During the COVID-19 crisis millions of people are restricted to staying at home, making the Internet and TV, along with the telephone, their main means of connection to the larger world. 

During this time the Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC's  information-based resource library can be a useful source of information and ideas to help people find their way through these challenging times and to help build and sustain volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs that will still need to be reaching youth in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other cities once this crisis is over. 

Use the resources on this web site to support your learning.  Do a Google search using "tutor mentor" and any of the words in the tag cloud below, and find articles intended to stimulate and influence thinking of leaders across Chicago and the rest of the country.

Click here to view to an interview with Dan Bassill, founder of Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011).

Click here and use the PayPal button to send a contribution to support this work.

Thank you Dan card, from students and volunteers, 1989-90

View here

Learn what's on this web site.  View this video to learn what's in each section.

Here's an article that shows what's in each section.

Open and close each section, starting at top left, and going down, then moving to top right, and going down. Get to know what's in each section. Come back often and use these ideas and resources.

See list of illustrated PDF presentations on this web site.

I'm Dan Bassill. I encourage you to read these blogs weekly and share them with your networks.  

What programs are in your city? click here

Tutor/Mentor Blog

Mapping for Justice Blog

Tutor/Mentor Exchange Blog

Intern blog - click here

Substack.com - click here

Read/Listen to articles on Medium - click here

Listen to Podcast describing Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present)  - click here

New additions to the library - click here

To help you navigate the site, we've numbered sections of the home page on this graphic.

1) this is a progression of steps you should take to better understand issues, build a geographic distribution of resources and programs, involved leadership from all sectors, start new programs where needed, etc.

2) this is a list of links to other web sites we host with additional information

3) these are links to blog articles that connect the information on the web site to current events and attempt to build greater support for tutor/mentor programs in more places

4) the menu bar at the top of the page points to information spread throughout the site, and to visualizations done by interns to help build a better understanding of our strategies

5) this points to a list of Chicago tutor/mentor programs where you can volunteer time or talent; and to pages where you can offer support for helping continue the work being done by Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.

6) this section includes history, mission, planning resources, etc.

7-9) The middle section of the web site will be refreshed regularly to focus on some of the ideas contained in the sections along either side of the home page. Once you browse through the site and the links you'll see that this web site provides a wide range of information in many different sections. It may be difficult for first-time visitors to know where to start, or what to look for.

View this video to help you navigate this site,  created by an intern from South Korea and IIT in Chicago

Know your network. Use your Network.

This graphic is part of an essay that you can read at this link.  It describes a need to share ideas from the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC with a growing number of people in Chicago and around the country if we are to achieve long-term success in connecting larger numbers of inner city K-12 youth with adult tutors/mentors through well-organized non-school and school-based tutor/mentor programs.

What is Network Analysis?
If you have not thought much about network analysis, or how networks of people need to work together to solve complex problems, the links below provide a path for your learning.

How does this impact youth?
If you would like to follow our progress in mapping and understanding the Tutor/Mentor Connection network which has grown since 1975 when founder Dan Bassill began his leadership of a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program in Chicago, follow the links below.

Understand Geographic Mapping, Too.
Tutor/Mentor Connection has piloted uses of GIS maps since 1994. See ideas here, here, and here.

Links to follow:

*  Social Network Analysis Workspace on Ning.com for Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and Tutor/Mentor Connection - here

• Read report showing analysis of 1994-2014 Tutor/Mentor Conferences by IVMOOC2015 team at Indiana University. Looking for researchers who will do follow up on this work
  
  
• Look at work done by Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 students in an Information Visualization MOOC at Indiana University.  1) Read the 2025 report from Team K and view the dashboard they created.. 2) View a second dashboard and report created by second Fall 2025 team.   3) View analytics dashboard and final report from the Spring 2026 IVMOOC team.  that introduces a new, open-source resource, that anyone can use to map participation in events that they organize

* Collaboration and Community building articles - library

* Social Capital articles and research articles - Library

* Articles on Tutor/Mentor Blog. a) Network Building, b) Network Analysis c) Networking d) Mapping Participation

