutor/mentor program expands the network for youth, and adults.br /br /This article says "a href="http://www.bobpearlman.org/Articles/Student_Success.htm"it's who you know, not just what you know"/a. We agree, and we hope that investors will also agree, and provide the dollars that each tutor/mentor program needs to build and sustain this type of network surrounding inner city kids.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-879913398741293995?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TCDeEFFuxBI/AAAAAAAABm0/9HhCyHe2b70/s1600/SunTimes1992.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TCDeEFFuxBI/AAAAAAAABm0/9HhCyHe2b70/s320/SunTimes1992.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485628507804320786" //aIn October 1992, when we started Cabrini Connections, the front page of the span style="font-style:italic;"Chicago SunTimes/span demanded action, and responsibility, from all citizens of Chicago. We've responded to that call for 17 years with the services offered by a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a and the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a.br /br /The economy is causing past donors to cut funding, so we need help from many volunteers and friends to find new donors and sponsors to keep us in the business of mentoring for the coming year.br /br /Please look for ways you can encourage people in your network to become donors, sponsors and/or benefactors. Don't "hope" that someone else will take this role. br /br /Visit a href="http://cabrinitmcfundraising.blogspot.com "http://cabrinitmcfundraising.blogspot.com /ato see different ways that you, your friends, or your company, can become involved.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-1091459123609461251?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I've been leading a non profit for 20 years. I'm tired of constantly searching for scarce dollars. I want to find ways to change the way we're funded. br /br /So, when I read about span style="font-weight:bold;"$41 trillion/span in wealth being transferred over the next half century, with at least span style="font-weight:bold;"$6 trillion being allocated to charity/span, I want to find a way that my organization, and other tutor/mentor programs, get a fair share.br /br /I've learned to tell the tutor/mentor story every day, in many ways, so that we find the donors we need to keep Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connections in business.br /br /However, this is not something others are used to doing. In many organizations, and businesses, the sales team, who generates revenue, is separated from the operations team, who spends the money.br /br /In a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program, the people managing the volunteers are not always the people responsible for raising the money. However, I believe it is absolutely essential that these roles be blended.br /br /Why? I've just read a chapter of a book titled span style="font-weight:bold;"Death and Dollars/span. The chapter I read it titled a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rreid/2263/rrcid/8/rrscid/154/language/en-US/Default.aspx"How do People Leave Bequests: Family or Philanthropic Organization/a? It was written by Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens.br /br /The first part of this chapter suggests that "self-identification with others in their needs (rather than selflessness) motivates transfers to individuals and to philanthropic organizations and leads givers to derive satisfaction from those needs"br /br /Furthermore, "identification with others develops and is applied primarily through networks of association that bring donors into contact with potential recipients".br /br /Thus, the volunteer who becomes part of a tutor/mentor program, is beginning to form an association with that organization. If that relationship is sustained, and nurtured, and retained over many years, the organization is building a network of future benefactors. br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TB0OTB2Ts6I/AAAAAAAABms/neWjBYPMctE/s1600/Vol_Leadership2010.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TB0OTB2Ts6I/AAAAAAAABms/neWjBYPMctE/s320/Vol_Leadership2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484555641283654562" //aThis graphic is the first screen of a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/flash/vol_leadership.swf"an animated presentation/a done for the Tutor/Mentor Connection, by Li Li, an intern from the University of Michigan. br /br /This illustrates that the support given to volunteers, so they are effective, satisfied, tutors/mentors, leads to their growth as an advocate for the youth, and the organization, if sustained for many years.br /br /Thus, to anyone leading a tutor/mentor program, the strategies you use to recruit and train volunteers, can also be strategies to capture a share of this future wealth transfer, ensuring that you have the operating dollars essential for supporting the involvement of other volunteers in the future.br /br /While this is a strategy at Cabrini Connections, we only have 100 volunteers involved each year. There are at least 100 other tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region that have between 50 and 100 or more volunteers each. If all of those programs were thinking the same way, and linking to each other, we would be coaching a pool of 5000 to 10,000 volunteers each year. If this were happening in 100 cities across the country, we would be mentoring the growth of over 1 million volunteers each year.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Why is this so important? /span We cannot operate effective, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs with the small pools of inconsistent funding that are available to us from the current donor population and/or from public dollars. Inconsistent revenue means that we cannot attract and keep high-quality leaders, who are the glue that keeps kids and volunteers involved. We cannot do the data management, learning and network-building that keeps us connected to our students and volunteers beyond the years they are active in a program. We cannot be connected to our peers the way we need to be.br /br /And this means that we will not have the impact on youth aspirations and attitudes and learning habits, that is so essential to feed the 21st century economy with skilled, knowledge-centered, workers and informed citizens.br /br /I hope that you'll take time to read these articles, and look at the previous blog articles I've posted related to a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/leadership"leadership/a, a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/networking"network building/a, a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/collaboration"collaboration/a, etc. and think of ways your actions, or your organization, can combine with actions of many other people, so volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs earn a share of this $41 trillion dollar wealth transfer.