Chicago Regional Housing Solutions Dashboard

This week's presentation at ChiHackNight described a planning tool developed by the Chicago Regional Planning Agency for Planning (CMAP). Take a look at the video, then look at the screen shots I've posted below.



The dashboard Elizabeth Scott is describing can be found at https://www.regionalhousingsolutions.org/

Enter a community name, or Chicago community area name in the search bar on the middle of the page.  I entered Rogers Park, on the far North side of Chicago.

This is a screen shot of that results.  In the video Elizabeth looks at a different community. You can compare the two, or search for other communities.

Note the two rows of colored boxes to the left of the map. These are the eight issue areas CMAP data focuses on. The map is color-coded for these issues. 

Click on the name ROGERS PARK in the pop-up box on the map above, and you get a screen shot that I show at the right.  This provides an overview of what housing issues face Rogers Park.

This view also shows a list of other communities in the region, including community areas of Chicago, which profile the same way. Each of these communities could be a resource for all others.

If you scroll down on this page you come to a list of the eight issues. Click on any one of them and this type of screen opens, with a discussion of that issue and some suggestions of possible solutions.  I don't know if this section focuses on the specific community area in my search, e.g. Rogers Park, but as I find out, I'll update this post.

This is a robust and creative tool and people in every community of the Chicago region (and other places) should spend time getting to know its features. Also watch for updates showing how people are using this and how CMAP is adding new features to enhance its use.

Why is this important to Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC? I've been trying since 1993 to create a map platform that would support policy makers in similar ways that the CMAP platform is  doing. At the right is a map view created by the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator.

So far the CMAP platform does not include poverty overlays, or other indicators such as poorly performing school, concentrations of ex-offenders, health disparities, violence, etc. 

It also does not include overlays of service providers and assets. It may in the future.

Browse this site to see  maps I've created using the Program Locator, and other maps created using ARC GIS.  Browse this section of the Tutor/Mentor blog, to see more map-views created using the Program Locator.

Here's a pdf created to show how the Tutor/Mentor Program locator can be used to make your own maps.  And, here's a wiki page where I show the goal of using maps, starting in 1993.

While I'm looking for partners who would help update the Program Locator that was built for me in 2008-09, I also point to other data indicator platforms, that people can use to create map stories that focus attention and resources on areas with high poverty. 

As you look at the features in the CMAP platform, and how they support discussions of housing issues, imagine a parallel platform supporting how communities discuss the needs of kids and the steps that would lead to better schools and a better non-school support system helping kids to careers.

I can be reached on these social media platforms or you can introduce yourself with a comment on this blog.

Building a "Fellowship" on the Web.

Last week I posted this article, with a TED talk presented by Steve Whitla, based in the UK.  Today Steve sent me a Tweet, pointing me to a thoughtful article he'd written, in response to my article. He focused on the three challenges I'd offered in my article, and expanded on them from his own perspective.

I  hope you'll take time to read it.

1)  Challenges of Making Maps - Steve recognizes a truth that I've understood for many years.  In the past I've had people question the value of the maps I've created, saying people in poor areas don't have access to the technology to view the maps. I said, "I know.  I'm trying to reach the people who don't live in poor areas who have the resources to make technology and access to my maps available to people in poor neighborhoods, and who will help me collect the data, build the maps, and train people to use them."  In Steve's article these would be the "Gentry" who supported map-making in the middle ages.

2) The Challenge of Motivating Growing Numbers of People to look at the maps.  I love the reference to Bilbo, from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I've read the series several times.  My graphic above draws from another fantasy series, the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan. In both books a small group of people band together to save the world.  In both books the 'hero' was a reluctant 'hero'.  I never sought the role I'm in. It grew on me over many years.   In Steve's article, he focuses on the 5% of people in an organization who might already be interested in an idea.  My efforts have focused on the same 5%, or even 1%, of people in the world who might be interested in the work I'm doing. That's like looking for a needle in the universe!  Yet, that's how I connected with Steve.

I created this concept map to show the different skills and networks I'm trying to bring into my fellowship.  I first used the Wheel of Time graphic in 2011, in this article.

3) The Role of Network Builder, Facilitator and Teacher.  In Steve's article he writes "If we're all looking a the same map, then we have a much more meaningful conversation."  That's what I think, too, but it takes us back to Challenge 1 and Challenge 2.

I've used this pyramid graphic often since the mid 1990s, such as in this article.  I've created a library of concept maps, that support the GIS maps. Steve's blog is full of visualizations.  If more people spend time trying to understand these, when we get together we are closer to a common frame of reference.

