the retail model of youth mentoring - case for business involvement

8/3/2019 The Retail Model of Youth Mentoring - Case for Business Involvement

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The Tutor/Mentor Connection:A Retail Business Model

Tutoring/mentoring is

simple: it connects

caring adults withchildren and youth whoneed extra adult

support to help themgrow to reach their fullpotential in life.

Property of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection, Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chicago, Il. 60654 [email protected]


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The Case for a more comprehensive form of tutoring/mentoring

Many leaders, including the President of the United States,already support the concept of mentoring.

However, very few have business plans that answer these

questions:

What are all the things we need to do to assure that youth born inpoverty, and participating in tutor/mentor programs, are starting

jobs/careers by age 25?

How do we increase the number, and quality of places whereyouth access these services?

Read more. This is what theTutor/Mentor Connection focuses on every day.

T/MC at [email protected]

Pg. 2Property of Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection, Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chicago, Il. 60654 [email protected]


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Leaders Needed

The purpose of this T/MC essay is not to convince youthat tutoring/mentoring is an important education-to-

careers and civic engagement strategy.

The purpose is to recruit leaders from industry to share their skills and experiences

to make more and better tutor/mentor programs available in all places where they areneeded.

to provide the operating and innovation dollars needed to fuel efforts like the T/MC in Chicago,and similar structures in other cities.

and provide resources to support collaborations which bring Science, Technology, Arts,Engineering and Math mentoring into existing tutor/mentor programs



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Innovative strategies are needed to assureavailability of tutoring/mentoring programs

At this time the biggest obstacleto participating in a tutor/mentorprogram in Chicago or in mostother major cities is that

there are not enough

programs

there are not enough goodprograms, and

there is a poor distribution ofprograms in neighborhoodswhere they are most needed.

Chicago

The shaded

areas are wherepoverty levels inChicago are 20%of greater. Theblack dots arelocations of non-school tutor/

mentor programs.In many areasthere are almostno tutor/mentorprograms.

See interactive T/MC map at

http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspxPg. 4


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Tutor/Mentor Programs arenot available in all places wherethey are needed

There is a perception that many organizations offertutoring/mentoring or youth development services.

In reality, in many neighborhoods there are fewprograms that offer tutoring and/or mentoring.

When the availability of programs is looked at by

age and time of day segments, it is obvious that acontributing factor to the high drop out rate of teensis the lack of programs to mentor them to careers.



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Not all programs are equally effectiveThere are wide differences between the type of tutoringand/or mentoring programs that are available.

number and age group of children served

number of volunteers involved

quality of staff available to support youth or volunteers

uneven availability of arts, technology, career mentoring

As the T/MC builds its database of programs, it seeks to build anunderstanding of the various types of programs, dividing them byage served, time of day services is provided, and type oftutoring/mentoring offered.



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Not everyone can volunteer time asa tutor/mentor

Customers for a tutor/mentor programsare not just children and youth living inpoverty neighborhoods, near poorly

performing schools, or in brokenfamilies

Customers are volunteers who canhelp provide infrastructure and

leadership, not just tutors & mentors.



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Many ways to volunteer volunteers are needed to create innovative strategies thatincrease visibility for tutor/mentor programs and increase the

flow of operating dollars to every tutor/mentor program inChicago and other major cities

business partners are needed to develop strategies

using employee volunteers, company assets & dollars toPULL youth from poverty into jobs & careers.

people and organizations are needed to organize and

provide curriculum, training,and ideas, to help educate allstakeholders in the movement.



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The T/MC borrows its strategies fromproven business practices

Successful companies try to put stores wherethere are large numbers of potentialcustomers;

Some companies have thousands of storesdistributed throughout every state in thecountry

Economies of scale are used to increasequality and lower the operating costs perlocation



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Successful Companies Invest inInfrastructure

Advanced technologies are used to makesure each store always has products andservices that are wanted by customers

Successful companies invest in employeerecruitment and training programs that place

courteous, well trained staff in every store



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Advertising Draws Customers

Successful companies invest heavily in daily

advertising and public relations campaignsintended to build a positive image and drawcustomers to their stores

Marketing campaigns that support hundreds

of stores in many cities are more cost

effective than ad campaigns offered byhundreds of individual stores in manydifferent neighborhoods and cities.