• Mapping social network using NodeXL - tutorial
• Mapping networks and ideas using Kumu.io - articles
• "How to Turn Any Network Into an Interactive Knowledge Graph to Discover Hidden Insights" - 2026 article

* Talent needed to support this work - network map (this could be used as worksheet for any organization)

Work Done to Map Tutor/Mentor Connection Network Growth

* Mapping Event Participation - work by IVMOOC teams - click here
*  Tutor/Mentor Conference analysis - 2008-2009
* Maps showing Tutor/Mentor Conference participation
* Growth of Ning network from 2007-2012 - Intern project
* Building Networks of Purpose - Network Analysis using Facebook Group . This also is an example of how SNA could demonstrate value of long-term tutor/mentor programs.

Between 1993 and 2015 interns from many colleges and universities helped the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC share ideas and strategies by creating visualizations that interpreted ideas they saw on our blogs.  Many were interns from South Korea and China. Most were from IIT in Chicago.  

On this page are some of the visualizations created using Adobe Flash animation, which is no longer supported. These have been embedded into videos so you can still view them.  As you look at these consider ways your own students might interpret the same ideas, but focused on your community, not on Chicago.   

Visit this page to see additional videos and additional visualizations created by interns. View articles on this blog showing work done by interns.

Note. Most of these videos were created prior to 2018 and still show a PO Box mailing address.  Use the contact us page to find current information. 

This animated strategy map. View the video version - click here 

This is a second video with this animation. 

View this blog article showing how this project was first created by Alan Yoo and Rack Hyu Shin in January 2009, then updated in the fall by Gun Woong Go and Sung Joong Kim. The narration was provided by Chris Warren, our 2008-09 NUPIP  Fellow.

Resources available on the Tutor/Mentor Connection website.    click here

 
This was a second project created in 2009 by Gun Woong Go and Sung Joong Kim. Since flash animation no longer works you can view the animation in the video link shown above.

Year-round strategy animation/video - click here

This Flash Animation was created in 2010 by Eunsoo Lee and Jawon Koo, from South Korea. Read about it in this blog article.this blog article.

Push-pull strategy visualized in this animation. View video at click here

This blog article shows the original version used to create this animation.

This an

Volunteering as a form of adult service learning.  click here

Read this article to see how In Hee Cho, and intern from South Korea, created this animation in 2011.   In this article you can see the first version of this animation, created in 2007 by an intern from Hong Kong. 

 

Volunteer Growth Cycle - view video  click here

This presentation was created in 2010 by Li Li, a University of Michigan graduate student who was part of an Alternative Spring Break Program - click here

Enough is Enough animation -   click here

This animation was created by an intern from South Korea in 2011, using this article as a starting point. 

How to start a tutor/mentor program - click here

This animation was created by Sam Lee, an intern from South Korea, in 2011.

Interns can make a difference.   click here

This Prezi visualization was created by SunJoong Yoo in 2014 to show work done by previous interns.   This type of project could be done in many schools, helping connect people and ideas from past years. 

Role of many leaders - animation.  click here   

This was the second part of a Flash Animation project created by Eunsoo Lee and Jawon Koo in 2010.

Learning Path to understand and adopt Tutor/Mentor strategies - click here

 This video was created in 2015 by Wona Chang, and intern from South Korea to draw attention to the information in this concept map. 

Growth of the Network - Mina Song, 2012 - click here

Visit this blog article to see network analysis work done in 2012 by Mina Song and Chul Wan Park, interns from South Korea.

Getting to Know the Tutor/Mentor Connection, by Song Me Lee, intern from South Korea. 2012- click here

 

The work done by interns that is shown on this and other pages demonstrates a role that students at any college or high school could take.  Imagine going to your school's website and find a collection of visualizations similar to what I show on these pages. 

"We Will be Hope" animation sharing who the Tutor/Mentor Connection is.  By Song Me Lee, 2012
click here

PSA created in 2014 to call attention to Shoppers Guide pdf - click here

This is one of four PSA videos created in 2014 by Sun Jong Yoo, an intern from South Korea.  View the Shoppers Guide pdf at this link. 

