Global Collaboration Toward Global Impact

I wrote an entry last week explaining how former PIP fellow Chris Warren is still an important part of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection--in the form of his enduring connections to people here, the time he continues to volunteer toward the organization, and also the ongoing value that his past blogs and online contributions still offer anyone accessing T/MC operated sites.

As this last point demonstrates, one of the major benefits of an online information hub is that it is not confined by its location. While tutor/mentor programs are specific to the places where they hold programs and the populations they serve, an online learning network has a global reach that has the potential to coach any leaders from tutor/mentor programs, the nonprofit sector more broadly, and also leaders in business, politics, and religious institutions. The T/MC online PDFs, links to other sites, and maps are relevant to individuals in each of these sectors. (visit Tutor/Mentor Institute and Tutor/Mentor Connection to see for yourself!).

Since we collect information and share it online (and free!), people can access it from anywhere. A look at analytics that track visits to our websites emphasize that people do visit T/MC sites from many parts of Chicago, the US, and other parts of the world. In fact, T/MC websites receive 9,000 monthly visits and 150,000 monthly page views.

The T/MC online discussion forum, NING, even hosts groups dedicated to conversations surrounding tutoring/mentoring in many places including South America, Korea, Africa, Los Angeles, and India. I also had someone from Nigeria comment on my blog expressing interest in the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference.

In addition to connecting people from all around the world to each other, ideas, and best practices, we also have people reach out to us from a wide variety of locations about how they might contribute to the organization.

Last week, for instance, a woman from Toronto expressed interest in being part of the next conference as a speaker. She was extremely enthusiastic about T/MC and what it does and excited to look into traveling to Chicago for this event (read about the state of the conferences—we still need funding for them to happen!).

Another individual, Nicola Avery, has been helping us from the UK. Last week, she created a video illustrating the use of OHATS, a technology developed by T/MC to track organizational progress. As Dan Bassill writes in this blog post, this video demonstrates that people from all over the world can borrow ideas from T/MC and can also contribute their time and skills to the organization and its mission.

Closer to home, Katie Anderson, a graduate student at Dominican University, completed a case study of Tutor/Mentor Connection and its impact. The case study is very informative in giving a history of the organization and expressing the impact, successes, and challenges T/MC faces. You can read the Chicago Case Study here.

Each of these examples demonstrate how T/MC is actively working to make positive change in the lives of youth and adults on a global level. Likewise, the number of people contributing to the organization from near and far shows that T/MC is a unique leader in connecting people, ideas, and passion and funneling that toward helping youth to careers via tutoring and mentoring programs.