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-2285722437415106483?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I've been leading a non profit for 20 years. I'm tired of constantly searching for scarce dollars. I want to find ways to change the way we're funded. br /br /So, when I read about span style="font-weight:bold;"$41 trillion/span in wealth being transferred over the next half century, with at least span style="font-weight:bold;"$6 trillion being allocated to charity/span, I want to find a way that my organization, and other tutor/mentor programs, get a fair share.br /br /I've learned to tell the tutor/mentor story every day, in many ways, so that we find the donors we need to keep Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connections in business.br /br /However, this is not something others are used to doing. In many organizations, and businesses, the sales team, who generates revenue, is separated from the operations team, who spends the money.br /br /In a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program, the people managing the volunteers are not always the people responsible for raising the money. However, I believe it is absolutely essential that these roles be blended.br /br /Why? I've just read a chapter of a book titled span style="font-weight:bold;"Death and Dollars/span. The chapter I read it titled a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rreid/2263/rrcid/8/rrscid/154/language/en-US/Default.aspx"How do People Leave Bequests: Family or Philanthropic Organization/a? It was written by Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens.br /br /The first part of this chapter suggests that "self-identification with others in their needs (rather than selflessness) motivates transfers to individuals and to philanthropic organizations and leads givers to derive satisfaction from those needs"br /br /Furthermore, "identification with others develops and is applied primarily through networks of association that bring donors into contact with potential recipients".br /br /Thus, the volunteer who becomes part of a tutor/mentor program, is beginning to form an association with that organization. If that relationship is sustained, and nurtured, and retained over many years, the organization is building a network of future benefactors. br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TB0OTB2Ts6I/AAAAAAAABms/neWjBYPMctE/s1600/Vol_Leadership2010.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TB0OTB2Ts6I/AAAAAAAABms/neWjBYPMctE/s320/Vol_Leadership2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484555641283654562" //aThis graphic is the first screen of a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/flash/vol_leadership.swf"an animated presentation/a done for the Tutor/Mentor Connection, by Li Li, an intern from the University of Michigan. br /br /This illustrates that the support given to volunteers, so they are effective, satisfied, tutors/mentors, leads to their growth as an advocate for the youth, and the organization, if sustained for many years.br /br /Thus, to anyone leading a tutor/mentor program, the strategies you use to recruit and train volunteers, can also be strategies to capture a share of this future wealth transfer, ensuring that you have the operating dollars essential for supporting the involvement of other volunteers in the future.br /br /While this is a strategy at Cabrini Connections, we only have 100 volunteers involved each year. There are at least 100 other tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region that have between 50 and 100 or more volunteers each. If all of those programs were thinking the same way, and linking to each other, we would be coaching a pool of 5000 to 10,000 volunteers each year. If this were happening in 100 cities across the country, we would be mentoring the growth of over 1 million volunteers each year.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Why is this so important? /span We cannot operate effective, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs with the small pools of inconsistent funding that are available to us from the current donor population and/or from public dollars. Inconsistent revenue means that we cannot attract and keep high-quality leaders, who are the glue that keeps kids and volunteers involved. We cannot do the data management, learning and network-building that keeps us connected to our students and volunteers beyond the years they are active in a program. We cannot be connected to our peers the way we need to be.br /br /And this means that we will not have the impact on youth aspirations and attitudes and learning habits, that is so essential to feed the 21st century economy with skilled, knowledge-centered, workers and informed citizens.br /br /I hope that you'll take time to read these articles, and look at the previous blog articles I've posted related to a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/leadership"leadership/a, a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/networking"network building/a, a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search/label/collaboration"collaboration/a, etc. and think of ways your actions, or your organization, can combine with actions of many other people, so volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs earn a share of this $41 trillion dollar wealth transfer.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-2285722437415106483?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Thanks to Phil Jackson and The Black Star Project for sharing this story via their email newsletter. This study, By Deborah L. Shelton, span style="font-style:italic;"Chicago Tribune/span reporter, "says academic performance suffers whether they witness the nearby violence or not" a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/tabid/645/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/478/Default.aspx"Read the full article./abr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TBkXjUsk0dI/AAAAAAAABmc/kjCpunzQ1UM/s1600/DeannaW_a.