Below is a podcast discussing strategies of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present), created using Google NotebookLM's artificial intelligence.
to open and listen.
The (1, 2, etc.) numbers in the text refer to the different blog posts I provided.
This document details a comprehensive, long-term strategy developed by the Tutor/Mentor Institute (TMI) and the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) to create sustainable, volunteer-based tutoring and mentoring programs, especially in high-poverty areas of Chicago. The core strategy involves a four-part cyclical process: first, data collection and mapping to identify needs; second, targeted public awareness campaigns to garner support; third, facilitation of understanding and application of the gathered information; and fourth, resource mobilization to improve existing programs and build new ones. The approach leverages a robust online resource library, concept maps, and visualizations to effectively communicate the need for and benefits of these programs, ultimately aiming to build a self-sustaining network supporting youth from elementary school through their careers.
The author's involvement began in 1973, when he started as a volunteer tutor/mentor while also starting a retail advertising job with the Montgomery Ward headquarters in Chicago [1, 2]. In 1975, he became the leader of the volunteer program [2, 3]. He continued to lead a single site-based tutor/mentor program until 2011 [2]. Simultaneously, he began reaching out to other programs in Chicago for ideas, which laid the foundation for the Tutor/Mentor Library [2, 3]. In 1976, he started inviting programs to gather for lunch to share ideas, which eventually led to joint volunteer training events [2]. These early collaborations were the roots of forming the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 [2, 3], while also forming a new program to serve teens in the Cabrini-Green area of Chicago [3].
Tutor/Mentor Programs: A Sustainable Support System
The Tutor/Mentor Institute (TMI) and the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) have established a comprehensive system to support youth through
volunteer-based tutoring and mentoring programs. This system is designed to address the core reasons for these programs, identify where they are most needed, and ensure their long-term sustainability [1, 2].
Why Tutor/Mentor Programs Are Needed:
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Addressing Inequality and Poverty: These programs specifically target areas with high poverty rates, aiming to provide opportunities for youth who may not have access to strong support networks [2]. The goal is to have programs available in all high-poverty areas, particularly in Chicago [3, 4].
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Providing Long-Term Support: The focus is on offering continuous support to youth, from their elementary school years through high school and into adulthood, including career preparation and job placement [2, 5]. These programs are intended to help young people successfully navigate their educational journey and transition into adult life [2].
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Expanding Support Networks: The programs connect youth with a diverse range of adult mentors and learning opportunities, helping to make up for the limited networks that are often a result of living in high poverty areas [2, 5].
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Filling Gaps in Non-School Hours: The T/MC and TMI focus on non-school, volunteer-based programs, recognizing the importance of support outside of regular school hours [2].
Where Tutor/Mentor Programs Are Needed Most:
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Mapping Areas of Need: The T/MC utilizes maps to visualize the locations of existing programs and to highlight areas where more programs are needed, particularly in high-poverty neighborhoods [2]. These maps are tools for volunteers, donors, and leaders to help them decide where to invest their resources [2].
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Focus on Chicago: While the resources are designed to be applicable in any location, much of the library's focus is on the Chicago area [4]. However, the T/MI advocates for the duplication of this library model in other urban areas [4].
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Data-Driven Approach: The strategy involves collecting data and indicators of need to help direct resources to the areas that are most in need [2].
The Resource Library:
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Comprehensive Sections: The library is divided into four main sections, each with numerous sub-sections [6]. This library is part of the
Tutor/Mentor Learning Network, created in 1993 [1].
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Wide Range of Topics: The library covers a variety of subjects, including [7-9]:
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Justice, inequality, poverty, and law
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Homework help
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Research links related to education and tutoring/mentoring
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Philanthropy and fundraising
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Training and learning resources for tutors, mentors, parents, program leaders, and educators
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Arts, climate, health, and STEM
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Literacy and alternative youth programs
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Afterschool networks and resources
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Political action and progressive issues
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Technology and the digital divide
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Collaboration, knowledge management, and process improvement
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Chicago government and public schools
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College and career links
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Business involvement links
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Blogs on education, network building, and fundraising
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Social entrepreneurs
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Suggested books
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Volunteer administration networks
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T/MC and T/MI history, blogs, and websites
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Dynamic and Growing: The library is continuously updated with new links and resources [6]. New links are added to the library each year [7].