In my case, I feel that we all want kids to go safely through school and enter jobs and careers as contributing members of society. However, if someone is not doing the work at the bottom of the pyramid, of creating a map-based information system, it's hard to have a 'meaningful conversation' about actions each of us needs to take to make that support system available in all places where kids need extra help.

If people are not motivated to spend time looking at these articles, and our maps, our meetings lack the common understanding and frame of reference needed. Back to Challenge 2.

Final Challenge - Remaining Neutral - Steve added this since I did not mention it in my original article.  I think that if the data on the maps is accurate, anyone can use the map to develop strategies that support a common vision.  In articles on this blog I point to many data platforms, not just the interactive Tutor/Mentor Program Locator and maps the Tutor/Mentor Connection has created. Keeping the maps updated and accurate goes back to Challenge 1, which is finding the talent and resources to do this.

Another Challenge - Overcoming "Not Invented Here".  Over the 24 years that I've been doing this work, too many have started their own "fellowships", drawing support from political, business and civic leaders. Too few, like almost none, have reached out to say "What can I learn from your experiences? Or, "How can I help you?"   Here's one of several articles that focus on this challenge.

One more. It seems to me that Steve is writing about challenges within organizations, where there are many different power bases and hidden agendas. I'm writing about the challenge of mobilizing people from many different organizations and sectors of society - the village of people who need to take roles in raising kids and helping them move to productive adult lives.  They also have power bases and hidden agendas. They don't have the structure, and pay check, provided by corporations, which offer some motivation for people to work together.

That makes this even more difficult.

I can't express how pleased I was that Steve took time to read my original article and reflect on it on his blog. I've encouraged others to do the same, and created this concept map as a way to connect those people and their articles with each other.  I added a link to Steve's blog today.   In some ways, the people I point to are "companions" who I've been able to attract and connect in my own on-going efforts to have a positive impact on the world I live in.

I invite other readers to join us.

Understanding Value of Maps and Systems Thinking

Today on Twitter one of my new followers was Steve Whitla, who's based in Oxford, England. Before I follow back I always look at the types of Tweets someone is posting.  At the top of Steve's page was a TED talk video, talking about the value of maps and systems thinking. I've pasted it below and hope you'll look at it.



As I watched this I saw much that resonates with work I've been doing for past 25 years

Below is one graphic that I've created that I thought of as I watched this talk. You can see an explanation of this graphic in this article.

As I listened to the TED talk, I saw three distinct challenges.

First is the work of collecting information and creating maps.  On the right side of my graphic is a map of Chicago, with overlays showing where poverty is concentrated. I have been building additional overlays showing where non-school tutor/mentor programs are located, with a goal of helping all of them get the resources needed to help kids through school. You can find many stories on this and the Tutor/Mentor blog that include maps that focus on this goal.

There's a significant cost involved in collecting the data for my maps, and keeping it current, and in making maps, or hosting maps on platforms like the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator.  As you watch the TED talk, keep in mind the work and cost involved in creating the mapping platforms that are described. I've never found much money, or consistent talent, to support my own efforts. That's a major barrier to this work.

 Second is the work of motivating growing numbers of people to look at the maps, and use them in the type of reflection and analysis that is described in the TED talk.  On the far left of my graphic is a node that focuses on "building public will".

Step two in the 4-part strategy of the Tutor/Mentor Connection, which was developed in 1993, focused on building public awareness. Finding ways to do this without advertising and public relations dollars is a huge challenge.  While the Internet offered a low-cost way to share ideas with the world back in 1998, it's now dominated by people with dollars to buy attention, or by people who have high visibility, and do crazy things, to attract attention.

Yet, if we don't get enough people interested in looking at this information, and using time, talent and dollars, to support the work of individual tutor/mentor programs, as well as those who collect the information and create the maps, we won't have much success in making good programs available to more kids.

Third is the role of network-builder, facilitator, mentor and teacher. That's the role Steve was taking in his TED talk, and the role I take with my web sites, blog articles, Tweets, and other social media activities.  Someone, or many someones, needs to be making an effort daily to connect people with the maps and information available and help them understand how to use it, and how to apply it to their own life experience and opportunities.

I often compare my maps to "blueprints" that are used by contractors to build buildings.  At every stage of the building process, work needs to be done by people with different skills.  They all need to be paid, or they normally won't do the work and the building does not get built. They also all need to have a certain level of skills, or the building won't stand, even if it does get built.

In solving social and environmental problems facing the world we need blueprints, as Steve is suggesting in his TED talk, and we need resources to support all three stages of this process.