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TBkXjUsk0dI/AAAAAAAABmc/kjCpunzQ1UM/s200/DeannaW_a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483439916918821330" //aOne of the speakers at the May 27 and 28 conference was Deanna Wilkerson, a professor at Ohio State University, and an expert on urban violence and its impact on youth. You can find her presentation, along with those of other speakers on the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"conference web site/a. You can connect directly with her in the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.ning.com"Tutor/Mentor Connection on-line forum/a.br /br /a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/volunteers/126-the-role-of-a-volunteer-"Volunteers, in well-organized tutoring/mentoring programs/a, can provide a range of mentoring, coaching, tutoring and social/emotional support to help youth overcome the impact of violence in their lives, if the programs are available, and if the programs have the consistent funding to be as strong as they need to be, and to stay that way for many years.br /br /So, if you want to do something to help kids living in inner city war zones, pick one of the programs listed on a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FindaProgram/ChicagoAreaProgramLinks/tabid/561/language/en-US/Default.aspx"this list of Chicago Program web sites/a, or a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a, and send a donation today.br /br /If you want to know what a "well organized program looks like" browse the web sites we point to, and compare them to each other. Some do a great job of showing what they do. Others make it difficult for you to know they have a mentoring program. Look at when they were formed. The longer they've been hosting a tutor/mentor program (not how long the agency has been in business), the more likely that the program is well organized (or it would not have lasted so long!).br /br /Some use graphics to show their strategy, a href="http://www.buildchicago.org/programs_model.html"such as this page/a on the BUILD web site and a href="http://www.breakthrough.org/general/30/network-model"this page/a on the Breakthrough Urban Ministries site. br /br /Cabrini Connections shows its a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/7-success-steps"Success Strategy/a on its home page, and shows many of the other ideas we apply, on the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net"Tutor/Mentor Institute/a site.br /br /Don't penalize programs that don't look as good as other programs. Use the ideas from all of the web sites we point to, to help each program become a world-class organization. They all need to be great, because they are all serving different kids in different parts of the city. You can see this distribution using the a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspx"interactive tutor/mentor program locator/a.br /br /This information was provided by the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a, a part of the Cabrini Connections non-profit organization. There are hundreds of questions that could be asked about the tutor/mentor programs in Chicago, based on the database we maintain, but we barely have enough money to keep the database current and share the information on web sites.br /br /If you want to help tutor/mentor programs grow in all poverty neighborhoods, and where violence is influencing student aspirations and learning, then provide dollars to the Tutor/Mentor Connection, as well as to individual programs.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-5405840956317062759?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Tangela Smith Marlow attended Cabrini Connections from 1993 to 1997 when she finished high school. Since then she has finished college, become a mom, and holds a good job. She's now taking grad school courses. She is still connected to the Cabrini Connections network via Facebook and Linked In. br /br /She was a speaker at the June 10 year end dinner.br /br /object width="400" height="225"param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12512481amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" /embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12512481amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"/embed/objectpa href="http://vimeo.com/12512481"Year-End Dinner 2010: Tangela Marlowe/a from a href="http://vimeo.com/cabrinitmc"Cabrini Connections/a on a href="http://vimeo.com"Vimeo/a./pbr /br /Tangela is one of the co-sponsors of the a href="http://www.razoo.com/story/Cabrini-Connections-Alumni-Fund-2010-Campaign"Cabrini Connections Alumni Fund/a. Can you join her as a supporter of Cabrini Connections?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-3183742808387350920?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Here's a video of the Cabrini Connections year end dinner, created by Minsang Lee, an intern from Korea and IIT who is volunteering with us. Enjoy it. br /br /embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=201006091226" FlashVars="config=http%3A%2F%2Ftutormentorconnection.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D783429%253AVideo%253A12566%26ck%3D-amp;video_smoothing=onamp;autoplay=offamp;hideShareLink=1amp;isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="344" bgColor="#E3E3C1" scale="noscale" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /embed br /smalla href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/video/video"Find more videos like this on emTutor/Mentor Connection/em/a/smallbr /div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-382994887689540432?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Last night Cabrini Connections hosted it's annual year end dinner, with more than 200 students, parents, alumni, volunteers and leaders in attendance. We'll post photos and videos on the Cabrini Blog and other place over the coming week.br /br /However, I want to share a few quotes while they are fresh in my mind.br /br /One parent spoke for about 10 minutes, gushing with enthusiasm, and love, about the volunteer tutor/mentor who has worked with her daughter for six years. She said of the volunteer and Cabrini Connections, "they go the extra mile" and "This is truly a devin organization."br /br /She ended by presenting a dozen roses to the volunteer.br /br /Then one of our alumi, Tangela Smith Marlow, spoke. Tangela graduated in 1997 after being part of the program since it was founded in 1993. She has finished college, is a mom, has a good job, and now is in graduate school.br /br /She said "I am super mom!"br /br /She also said "This program was my foundation" and "when tutoring is over, that's not the end of it".br /br /There's much