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Archived Resources: The original Tutor/Mentor Library is available at an archive location, beginning in January 2022 [10].
T/MC Blog Topics:
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Extensive List of Topics: The blog covers a wide array of subjects [11-13]:
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Leadership
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Learning
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Network Building
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Collaboration
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Concept Mapping
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Strategy
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Mentoring
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Public Awareness
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Volunteer Recruitment
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Maps and Visualization
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Philanthropy
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Poverty
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Social Justice
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Youth Leadership
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The Four Part Strategy
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Long-Term Perspective: The blog archive demonstrates an ongoing dedication to the ideas and strategies. The blog includes articles from 2005 to 2025 [14-20].
Ongoing, Long-Term Process:
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Cycle of Improvement: The TMI promotes a cycle of continuous improvement with a four-part strategy that repeats annually [2, 5].
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Emphasis on Sustainability: The focus is on building systems and infrastructure to support programs over the long term [1, 2].
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Resource Mobilization: The T/MI is dedicated to assisting individual programs and communities of programs in developing business plans for obtaining the resources to fuel innovation and process improvement [2, 21]. The T/MC seeks to increase the amount of attention and resources that are drawn to tutor/mentor programs [21].
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Building Public Will: The TMI also focuses on building public support for this type of work [5].
• Four-Part Strategy: Several blog articles focus on the 4-part strategy, developed since 1993. See more details about this below:
• Annual Event Calendar: The T/MC has developed an annual event and marketing plan that repeats from year to year [21]. The annual event calendar features four key events [23, 24]:
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Volunteer Recruitment starts in August, aiming to increase the number of people who volunteer their time, skills, or financial support at tutor/mentor programs [22, 24].
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Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in November, designed to bring together leaders, volunteers, and supporters, and to encourage year-end donations [24].
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Feb/March Motivation/Recruitment event to energize volunteers and recruit replacements [24].
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Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in May/June, intended to celebrate the accomplishments of volunteers, students, and programs while sharing best practices [24].
The T/MC and TMI framework is about addressing systemic issues that affect youth in high-poverty areas, not just about tutoring or mentoring or building a program [2, 25]. The goal is to create a sustainable support system that helps young people move successfully through school and into adult lives and careers [2, 5].
The four-part strategy is:
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Step 1: Information Collection and Mapping
The first step focuses on gathering and organizing information about existing tutor/mentor programs, their locations, and the needs of the communities they serve [3]. This includes creating maps to visualize where programs are located, where they are needed, and what resources are available [1, 3]. The aim is to provide volunteers, donors, and leaders with data to make informed decisions about where to get involved and where to invest resources [3]. This step also involves building a large library of resources with articles about why these programs are needed and how to make them stronger. The library includes links to youth-serving organizations nationwide, as well as articles on fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and training [3]. Concept maps provide greater detail, and point to relevant sections of the web library [3].
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Step 2: Public Awareness and Communication
This step focuses on creating a daily flow of stories about tutoring and mentoring, aiming to draw people to the web library and encourage them to support programs [3]. This involves using various communication channels, such as social media and newsletters, to highlight the need for tutoring and mentoring and to promote events [1, 3]. The strategy uses a calendar of events timed to the rhythm of tutor/mentor programs [1]. For example, August focuses on volunteer and student recruitment, November on year-end giving, and May/June celebrates the work done and focuses on planning [1, 4]. The goal is to generate media coverage of events and to use the visibility of leaders to draw attention to the cause [1].
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Step 3: Information Facilitation and Understanding
This step is designed to help people understand and apply the information gathered in Step 1 [3]. It involves providing resources and support to help volunteers, leaders, and other stakeholders make sense of the information and use it to improve their programs [3]. This is achieved by sharing examples of how to apply the information, hosting conferences to bring people together to learn from each other, and using social media to share information and draw attention to programs [3]. The goal is to create a network of leaders who can help facilitate understanding of the information [3].