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Similar Strategies are needed tosupport the tutor/mentormovement in America

* tutor/mentor programs are needed in every povertyneighborhood and near every poorly-performingschool in the country

learning systems and information networkingstructures are needed to make sure that eachtutor/mentor program has products and services thatmotivate youth and volunteers to participate for

multiple years

on-going advertising is needed to draw customers toprograms in multiple locations.



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How are these business strategiesincorporated into the T/MC?

A T/MC store is a place in a neighborhood (usuallya non-profit organization) where children and youthcan meet on a regular basis over an extendedperiod of time.

In such programs adults serve as tutors, mentors,coaches, change-agents, and friends, with acommitment to help youth succeed in school, stay

safe in non-school hours and stay headed towardjobs and careers.



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OUR GOAL: SUPPORT THEGROWTH OF COMPREHENSIVE,

VOLUNTEER-BASED TUTORING/MENTORING PROGRAMS THAT

HELP INNER CITY YOUTH REACH

CAREERS

To SUCCEED

We must recruit businessleaders who will use their

resources in PULLING

Youth to Careers

To SUCCEED

We must help tutor/mentorprogram leaders, volunteers,schools and parents be more

effective in PUSHING

Youth to Careers

School-Time Programs

3-5 PM Non-School Programs

Pre-K K - 5th 5th - 6th 6th - 8thHigh

SchoolCareerTrack

After 5 PM and Weekend Programs

Every Industry has a reason tostrategically invest in creating a

pipeline to careers for kids livingin poverty.

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This is a K-16 and CareerEducation System

* college and business partners are needed to helpbuild a trained cadre of tutor/mentor leaders, and tosupport them in their daily work and careerdevelopment

* innovative partnerships with business and with peersare needed to create a greater public visibility and amore consistent flow of essential resources (dollars,

volunteers, technology, etc.) to every program in everycity.



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T/MC Maintains Database ofChicago Area Programs

Since 1993 the T/MC conducted on-going

surveys to create a database listing more than400 locations where various forms of tutoringand/or mentoring are offered. This database is

used by parents, social workers, prospectivevolunteers and potential donors.

It can be seen in the Program Locator sectionofhttp://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspx



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Chicago and other cities need aprogram-support Infrastructure

We need to think like for-profit organizations who try to

put products and services where customers areconcentrated.

The Internet offers the opportunity to build a low-costlearning network that could support the growth ofthousands of tutor/mentor programs

T/MC web sites are at the core of a growing traininginfrastructure that seeks to help each tutor/mentorprogram find ideas and resources to be able to

constantly improve.



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Every Tutor/Mentor Program needsto have products and services that

customers desire.

Through the Internet we can learn what works in otherprograms. With business support we can duplicate

good ideas in more places.

We need to understand that customers are not justkids and volunteers.

They are also volunteers who can build the quality andavailability of tutoring and/or mentoring services inneighborhoods throughout the country



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A Tutor/Mentor Store needs to have

talented, motivated, well-trainedemployees and leaders.

The T/MC seeks to

A) recruit talented people to be leaders and providestraining and on-going support to help these people stay

in the tutor/mentor business longer

B) provide an Internet-based knowledge system andlearning environment that connects tutor/mentorstakeholders in on-going networking and learning, andthat will be used by leaders of tutor/mentor program in all

parts of the country.



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Involvement based on where needis greatest.

T/MC advertising and public awareness seeks to educateresource providers to make choices of involvement, drawing froma menu of ways individuals and organizations could be involved,and using GIS maps that show where the need for tutor/mentorprograms is greatest, and where existing programs are located in

these areas.

Such a strategy will lead to a more even distribution of resourcesto all neighborhoods where tutor/mentor programs are needed,

not just to those with a visible brand name or in a high profileneighborhood.



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Advertising and Public AwarenessWe dont have multi-millions dollar ad budgets, yet weneed similar reach and frequency of daily and weekly

message delivery.

The T/MC seeks to recruit leaders from business andfaith communities who will use their own media tocreate and lead a call-to-involvement.