more. The a href="http://cabrinifilms.blogspot.com/"video club/a showcase four short videos. The a href="http://cabrinitechclub.blogspot.com/"tech club/a showed the pilot of a video game they are creating. The a href="http://cabriniconnectionsartclub.blogspot.com/"art club/a showcased art they did this year. The a href="http://cabriniconnectionswritinggroup.blogspot.com/"writing club/a presented a story/poem that they created. br /br /These are all part of a a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/7-success-steps"Success Steps Strategy/a intended to help kids living in high poverty neighborhoods grow up to be healthy, contributing adults, who have a network of adults and friends who are still helping them many years past when they were active at Cabrini Connections. br /br /When it was my turn to speak I thanked everyone for the work they do to make Cabrini Connections great, and to bring out the greatness in each student, volunteer and leader.br /br /Then I quoted a frustration expressed by El Da'Sheon Nix, the leader of the Cabrini Connection part of this organization. span style="font-weight:bold;""If we're doing such good work, why is it so difficult to find the money to pay for it?"/spanbr /br /We're not "fixing" broken kids. We're trying to help good kids overcome the challenges of living in high poverty neighborhoods of a huge city. If you think this is important, you should help us do this. Or you should help someone else do this in other neighborhoods where similar programs are needed.br /br /I challenged everyone to share the stories of last night's dinner, and of their experiences with Cabrini Connections, with friends, family, co-workers and anyone who might help with a donation, small or large.br /br /You can still make a a href="http://cabriniconnections.net/newsletters/cabrini.joomla/DinnerContributionForm.html"dinner donation/a. You can donate to the a href="http://www.razoo.com/story/Cabrini-Connections-Alumni-Fund-2010-Campaign"alumni fund/a. Or, you can become a sponsor for the July 15 a href="http://www.cabrinitmcgolf.org"golf benefit/a.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"If you are a new donor, or if you increase your donation over 2009, your donation will be matched (up to $1,750) by a generous donor./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7814322280548192037?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

In 1975 when I first began leading the volunteer-based tutor/mentor program at the Montgomery Ward headquarters in Chicago, an officer said to me "You don't know much about this. Why don't you find other programs in Chicago and invite them to lunch. See what you can learn from them."br /br /I've been doing this network-building and learning for the past 35 years. It's the reason I'm still in this work. It is advise I share with anyone else starting, or leading, a tutor/mentor program.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-jGYIngHI/AAAAAAAABmE/9J1-P72dwIg/s1600/LEAP.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-jGYIngHI/AAAAAAAABmE/9J1-P72dwIg/s200/LEAP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480778601486319730" //aOne of the keynote speakers of the last Tutor/Mentor Conference, was Catherine Gottfred, Founder, a href="http://www.leaplearningsystems.org"LEAP Learning Systems/a I've known her for almost 20 years, since she began her work with the Chicago Youth Center in Cabrini Green. Catherine talked about "Youth Brain Development and Literacy"br br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-kL2oKbxI/AAAAAAAABmM/MUenOAiJ8S8/s1600/LEAP_Michael.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-kL2oKbxI/AAAAAAAABmM/MUenOAiJ8S8/s200/LEAP_Michael.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480779795082669842" //a br /Michael Levesque, Executive Director, Leap Learning Systems, did a workshop titled "Race, Language, and the Achievement Gap in America". Here's the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/conference2010langageandtheachievementgap.pdf"PDF of Michael's presentation/a.br /br /What's great to see at these conferences, is the networking of speakers and participants, after each workshop, and during the lunch session. a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-kjBpkJ7I/AAAAAAAABmU/OBEZosAnGHc/s1600/Leap_networking.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA-kjBpkJ7I/AAAAAAAABmU/OBEZosAnGHc/s200/Leap_networking.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480780193178331058" //aYou can find more pictures, more of the workshop presentation PDFs, and a list of attendees on the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/agenda.asp"conference web site/a. br /br /This conference, and the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a, have been made possible since 1994 because the leaders of one small non profit have raised the money to cover the costs, while operating their own a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a program. This has become more and more difficult with the deepening recession. We need your help.br /br /You can make donations to support the Tutor/Mentor Connection and the Conference a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/donate"at this link/a. And, you can become a sponsor of the conferences, a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/sponsor.asp"at this link/a. Please help us continue to do what we do to help hundreds of volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs learn from each other, so they can do more to help kids living in poverty.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-619812504404664077?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA6LEKQErBI/AAAAAAAABl0/fze0ypCPi6c/s1600/growth_goal.