This month the Mayor of Chicago is
asking local corporations to pledge $50 million to support youth
programs in areas of high violence. On a national level a
corporate challenges have been issued to mobilize corporate
resources to fight violence. Yet, Chicago has been faced with
poverty, poorly performing schools and high levels of violence for
many years. Millions of dollars have been spent. What has been
achieved?
If you visit
the Mayor's web site, or that of corporate leaders, will you find a
concept map like below, showing the corporate commitment of people,
ideas, technology and dollars to help youth in every poverty
neighborhood move through school and into jobs and careers? Do
you see a program of public recognition that rewards those who adopt
and lead such a strategy? Do you see this in any of the big cities
around the country?
Images created by
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
We have many
ways to know where tutor/mentor programs are needed, and to find
contact information for existing programs. The
Tutor/Mentor Program
Locator is just one resource available to you. It uses maps to show
where existing programs are located in the city and what
neighborhoods are underserved.
This
information can be used by any type of group in on-going
communications and leadership strategies intended to mobilize volunteers, donors,
talent and other resources needed at every program on an on-going
basis. The above graphic illustrates how high profile leaders can
support this strategy if they talk about what the needs of programs
are at different times each year. Using this communities can plan
August-September volunteer-mobilization campaigns as school starts
and November-December recognition and fund raising events as we near
the year-end holidays. Repeating these actions every year, and
borrowing new ideas from others, enable the impact of your events to
grow, generating growing resources to support tutoring/mentoring
programs in any community.
See articles
related to this topic:
Role of leaders
-
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-RoleOfLeaders
Community
Information Collection -
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Information-Collection
Tipping points -
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-TippingPoint
I've built a library with research articles and blogs where
writers show the cost of poverty, the skills gaps, the drop out
crisis, etc. Instead of creating this research myself my goal has
been to re-circulate articles written by people with far more skills
and research talent than myself.
Motivating more people to read these articles and become personally
involved in providing resources to support solutions is a
goal that young people and adults from many sectors can adopt and
lead. You can find this library at
http://tinyurl.com/TMC-Library
Are you already having
this conversation? Where? If you post in spaces I host you can
attract the people in my network to your space. I can do the same. Share
your ideas with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam or on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute
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Thank you! You read to the
bottom of the page. If you do this every month you are truly
dedicated. I'd like to hear from you. Email me at
tutormentor2@earthlink.net or join one of the forums I've
pointed to.
Good
luck to everyone as they launch a new school year of tutoring and
mentoring.