PSA created in 2014 to call attention to planning strategies shared on Tutor/Mentor blog - click here

This is one of four PSA videos created in 2014 by Sun Jong Yoo, an intern from South Korea.  View the PDF at this link. 

Help make mentor-rich programs available to youth throughout Chicago and other cities.

Read article titled ROLE OF LEADERS

Read more about National Mentoring Month and ways to get involved.  Follow Tutor/Mentor Institute blog articles and build your involvement.

Become a sponsor of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and my efforts.

Read my Dec. 2016 Holiday Letter

Daniel F. Bassill, D.H.L.
Tutor/Mentor Connection,  Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

The graphic below shows the talents that the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC seeks to combine in a team of people and organizations working to help more and better volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs reach kids living in high poverty areas of the world. That's our mission. This is the team we need to build to achieve it.

One section of this graphic focuses on "knowledge management" and includes visualization and social network analysis. Such talents are needed to turn this graphic from a static image, to a concept map such as this, to an interactive platform where people can log in, choose what group they want to be part of, then show up on an updated version of the concept map.

Another role of knowledge management and visualization would be to create debategraphs, like this one, to help organize the ideas we're talking about and show how they connect to each other in an on-going process aimed at building and sustaining our work for many years. In this case, the goal is not just to sustain Tutor/Mentor Institute, but to help sustain hundreds, if not thousands, of individual tutor/mentor programs operating in multiple cities.

If we can create these tools and apply them to our own team building, we can share them to help with team-building in any tutor/mentor program, any intermediary network, and any social benefit cause. If we can earn income from leasing these or training people to use them we can sustain our efforts without dependence on government or philanthropic support.

If you want to be part of this team introduce yourself on the T/MC Forum or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Since 1993 the Tutor/Mentor Connection has been sending print and email newsletters to share information that others can use to help youth in high poverty areas connect with extra adults and learning in organized, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs.  Since 2011 these newsletters have come from Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.

Visit the links below to see past newsletters.

2026 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here
2025 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here
2024 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here
2023 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here
2022 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here
2021 T/MC - T/MI newsletters - click here

Scroll to bottom of this list to view printed newsletters from pre 2000.

2020 newsletters will be in the Google Drive archive

2019 newsletters will be in the Google Drive archive

2018 newsletters will be in the Google Drive archive

12-1-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

10-24-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

9-25-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

8-22-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7-25-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

6-20-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

5-23-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4-19-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3-21-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2-21-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

1-23-17 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

11-22-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

10-23-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

9-23-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

8-23-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7-20-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

6-21-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4-27-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3-21-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2-12-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

1-19-16 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

12-15-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

11-9-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

10-6-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

9-1-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7-28-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

5-28-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4-28-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3-25-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2-11-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

1-13-15 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

12-1-14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

10.22.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

9.21.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

8.25.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7.28.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4.22.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3.20.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2.10.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

1.20.14 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

12.17.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter
11.15.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter http://tinyurl.com/Nov2013-TMI-eNews

9.17.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

8.18.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7.22.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

6.22.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

5.25.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4.15.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3.11.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2.13.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

1.10.13 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

12.12.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

10.17.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

9.21.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

8.13.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

7.10.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

5.28.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

4.19.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

3.15.2012 Tutor/Mentor Institute Newsletter

2009 to 2013 eNews archive - click here
2007-2009 eNews archive - click here
2000 to 2006 eNews archive - click here

COPIES OF PRINT NEWSLETTERS FROM PRE-2000

Note: Address and all contact information is now different from what is in these newsletters.
The strategy is now led by Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. The goals are the same. The reasons to
do this work have not changed.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to become involved

Feb. 2004T/MC Report newsletter (PDF)

Fall 1999 T/MC Report newsletter (PDF)

Summer 1999 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF) w/Barack Obama

Jan-Feb 1999 T/MC Report newsletter (PDF)

Jan-Feb 1998 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF)

Jan-Feb 1997 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF)

Jan-Feb 1996 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF) w/CPS CEO Paul Vallas

Summer 1995 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF)

Fall 1994 T/MC Report Newsletter (PDF)

Open this archive to see all 1993-2003 Cabrini Connections and Tutor/Mentor Connection print newsletters