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA6LEKQErBI/AAAAAAAABl0/fze0ypCPi6c/s320/growth_goal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480470700143979538" //aHow many of you have read the Jim Collins book titled "a href="http://www.jimcollins.com/books/g2g-ss.html"Good to Great and the Social Sectors/a"? br /br /Here are some links to blog articles where the writers summarize this bookbr /br /a href="http://ericswanson.blogspot.com/2006/02/good-to-great-and-social-sector.html"http://ericswanson.blogspot.com/2006/02/good-to-great-and-social-sector.html/abr /br /a href="http://www.bridgestar.org/Library/GoodGreatSocialSector.aspx"http://www.bridgestar.org/Library/GoodGreatSocialSector.aspx/abr /br /I’ve applied span style="font-weight:bold;"Good to Great/span concepts in the leadership of Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection (and before that in my leadership of the Montgomery Ward/Cabrini Green Tutoring Program) since 1977 when I learned about Total Quality Management (TQM) while working as an Advertising Manager at Wards.br /br /The key to constant improvement, is a commitment of leadership, and members of the organization to constantly look for ways to improve. I describe this in the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/operating_principles08.pdf"Operating Philosophy/a, posted on the Tutor/Mentor Institute web site.br /br /However, I'm convinced that the only way non profits can become great, and remain great for many years, is if they can develop consistent revenue streams that enable them to hire and retain talented people, and that give these people time during the work day for expanding their network and learning from others, reflecting, and innovating new ways to improve from year-to-year.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA6MaoPGA-I/AAAAAAAABl8/jkzjn9-WSwo/s1600/Be_A_LEADER.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 156px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TA6MaoPGA-I/AAAAAAAABl8/jkzjn9-WSwo/s200/Be_A_LEADER.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480472185661686754" //aThus, I'm constantly working to teach our volunteers, Directors, friends, and leaders of other tutor/mentor programs, to take on roles where they become agents, and advocates, for tutor/mentor programs.br /br /The Major League Baseball draft is going on right now. The first round pick is represented by an a href="http://www.sports-agent-directory.com/sports-agents/scottboras.asp"agent named Scot Boras/a, who is known for negotiating multi-millions dollar contracts for the talent he represents. br /br /Each volunteer who wants to help Cabrini Connections and other tutor/mentor programs make a difference in the lives of kids needs to view him/herself as an "agent" working to build the best support possible for one, or many, tutor/mentor programs.br /br /With this type of help, we can be great, and we can stay great.br /br /That will result in more youth through school and into jobs and careers, which is the focus of ta href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/26/college-completion-diversity-thought-leaders-cooper-coleman.html"his Forbes magazine article/a.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7136807940058924531?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TApXecCvwkI/AAAAAAAABlk/wIvQlKlZFRQ/s1600/Breakthrough.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TApXecCvwkI/AAAAAAAABlk/wIvQlKlZFRQ/s320/Breakthrough.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479288077085033026" //a This is one photo taken during the May Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference. See a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=783429:Album:12346"the album here/a.br /br /In this photo, Bill Curry, Chief Operations Officer, a href="http://www.breakthrough.org"Breakthrough Urban Ministries/a, is describing strongThe Breakthrough Network Model /strong which suggests an innovative approach to growing mentoring relationships among a community of students and community of volunteers. br /br /View a href="http://breakthrough.org/video/55/network-model-video"Video showing the Breakthrough Model/abr /br /View a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/networkmodel2010tmcconf.pdf"PDF of this presentation/abr /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TApYwpTJxXI/AAAAAAAABls/CQUa-y12mhQ/s1600/Peter_Project1.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TApYwpTJxXI/AAAAAAAABls/CQUa-y12mhQ/s200/Peter_Project1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479289489392780658" //aIn the coming two weeks I'll profile more of the speakers from the conference and point to their presentations and web sites. You can see the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/conferecnes-and-online-forums/previous-conferences/178-may2010agenda"entire agenda here/a. br /br /By doing this I'm demonstrating a a href="http://api.ning.com/files/LZOCKd4erD*8UnpoozGbWJXuKoOI53ACKSrfJ5ggb4F4oyhdbimnN6tW16wnmOKXyhWHDavqOr-LRyQtJWwjeQ__/role.swf"leadership role /athat thousands of people, who are not directly involved with any single tutor/mentor program, can take to help people become supporters of different programs, or to borrow ideas from one program to apply to many other places.br /br /This is a network-building role that a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/tmc.asp"Tutor/Mentor Connection /ahas taken since being formed in 1993. When you point your friends and business partners to tutor/mentor programs, point them to intermediaries like the T/MC, too. In this economy we all need help finding donors and sponsors.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-663114667300914930?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAkv7HdBvZI/AAAAAAAABlU/NZyFNctsiAk/s1600/beachhead.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 112px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAkv7HdBvZI/AAAAAAAABlU/NZyFNctsiAk/s400/beachhead.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478963114332503442" //aAs we remember the the WWII landing on Normandy on June 6, 1944, can you also make this a weekend when you make an extra effort to be a "hero" for Cabrini Connections?br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"On June 10, Cabrini Connections will celebrate the end of its 17th full year. /spanbr /We will have 9 seniors graduating from high school. Seven are already accepted to college. We will have more than 60 7th to 11th graders who expect to participate in this program again next year. We need help from you and many other heroes to make this happen.br /br /This weekend, can you ask one or two people you meet to make a donation to support the continued operations of our army of youth and volunteers? Can you make a donation, a bequest, or be a sponsor?br / br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Please send a D-Day Donation to:/spanbr /Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connectionbr /800 W. Huron, Chicago, Il. 60642br /br /Donate Online: a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate-online1"http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate-online1/abr /br /Use this form to send a donation.br /a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/images/PDF/may10request.pdf"http://www.cabriniconnections.net/images/PDF/may10request.pdf/abr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAkwdzRLldI/AAAAAAAABlc/eU2dLnWJNw8/s1600/logo-2010-CabriniYearEndDinner-web-resolution.