In addition to giving me an opportunity to meet many program leaders, the meeting revealed various avenues where programs might learn from one another. For example, as one person discussed questions she had about program policies, others jumped in with how their programs handle legal matters. As another leader grappled with how to best use social media, another stepped up and offered insights about her use of Facebook to connect to mentors and donors.
These are just a few of the many conversations that were started yesterday. I am looking forward to watching as these conversations blossom into collaborations this coming year.
Here are the complete meeting minutes:
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Brainstorming and Collaboration Meeting
August 30, 2010
- Introductions
- Organizations present:
Becoming We The People
Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection
Camp of Dreams
Chicago Lights Tutoring and Summer Day
Howard Area Community Center—Youth Division Programs
Lake County Regional Office of Education
Life Directions—Chicago
New Horizons Mentoring Program at Gads Hill Center
Wicker Park Learning Center
- Discuss purposes of meeting:
- Check in with programs—updates, current challenges, current strengths
- Network between program leaders and brainstorm potential collaborations
- Check-in before CPS regular school year begins on September 7th
- November conference planning
- Priorities/Feedback Forum
- Reviewed results from 2009 survey of program needs and how the current challenges
of programs might be similar/differ - Fundraising
- Programs that have depended on federal dollars now leaning more on private
donations - Given the economy, grants and money from foundations even more
competitive—programs finding innovative ways to evaluate programs and
show results-oriented data for grants - Smaller fundraiser events—board members leading small-scale fundraisers
- Tough to quantify mentoring side of relationships which is more anecdotal
- Programs that have depended on federal dollars now leaning more on private
- Volunteer recruitment
- Need volunteers willing to commit for a longer time period; programs not
taking “just anyone” so can be hard to find the right people - Some of the best recruitment comes from word of mouth; focus on keeping
current mentors/volunteer happy and helping them have the best
experience so they will refer friends (support/check in meetings,
monthly social events, “open door” policy) - Pair with civic organizations that do volunteering as a group
- Need volunteers willing to commit for a longer time period; programs not
- Engaging university students and interns as volunteers
- DePaul University Steans Center for
Service Learning - Partnerships with Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Job Fair this
Wednesday—check their website for details) - Loyola—upcoming internship fair
- Recruiting quality interns—best luck when post a job description and then
interview the candidates
- DePaul University Steans Center for
- Social Networking
- Facebook vs. Twitter: Twitter can reach a more general network of people with
more content specific information (ie: “Read this article and pass it
along” or “Attend this meeting today!”) - Important to have a presence within all social networking platforms (Facebook, Linked-in,
Twitter, etc.) in order to connect with those who use each account - Facebook groups: can be helpful to have separate groups designated for mentors,
parents, and students - Get creative. Camp of Dreams posts inspirational quotes to Twitter and
‘words of the day’ to Facebook and kids get rewarded for using that
word in their statuses
- Facebook vs. Twitter: Twitter can reach a more general network of people with
- Program policies
- Questions regarding how different programs handle legal/logistical policy issues
(ex: Can students attend sporting events where there is alcohol served?
Are permission slips needed for every type of event?) - Can be best to have generalized policies (re: Mentors must not drink in the
presence of a student and may not take students to a venue where
consumption of alcohol is the primary activity) - What are the Illinois
laws for youth programs? Do you have an attorney who can advise you on
these matters? - Best practices in this area—potential workshop topic!
- Questions regarding how different programs handle legal/logistical policy issues
- Background Checks
- State of Oregon
provides free background checks to mentors—could something like this be
duplicated in IL? - Potentially valuable to form a consortium of programs to do background checks
together and bring down the costs - Adam Walsh Act—background check that Cabrini Connections uses
- Having mentors pay or partially pay for the background checks as an upfront”
buy-in” to the program
- State of Oregon
- Reviewed results from 2009 survey of program needs and how the current challenges
- Ideas for T/MC to Best Serve Program Needs
- Hold meetings throughout the year based around specific topics (ex: marketing,
program evaluation, fundraising) so programs with particular interests
can share best practices and collaborate
- Hold meetings throughout the year based around specific topics (ex: marketing,
- November 2010 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference
- Tentative dates: November 11th-12th OR November 18th-19th
- Location: Tentatively DePaul University, Lincoln Park
Campus (Nov 11/12)—will be spread amongst several buildings, so if we
find a more convenient location in the next few weeks, we are open to
suggestions!!
- Tentative dates: November 11th-12th OR November 18th-19th
- Conference Brainstorm
- Workshops ideas
- Social Networking
- Program Policies
- Background checks
- How mentor programs decrease drop-out rates (overview of statistics and data)
- Coalition Building around issues such as substance abuse prevention
- Ideas for format and schedule
- Networking 101: Before/after/instead of keynote, teach people how to use conference
to network and meet people - Ice-breakers/activities in groups of 8-10 people
- Keep attendee list on the website. Good for contacting people you meet.
- Networking 101: Before/after/instead of keynote, teach people how to use conference
- Wrap-up and Upcoming Events
- Life Directions: Parties for Peacemakers Retreat—contact Van Bensett
- Becoming We the People: September 11th Scavenger hunt and community
building event—contact Jordan Hestermann - New Horizons Mentoring Program at Gad’s Hill: in process of hiring ten full-time
mentors as part of Culture of Calm Initiative; looking for good
candidates—contact Katie Cusack or Sandy Reyes - Camp of Dreams: Community Days open house on September 25th, need volunteers to teach
high school seminars on leadership and community service—contact Jacquita Smith or Michaela Pease
** Conference Planning Meeting: Tuesday, September 21st at 12:00pm**
