A Message from Daniel F. Basill
President & CEO, Cabrini Connections
Daniel F. Bassill has spent nearly 30 years, mostly as a volunteer, reaching out to children and youth living in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood, leading an after school tutor/mentor program where adult volunteers could serve as a bridge from poverty to careers for these children. More than 3,500 volunteers and 3,300 children have participated in programs Bassill has led, some volunteers for more than 10 consecutive years and some students from first grade through high school. With six other volunteers, Bassill formed a non-profit in 1992 to share what he and others have learned through their own experiences, to help hundreds of other groups throughout Chicago connect with kids in other neighborhoods. That organization is Cabrini Connections.
Cabrini Connections has two components. First is a direct-service program that meets at 800 W. Huron in Chicago (www.cabriniconnections.net) . It combines tutoring, mentoring and school-to-career concepts in an on-going commitment to 7th through 12th grade teens that we “will do everything we can to help them stay safe in non-school hours, stay in school and stay headed to careers.” The second component is the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC). The T/MC is unique in that it borrows from what Bassill learned from 17 years as an advertising manager at Montgomery Ward, what Cabrini Connections is learning in its own program, and what the T/MC is learning from hundreds of other programs in Chicago and throughout the nation. It shares that knowledge with thousands of programs and stakeholders to help build the quality and capacity of every tutor/mentor program in the Chicago region and beyond.
In eleven years Bassill and the organization's leadership volunteers have built an organization that is highly visible in the Chicago area and is gaining growing visibility around the world. Bassill has been recognized with numerous awards and has been interviewed in dozens of print, TV, radio and Internet media stories. In December 1999 the T/MC was profiled in the 1999-2000 Illinois Kids Count report published by Voices for Illinois Children as an example of “innovative community building”.
What people say about Daniel F. Bassill is the best testimonial to his capabilities and the potential of Cabrini Connections. Here are some examples:
"After reviewing the goals, objectives and results of the Tutor/Mentor Connection, I see that we have common goals...I support your efforts and offer the power of my office to assist you.
Paul Vallas, CEO, Chicago Public Schools, July 30, 1996
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"What a Difference a Day Makes." For many of us, those words are the title of a song. But now when I think of them, I'll forever have on my mind a wonderful initiative that's taking place in the Chicago area. This is the third year for the campaign which is the brainchild of Daniel Bassill and his organization.
Sue Ontiveros, Chicago Sun-Times, August 30, 1997
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This is "an excellent example of how businesses can become real partners in the critical work of educating our children."
Barbara Bush, March 1991
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"Just as we spectators settle back to enjoy the annual blame game, safe in the knowledge that it's all about somebody else's kids, along comes a Chicago businessman named Dan Bassill with a very unsettling proposition —There is a master plan for saving our kids."
John McCarron, Chicago Tribune editorial, May 15, 19
Some of Bassill's Cabrini Connections accomplishments include:
• In October 1992, recruited a team of seven volunteers and created the vision for Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection.
• Created a Kids' Connection program that has provided 11 consecutive years of one-on-one tutoring/mentoring to more than 414 7th to 12th Cabrini-Green teens. More than 500 workplace volunteers have volunteers one to 10 consecutive years with this program. More than 30 graduates have enrolled in college since 1997. See www.cabriniconnections.net
• Created the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) in 1993, recruiting a wide variety of public and private organizations to assist in helping young people throughout Chicago have more and better tutor/mentor participation opportunities. See www.tutormentorconnection.org
• Recruited the Chicago Bar Association/Foundation as a partner and helped create the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A Hand Program (www.lend-a-hand.net), which raises funds and recruits volunteers to support one-on-one tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. Since November of 1995, more than $350,000 has been distributed to over 40 different Chicago tutor/mentor programs.