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 236px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAkwdzRLldI/AAAAAAAABlc/eU2dLnWJNw8/s320/logo-2010-CabriniYearEndDinner-web-resolution.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478963710209529298" //aVisit Cabrini Connections at a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"http://www.cabriniconnections.net/abr /Learn about the Tutor/Mentor Connection at a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/abr /br /Read the blogs and see how your donations are being put to good use.br /a href="http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com"http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/abr /a href="http://cabrinitmcfundraising.blogspot.com"http://cabrinitmcfundraising.blogspot.com/abr /br /br /Thank you! Please forward this request to others.br /br /Daniel F. Bassill, President, CEObr /312-492-9614 tutormentor2@earthlink.netdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7338926614464034358?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

This video was created by one of the a href="http://michaelcnt.blogspot.com/"Interns/a who have worked with the Tutor/Mentor Connection over the past few years.br /br /embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=201006021323" FlashVars="config=http%3A%2F%2Ftutormentorconnection.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D783429%253AVideo%253A2502%26ck%3D-amp;video_smoothing=onamp;autoplay=offamp;hideShareLink=1amp;isEmbedCode=1" width="456" height="313" bgColor="#E3E3C1" scale="noscale" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /embed br /smalla href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/video/video"Find more videos like this on emTutor/Mentor Connection/em/a/smallbr /br /br /As programs are a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/"celebrating the end of this school year/a, they are looking for dollars to help them provide services in the coming school year. Make a donation. Be a sponsor. Make a bequest.br /br /Create a legacy.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7284072031924601622?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAaU1n9wE9I/AAAAAAAABlE/HLY4-MwQMm0/s1600/IMG_6529.JPG"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAaU1n9wE9I/AAAAAAAABlE/HLY4-MwQMm0/s320/IMG_6529.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478229645724750802" //aThis is a photo from a workshop hosted by Alex Cornwell, Director, a href="http://www.chicagolights.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/cl.woa/1/wa/b?t=home"Chicago Lights Tutoring/a and Summer Day at Fourth Presbyterian Church, and Erin McPartlin, Executive Director, a href="http://www.cabrinigreentutoring.org/"Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program, Inc./abr /br /You can meet both in a href="http://www.cabrinigreentutoring.org/"this video/a.br /br /I received an email from one conference attendee which said, "Hi Dan - I want to thank you and your organization for providing scholarships for me and my staff person. I found the workshops to be insightful and the keynote speakers knowledgeable. I wanted to speak with you on several occasions but every time I wanted to approach you someone else would get your attention."br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAaWAHXD5hI/AAAAAAAABlM/U4knGbjMbfE/s1600/Group+One+003.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAaWAHXD5hI/AAAAAAAABlM/U4knGbjMbfE/s200/Group+One+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478230925462726162" //a At every conference, I have a chance to meet and talk to just a few of the participants, and that's why we created the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/RegistrationList/"Attendee List /aand thea href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com" Tutor/Mentor Connection on Ning/a. br /br /We want to have on-going discussions with every one of the 140 people who attended this conference, and the 3,000 or more who have attended conferences since we launched them in 1994. We also want to encourage this type of interaction between the people who come to the conference, and those who cannot come, so that we create a vibrant idea-sharing network of people who will work together to make sure we all have the tools and resources to keep kids and volunteers connected.br /br /So, let's connect.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-6812480408150131437?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAEjQOKQJ8I/AAAAAAAABk0/SqRvczpe_0M/s1600/Conf2010a.JPG"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TAEjQOKQJ8I/AAAAAAAABk0/SqRvczpe_0M/s320/Conf2010a.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476697383445211074" //aThis is the first of many photos taken at the May 27 and 28 a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/photo/tutormentor-conference-5/next?context=latest"Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference/a that will be uploaded to our Na href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/photo/tutormentor-conference-5/next?context=latest"ing photo gallery/a in the coming week.br /br /We'll also be posting the pdf presentations of many of the speakers and workshop presenters, such as a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/tmc_socialedge.pdf"this one/a, from Charles Cameron, who is a discussion facilitator on the a href="http://www.socialedge.org"www.socialedge.org/a forum.br /br /The first speaker, a href="http://www.luc.edu/chrc/jamesbio.shtml"Professor James Garbarino/a, Loyola University Chicago, author of "Lost Boys," on Violence and Young Men, provided a framework and focus for the conference.br /br /He said, "it is essential to build a deeper understanding. Good intentions are not enough." And he said "It matters where you live", showing the connection between high poverty and high violence.br /br /Then on Friday morning, Bill Curry, Executive Director, and founder, of a href="http://breakthrough.org/general/3/who-we-are"Breakthrough Urban Ministries/a, introduced The Breakthrough Model for Tutoring and Mentoring. I'll post his presentation when I get it, but a href="http://breakthrough.org/video/55/network-model-video"this video/a shows the model, and illustrates a vision that the T/MC fully supports.br /br /More than 130 people attended the conference, and presented experience from many different types of tutoring and/or mentoring programs, as well as research on poverty and violence, that we can all learn from. I encourage you to browse