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Step 4: Resource Mobilization and Program Improvement
The final step focuses on translating increased awareness and understanding into action [3]. This involves encouraging people to seek out tutor/mentor programs in their communities and offer their time, talent, and money [3]. The maps and visualizations created in Step 1 play a key role here, by showing where the needs are greatest [3]. The goal is to support programs so that they constantly improve, helping kids connect with volunteers and learning opportunities [3]. This step is not a one time thing, and repeats each year to help programs grow [3].
Maps are a critical tool within this strategy [3].
They are intended to show where existing programs are located, making it easier for volunteers, parents, donors, and the media to find them [1, 3]. At the same time, these maps highlight areas where new programs are needed, particularly in high-poverty neighborhoods [3]. The goal is to have effective, constantly improving programs in every high-poverty area, reaching youth of all ages [3]. By building and maintaining a comprehensive list of programs, the strategy encourages each program to learn from each other [3]. The T/MC hosted conferences every six months from May 1994 to May 2015 to facilitate this [3, 4]. Connecting with each other via online platforms is also strongly encouraged, creating a continuous learning network [3].
Concept maps and visualizations are central to the T/MC and TMI strategy [2, 3].
They are used to share complex ideas in an easy-to-understand format [2, 3]. Some of the concept maps and visualizations mentioned include:
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Concept maps that break down the four-part strategy into its component parts. These maps show how each step is connected and how they work together to achieve the overall goal [3].
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Visualizations of the 12 years it takes for youth to move through school and the additional years it takes to get into a career. This graphic is meant to emphasize the need for long-term support [1].
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Graphics depicting the elements of "Total Quality Mentoring" [2].
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Concept maps showing the various supports kids need, from elementary school to high school and beyond [2].
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Visualizations showing how to build public and private sector support for programs [2].
The four-part strategy was developed in 1994, and refined by 1995 [3]. The author's goal is to provide a library of information and ideas that volunteers could draw from, and to help programs build a talent pool of veteran volunteers and staff who could provide answers to a wide range of questions [2]. The resources provided are intended to help others understand the need for strong tutor/mentor programs and to take action to support them. The author notes that he does not have all the answers, but he believes that the information and resources he has gathered can help people to solve complex problems [2]. The overall goal is to build and sustain public and private support for hundreds of separate programs and for the intermediaries who support the entire system [2].
The T/MC was formed in 1993 [3, 5]. In 2011, the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to continue the T/MC’s work and expand its reach [3, 6]. The author now seeks leaders in universities, businesses, and other institutions to take ownership of this work, adapt it, and carry it forward [3]. This involves adopting the four-part strategy, building their own directories of local programs, and creating their own maps and visualizations [3].
The strategy is designed to be decentralized [3, 5]. The information library and ideas shared on the blog and website are meant to inspire the thinking and actions of others [3, 5].
article about me leaving my advertising career with Montgomery Ward to support tutor/mentor programs in Chicago.
One lesson I learned from this deep dive using Google NotebookLM is to NOT use too many sources. The summary above draws from six sources of information.
I've posted all of this information multiple times on this blog and the Tutor/Mentor blog. What Google Notebook LM does is provide a different summary, and more importantly, the podcast. It makes the information more understandable and demonstrates the type of conversations these resources are intended to inspire.
However, one caution with the podcast is that they often exaggerate and add in information not in the source materials. Since last week I've created 6-8 podcasts, but only two am I able to share, such as the one above. I've not yet learned how to fine tune the podcast.
I hope you value this review. It's a new year and as we fear what the new President will do, we need to emphasize what individuals can do. You can create your own interpretations of any of my resources, focusing on helping volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in high poverty areas across the world.
Or you can apply the four-part strategy to creating an information base that focuses on other problems that need to be solved. As you do that, the NotebookLM tool adds another way to help people find and understand the information you're sharing.