• Created first-ever Citywide Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference on Saturday, May 14, 1994, attended by 69 representatives from 40 different organizations. Since then twenty-one additional conferences have been held attracting an average of 225 attendees. See www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com
• Launched a first-ever Tutor/Mentor Leadership eConference in May 2004, with participants attending on-line workshops presented by speakers from throughout the world. See www.alado.net/econfernece
• Established Chicago's first citywide tutor/mentor volunteer recruiting campaign in 1995 and repeated it every year since. Since 1999, the campaign has engaged more than 90 agencies each year. In 2002 more than 30 fairs were held at locations throughout Chicago and its suburbs. Mrs. George Ryan, First Lady of Illinois, was the Honorary Chair of the campaign from 2000 to 2002. See www.tutormentorexchange.net
• Established a Cabrini Connections Video Festival (1996) and a Cabrini Connections International Arts Festival (2000),to teach students to produce art and video projects that express themselves and tell the tutor/mentor story. Samples of youth art, videos and web sites can be seen at www.cabriniconnections.net)
• Developed and published Chicago Tutor/Mentor Programs Directory which lists nearly 300 sites throughout the Chicago region. This is available in an Internet Program Locator that can be seen at www.tutormentorexchange.net
• Created computer-generated maps of Chicago (using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to clearly show where tutor/mentor programs are needed, and the distribution of existing afterschool tutor/mentor programs in Chicago neighborhoods. Created public awareness strategy to promote attention for neighborhoods where more programs are needed.
• Created Internet based Tutor/Mentor Learning network, with multiple linked web sites. www.tutormentorconnection.org, www.tutormentorexchange.net and www.cabriniconnections.net have had more than 100,000 visitors since August 1998. The T/MC’s strategic uses of technology was recognized in a 2001 Policy Link report titled, Bridging the Organizational Divide
• Built a media relations campaign to gain public attention for successful tutoring/mentoring programs and the need for more programs, and to increase awareness of the positive outcomes of these type of programs for inner-city children.
Awards/Honors
• Recognized as one of 3 2004 Shining Examples of Liberal Arts Leadership by the Associated Colleges of Illinois
• Received Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa degree from Illinois Wesleyan University on Sept. 5, 2001
• Appointed by Governor George Ryan of Illinois to serve as a Commissioner on the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service beginning September 2001
• Received Publisher’s Clearing House 1999 Good as Gold Award on December 31, 1999 televised segment of Montel Williams TV show
• Served as one of ten Chicago delegates for the 1997 Presidents' Summit For America's Future
• Selected as a Giraffe in 1997, for consistently sticking neck out to help others, by the Giraffe Foundation
• 100 Big Hearts for Young Heroes, from LaRabida Hospital, presented June 27, 1996
• Prime Mover Award - Garland C. Guice Grant Recipient, from The Target Group, June 13, 1996
• MidAmerica Leadership Foundation "Resourcing Leadership Award", presented in April 1996
• David Kellum Award, presented in February 1996 by the Baha'i House of Worship, to Cabrini Connections
• Acacia National Fraternity Award of Merit, to Dan Bassill, October 1994
• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Community Service Award, to Dan Bassill, March 1989
• Chicago Volunteer Action Center Heart of Gold Award, presented in April of 1987, to Dan Bassill for volunteer service]
• Voluntary Action Award, presented by Voluntary Action Center, April 30 , 1982. Recognition as one of 10 outstanding volunteer organizations in the Chicago Area.
• Chicago Sun Times Thomas Jefferson Award, presented in March of 1982, to Dan Bassill for volunteer service
• Voluntary Action Fair Award, presented by Voluntary Action Center, April 29, 1976. Recognition as one of 25 outstanding volunteers/volunteer organizations in the Chicago Area.
• Chicago Housing Authority "Lamp of Learning" award, Presented February 24, 1977 for tutoring services to Cabrini-GreenCommunity Experience/Boards/Memberships
• Commissioner, Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service since August 2001
• Member, Illinois After-School Task Force, convened by Illinois General Assembly in Dec. 2001
• Member of Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A Hand Executive Board, Chicago Bar Association/Foundation, since 1994
• Member, Advisory Board, Junior League of Chicago, since 1999-2004
• Member, Union League Club of Chicago, Member Education Sub-Committee