the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/speakers.asp"speaker list/a and visit web sites, and to use the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/ArchiveRegistrationList/"attendee list/a to make contact and build relationships.br /br /Follow this blog and the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/AboutTMC/CurrentNewsletter/tabid/646/Default.aspx"Tutor/Mentor Connection newsletter/a, and connect your ideas and strategies to the T/MC and each other, so we can do more to attract the resources, ideas and talent we need to implement and sustain these strategies for many years.br /br /Finally, if you value what the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/AboutTMC/Mission/tabid/482/language/en-US/Default.aspx"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a is trying to do, to connect all of these organizations with a constantly expanding library of ideas, we need your donations and sponsorship to keep doing this work. You can a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/sponsor.asp"sponsor the conference/a, or sponsor one of our a href="http://www.cabrinitmcgolf.org"fund raising events/a. Or you can just a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/donate"send a small donation/a. br /br /I hope you'll help us help all of these organizations help thousands of kids living in poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-4422459690768769107?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_v6u0hiD4I/AAAAAAAABkk/Wz4jVa3I2T8/s1600/conf10video.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_v6u0hiD4I/AAAAAAAABkk/Wz4jVa3I2T8/s320/conf10video.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475245454279184258" //aBradley Troast of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection interviewed leaders of four Chicago tutor/mentor programs who will be part of the May 27 and 28 Conference. View video at a href="http://vimeo.com/12011074"http://vimeo.com/12011074/abr /br /View this video and see how these leaders value the conference. Join them on a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Thursday and Friday, May 27 and 28/a, and build your own network.br /br /If you can a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/sponsor.asp"become a sponsor/a for the Tutor/Mentor Conferences, we'd appreciate your help.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-8189863475658503715?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mQNEr8RNI/AAAAAAAABkM/EebuHUEtUWY/s1600/DanLeo.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 147px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mQNEr8RNI/AAAAAAAABkM/EebuHUEtUWY/s200/DanLeo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474565376316294354" //aI've led a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program for 35 years. I believe the lives of youth and volunteers are enriched in many ways because of participation in these programs. The program I lead now is called a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a. It operates in rented space at 800 W. Huron in Chicago and has 75 active teens and 90 volunteers. We have 9 seniors who will graduate from high school this spring and 7 are already accepted into college. 1/3 of our teens have been with us 3 to 6 years. br /br /More than 100 of our alumni, going back to the boy I first mentored in 1973, are connected to us on Facebook.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mRBKu6GII/AAAAAAAABkU/vxuuHt0C8zo/s1600/7thIL-TM-Schools.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mRBKu6GII/AAAAAAAABkU/vxuuHt0C8zo/s200/7thIL-TM-Schools.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474566271292545154" //a When we created Cabrini Connections in the fall of 1992, we had a second goal. We realized that tutor/mentor programs are needed in all high poverty areas, and that no one had a master database showing what programs were in Chicago, or where they operated. Thus, there could be no consistent leadership intended to help tutor/mentor programs reach more kids in high poverty areas. We called this new effort the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a.br /br /One of the tools we have created to show where programs are needed, and where they are located, are maps, like the one here.br /br /By building aa href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net" master database of programs/a, we not only can show where they are located, and where new ones are needed, we can invite programs to work together to generate more of the resources we all need to do this work. br /span style="font-weight:bold;"br /That's where this becomes Mission Impossible./spanbr /br /While I read in many places how it is important to reduce the isolation of non profit leaders, and provide better information that parents, leaders, donors, etc. can use to know what services are available to young people, I've not been able to find the dollars needed to provide a consistent level of support to Cabrini Connections, or the Tutor/Mentor Connection. br /br /The economy, environment, politics, terrorism all seem to work against us.br /br /While I have a passion for this work, there are high poverty neighborhoods all over the world where charity dollars are needed to support programs working with youth, the environment, health issues, etc. It seems an impossible task to draw consistent attention, and a consistent, on-going flow of flexible operations dollars to all of these places, on an on-going basis.br /br /Yet, to me, this is the only way we can help our teens grow to adults, or others can make a dent in solving complex problems.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mS-Lqjf8I/AAAAAAAABkc/5F-fMIYI3U0/s1600/warrior.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 162px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_mS-Lqjf8I/AAAAAAAABkc/5F-fMIYI3U0/s200/warrior.