I've been sharing ideas and graphics like this in articles at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com since 2005 and at  http://www.tutormentorexchange.net since 1998. I look forward to connecting with others who are interested in these ideas.

UPDATE:  Here's an article about how traffic accidents are killing 1.25m people per year, and costing 3% of global GDP. The same systems thinking approaches that would apply to helping kids have greater support systems applies to this issue.

Mapping Network Growth in Youth Development Field

I created this concept map in the mid 2000s to show a commitment of "helping all kids born or living in poverty in Chicago be starting jobs/careers by age 25" that needs to be shared by many.  A version of this on a web site would demonstrate that commitment.

This map is really an entry point to layers and layers of addition information, representing available knowledge as well as needed strategies that draw people together and generate a flow of ideas, talent and operating dollars to all of the people who are involved in this work in the same neighborhood and/or city.

The map shown above map is an outline of the web library I've been building since 1998, which was really started in the mid 1970s as a paper-based library.

Open nodes on the map and you eventually will get to a list of organizations which you can open to dig even deeper into the information that's available. It's like going to a university. The information available is much more than can be learned and absorbed in a day, or even over many years.  Yet, the more people dig into the information, the broader the range of ideas and strategies they will have to solve problems of poverty, inequality, social justice and workforce development.

Last September I connected with Marc Smith, one of the leaders of a network analysis project called NodeXL.  I wrote this blog article as a tutorial for those interested in learning more about what this is, and why it is important. I wrote another article in February, following the National Mentoring Conference.

Today, I listened to Marc talk to a group of students at Indiana University, via this YouTube video. I hope you'll take the time to listen and to read my blog articles.

In the concept map above and my web library, I point to more than 2000 other web sites. More than 200 of those are youth serving organizations in Chicago.  Others are research organizations, funders, or people who share ideas about collaboration, process improvement, knowledge management, etc. Many of the sites I point to have their own resource sections, thus pointing to even more web sites.  

By hosting this information on the Internet via blogs and web sites, I create the opportunity that on any given day someone from one of the organizations I point to can be digging into the information on my web sites and starting a conversation with someone else.

The problem is, we don't know if this is happening, and how often.  We don't know who is looking at the information, or connecting to us or each other, so we also don't know who still needs to be engaged.

Marc talks about how the #hashtags we use on social media enable us to track topics that people talk about.  He shows how the handle we use, like @tutormentorteam, can be captured using a network analysis tool like Node XL, to create a map showing who was involved in a conversation on a specific set of days, how they were connected to others, if the were, and what type of connectivity is taking place.  

I hosted Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences every six months from May 1994 to May 2015, and one of the goals was to help build relationships between participants, and to connect participants to myself and the library of information and ideas I host. Another was to create an on-line community where more people can connect, and where everyone has a chance to talk and express their own ideas.   Visit this page and you can see what organizations were part of each conference.

So far, I don't see many in the social service field, or in the narrower tutor/mentor field, trying to use maps to show participation in events they host, or in on-line conversations.  I also don't see any who are trying to show impact, by showing network maps of individual youth and/or volunteers who participate in their programs. I've written a variety of articles focused on network building, network analysis and networking that illustrate my ideas, and why understanding who you are connecting to is a critical first step in building the type of network that is needed to build and sustain a mentor-rich system of supports that will help more youth move safely through school and into jobs and careers.

Last week I posted an article, with this concept map, which shows the four part strategy I've developed over the past 20 years, and the work that needs to be done to enhance each step. I posted another article on Monday,  on the Tutor/Mentor blog.  I hope you'll read them, and share them with people in your own network.

I'm just one person with few skills and little funding, but with a broad vision. There's room for many to share this work, but we need to be connected, and we need to be using tools that show how we're connected and that enable others to join in.

By sharing this and other articles I create the possibility that one or more readers will forward this to others, who forward it to even more. One of those people will be the benefactor who endows the work I"m doing and not only provides funding for the next few years, but provides funding that moves this into one or more universities where it grows for the next 50 years.

Using tools like NodeXL we should be able to map this process.

Out of this World Example of Concept Maps

This map is one of many concept maps you'll find on the NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission App .

I've been using concept maps for nearly 10 years to communicate strategy. I wrote a series of articles starting in October 2014 to show how these maps could communicate a strategy for leaders to follow in building and sustaining mentor-rich programs helping kids born in poverty move through school and into jobs and careers.

A couple of my maps were converted to flash animation, but I've never been able to create an audio version using Cmap tools. Browse through the NASA web site and you'll find some excellent ideas for the potential of these maps.


See my entire concept map library at this link.