Elections coming - Vote for People Using Maps in their Leadership

Il 4th Congressional District

The Tutor/Mentor Connection started using maps in 1994 to help leaders understand where non-school, volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs were most needed, and where existing programs were located.

This blog was created in 2008 to share maps that we were able to created between then and 2011.

 I've encouraged politicians to use maps since we launched this strategy.  Sadly, I've never seen this happen consistently.

Yesterday I had another opportunity, when I had a brief discussion with a leading candidate for the Illinois 4th Congressional District election in November.  Above is a map of the district. Below is one of many presentations I've created showing uses of maps:

Is Your Elected Representative Using Maps? from Daniel Bassill

See more articles and ideas for using maps on this page of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web site. 

Browse past articles on this blog and the Tutor/Mentor blog to see ways maps can be embedded into stories.

Help me keep the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC resources and stories like this on line. Make contribution using PayPal form on this page. 

Interested in helping me rebuild and update this resource? Introduce yourself with comment or connect with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam or on Linkedin.

GEOFRED blog and map - Health Disparities

The Federal Reserve Banks have a wealth of resources on their web sites. This map is from the GEOFRED site of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Read the blog article and follow the links.

This introduction is provided:

GeoFRED maps can help us understand a lot of things, including trends in regional socioeconomic data, which could ultimately provide insights for policy recommendations. In this post, we look at two important indicators of health throughout the United States: premature deaths and preventable hospital admissions. High levels of premature deaths indicate issues with public health.

I've been posting links to mapping and data platforms on this blog since 2011. Original articles, posted between 2008 and 2011, show map stories created using ESRI GIS software and an interactive Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator (created in 2008).

My goal is to provide tools, and examples, that encourage many others to create map stories that show indicators of need in different places and draw attention and resources to organizations working in those areas to help kids and families.

In this article I've been aggregating links to additional articles that include data maps.

If you're creating maps stories using some of the platforms I point to please share links to your blogs and tell of the successes (or challenges) you are having.

World Migration Map Combines GIS and Social Network Analysis

I'm on Twitter @tutormentorteam and my feed constantly introduces me to new ideas.  At the left is a world map showing migration patterns, to new countries and from home countries. It was created using a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps, and Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools.

This article shows how the map was created, tells why it was created and points to a live tool that anyone can use to better understand one of the most important issues facing the US and the world as we move further into this century.

If you operate a volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor program and include a computer center at your facility, you and your volunteers could be reading these articles and then teaching young people to use the tools. In a few years, they could be creating these stories and in a few more years they might be leading companies or leading the nation, using these technologies as decision support tools.