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474568419026370498" //aAs I researched some ideas for this blog, I found a poem by: Edgar A. Guest, titled, span style="font-weight:bold;"It's Better to Have Tried/spanbr /br /'Tis better to have tried in vain,br /Sincerely striving for a goal,br /Than to have lived upon the plainbr /An idle and a timid soul.br /br /'Tis better to have fought and spentbr /Your courage missing all applause,br /Than to have lived in smug contentbr /And never ventured for a cause.br /br /For he who tries and fails may bebr /The founder of a better day;br /Though never his the victory,br /From him shall others learn the way. br /br /I share a wide range of information on the a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a and a href="http://www.tutormentorinstitute.org"Tutor/Mentor Institute/a sites, showing my thinking, and the strategies that I've developed over many years. While I hope benefactors step forward and help us fund this work, I also hope that even if I don't succeed, "others will learn the way" from me and find ways to make these ideas work in the future.br /br /Here's a couple of other blog articles related to this:br /br /a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2007/08/do-mitzvah-every-day-lawyers-in-chicago.html"Do a Mitzvah Every Day./a. in honor of Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitzbr /br /a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2007/12/many-to-one-not-one-to-many.html"Many to One/a - strategy of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connectiondiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-8819068568344919097?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_avfyg1CDI/AAAAAAAABjs/2tZlVYbq_Zg/s1600/common_needs.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 243px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_avfyg1CDI/AAAAAAAABjs/2tZlVYbq_Zg/s320/common_needs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473755357785688114" //aIf you've read any of the blog articles I've written, you know my goal is to help comprehensive, volunteer-based non-school tutor/mentor programs be operating in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities.br /br /This graphic illustrates that these programs all need the same resources to survive. If you read about a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/8/rrscid/96/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"challenges facing non profits/a, you'll see that money is a huge need. Thus, if you want to do something in response to the tragedy, go to the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FindaProgram/ChicagoAreaProgramLinks/tabid/561/language/en-US/Default.aspx"Chicago Program Links/a, and browse through the web sites listed there. Pick one or more programs that you feel do a good job, and send them a donation.br /br /If you're a business leader, a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/8/rrscid/130/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"read some of these articles/a showing the benefits to business of volunteering and philanthropy, and form a team and build a strategy to support tutor/mentor programs in all of the areas where you do business, or where your employees live, or on the routes between work and home.br /br /If you're in a neighborhood without any tutor/mentor programs, or with programs that need help to become the "best in the city", use these a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/how-to-start-a-program/135-how-to-start-and-sustain-a-volunteer-based-tutormentor-program"Steps to Start a Program/a guides as a blueprint for helping new programs grow.br /br /If you're in media, or a network builder, or blogger, pass this message on to others who might be interested and connect with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam . If you use the hash tag #tmcon you can also help draw more people to next week's a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Tutor/Mentor Conference/a where the goal is to help people build constantly-improving volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_axbaXgg5I/AAAAAAAABj0/hxwQJGv_kCY/s1600/villagecmap.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 173px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_axbaXgg5I/AAAAAAAABj0/hxwQJGv_kCY/s200/villagecmap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473757481607922578" //a This map illustrates that people from many different backgrounds need to share the responsibility for helping tutor/mentor programs and other youth development activities be in every neighborhood, especially those with high concentrations of poverty and too few non-school supports helping kids move through school and to work.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-6965832887222981966?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

The front page of today's a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2299036,suspect-arrest-cop-wortham-slaying-052110.article"Chicago SunTimes/a and a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-police-officer-shot-20100520,0,485249.story"Chicago Tribune/a calls our attention to another senseless killing in a Chicago neighborhood. This time, the victim is a Chicago Police officer, who was also an Army Vet just returned from Afghanistan. br /br /Read the story then look at the map below.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_aStL8tWOI/AAAAAAAABjk/pvJyqcZ00y4/s1600/Chatham5_20_2010.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/S_aStL8tWOI/AAAAAAAABjk/pvJyqcZ00y4/s320/Chatham5_20_2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473723702114605282" //a This may was created using the Interactive a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspx"Tutor/Mentor Program Locator/a which you can use to zoom into the Chatham neighborhood, and learn if there are any volunteer-based, nonschool tutor/mentor programs.br /br /I don't see any. I also see a neighborhood of relative prosperity surrounded by a sea of poverty. How could such a community expect to not be influenced by what was happening all around it?br /br /There will be many editorials, speeches, and even marches in the next few days, calling for an end to violence, just as there have been over and over for the past 16 years as we have been building this database and inviting business, faith, meida and political leaders to look at it.br /br /I hope that this time the result is the formation of "business planning teams" who look at the information in the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net"Tutor/Mentor Institute/a and read the articles that I've posted on this blog for the past five years. br /br /Begin learning ways to build birth to work mentoring programs around this neighborhood, and in this neighborhood, so young people have better opportunities to make different decisions on how they spend their free time.br /br /Next week there will be a a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference/a at Loyola, where the goal is to help people build volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in high poverty areas. I hope some of those who are reading and writing the editorials will attend.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-8820994204213043424?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div