New example of using maps in planning

Below are two maps from an interactive tool created by Kindred Futures, that maps pathways to building collective Black wealth in the Southeast part of the USA.

 

These two maps are part of a set of maps that you can find at this page.  While the story features Atlanta, the interactive platform enables you to create map stories for any part of the states shown on the map.  If enough of these stories are created and shared, they can attract more interest, volunteers and investors to support the goals stated on the website.

If you browse through articles I've posted on this blog, and the Tutor/Mentor blog you'll see that I've encouraged people to create map-platforms that provide information that informs and can be used in planning.  

What's next?

My only hope is that the developers will take a further step and collect information about existing youth tutor, mentor and learning programs and plot that on maps, the way I've done for many years.  This article highlights 30 years of using maps. 

In this article you can see how I share maps created by others and show how they might be improved by adding some of the features that were put into our mapping  platforms between 2004 and 2008. 

In total, these articles are intended to stimulate thinking and innovation in how intermediaries collect data and share it on interactive platforms, with the goal of drawing resources directly to youth serving programs shown on the map, or to help leaders see where more programs need to be built.

If you're creating a platform like the ones I'm showing, post a link to your site in the comment section. Then connect with me on one of these social media channels. 

I found this 2014 interview today on Mastodon

Below is a post that I found on Mastodon.social today when I did a search for #youthdevelopment.

This is an interview of me (Dan Bassill) recorded by Phil Shapiro in 2014.  You can listen to it here. Note. This is a platform called "MakerTube" not "YouTube".  

I hope you'll take time to listen to it. Phil is a librarian from the Washington, DC area.  It shows how Phil and I met in an Internet discussion group in the early 2000s and have stayed connected through constantly changing Internet platforms in the years since then.  While the interview is from 2014, Phil shared it in August 2025.  Wow.

During the interview I pointed Phil to a series of article about my use of concept maps, that I wrote in late 2014 and 2015.  You can find the collection at this link. 

If you listen to the entire interview (about 32 minutes) you'll see that I end with the goal that alumni of the programs I led will some day take my place leading this effort.  That was 10 years ago. It's still my goal, only I'm now a lot older.

Since doing the interview in 2014 I've moved my library of concept maps to this page on my Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website.  And, you can find 93 articles that feature concept maps on the Tutor/Mentor blog. 

Thanks Phil for doing the interview in 2014 and sharing it on Mastodon.  Maybe a few more people will take a look.

This was not the first time Phil boosted my work.  Take a look at this 2009 article that Phil posted in PCWorld, titled "Crowdsourcing the MacArthur Awards". 

Thanks for reading.  You can find me on LinkedIn, Mastodon, BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a few other places. (see links on this page).

If you value what I'm doing and can help,  please visit this page and make a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.