Thisevangelism will reach thousands of people in

every business, social and faith sector many timeseach day with messages that encourage people tobe volunteers, leaders, donors, etc.



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The Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A Hand Program at theChicago Bar Association is an example of the type leadership the

T/MC seeks to create in every industry and service sector. Seehttp://www.lawyerslendahand.org

Models of such leadership exist

If programs like this are in each industry,each tutor/mentor program would havevolunteers modeling different careeropportunities, along with multiplesources of funding.

Strategies like this can support volunteer-based tutor/mentorprogram growth in every neighborhood of Chicago and othercities with high concentrations of poverty.



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Volunteers needed to help buildknowledge base

The T/MC seeks university partners, interns,

and graduate students, who will help build alibrary of examples showing how variousbusinesses and industries use their

leadership, human capital andcommunications resources to PULL youth

from poverty to careers.

Such Examples will fuel the actions of similarbusinesses throughout the country.



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Educate Consumer. Provide a menu ofchoices for involvement in tutor/mentorprograms

By building an on-line library of what works and creating visualdatabases that sequence what works into a blueprint of actionsneeded consistently for many years, we support the involvementof anyone who wants to help kids move from poverty to careers.

On-line networking and collaboration portals can connectvolunteers from different locations of the same company witheach other, or volunteers from many different programs with each

other and support a process of on-going learning that builds amore effective tutor/mentor workforce, and benefits thecompanies who support this strategy at the same time.



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As volunteers do service we seek toenhance learning

Every time a volunteer connects with a youth we seek

to enhance learning, so the volunteer becomes abridge to her industry, faith group, and/or alumninetwork.

Such volunteers have the potential to bring

additional resources to tutor/mentor programsevery time they return to do service.

As some of these volunteers become CEOs, this become aself-sustaining system with different leaders in different placestaking the lead at different times each year. See this ideaillustrated athttp://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/flash/vol_leadership.swf

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Our goals are your goals.Organizations that offer volunteer-based tutoring/ mentoringservices seek to improve the quality of life for people living in

poverty by helping them move up the ladder to jobs and careers.

This creates new customers and new employees for industry andlowers the costs associated with poverty, crime and workforcedevelopment.

This also creates an army of people who are more personallycommitted to helping inner city kids, because they have come toknow them, and understand their challenges, through volunteer

involvement.



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Benefits to companies and theiremployees

Involvement in well-managed volunteer-based programs providesmany benefits to employees in corporations, such as expandingleadership skills, and expanding informal networks for those whoare involved.

Using Internet e-collaboration tools, volunteers in a T/MC strategylearn skills and habits that can be applied profitably in 21stcentury business applications.

Most of all, its the right thing to do. Businesses who are effectiveat helping youth move to careers will earn public good will andloyal employees and customers.

Benefits to business - http://tinyurl.com/T-MC-Civic-Engagement

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Invest in T/MC and its partnersBecome a sponsor, drawing attention to your business, while youhelp us draw attention to mentor-rich, tutor/mentor programs

Point workplace donations to tutor/mentor programs so volunteersare well-supported and benefit more from their involvement

If you are a venture capital manager, or venture philanthropist,consider becoming an investor in the Chicago Tutor/MentorConnection. 1993-2010 T/MC funding has been lower than mostof the major mentoring partnerships in the country, yet theChicago region is one of the largest regions where tutor/mentor

programs are needed. Your investment helps T/MC do more ofthe things described in this essay.



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Get informed. Get involved.Visit the following web sites to learn more about tutoring,mentoring and the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

www.tutormentorconnection.orgwww.tutormentorconference.orghttp://tutormentor.blogspot.comhttp://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net

http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com

or email: [email protected]

Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, Tutor/Mentor Connection

Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chicago, Il. 60654

Why Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC)?From 1993 to June 2011 the T/ MC operated as partner to the Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program in Chicago, under one 501-c-3 non profit board of directors. Due to financial pressure the T/MC was separated from the Cabrini Connections program in June2011 and the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC was created to provide alternative strategies for generating revenue to continue to operatethe Tutor/Mentor Connection in Chicago while helping similar intermediary structures grow in other cities. The names will be usedinterchangeably in many of our materials since both focus on the same mission.

the retail model of youth mentoring - case for business involvement

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