- Writing Mentorship
- Essay Writing
- Scholarship Essays
- College Essays
Mentor A Promise is a New York City‑based nonprofit serving children and youth (ages 5–18) experiencing housing instability. We deliver consistent, high‑quality programming across mentorship, literacy, social‑emotional learning, and creative expression in shelters, schools, and community spaces. Through signature experiences such as The Imagination Studio, The Kitchen Table, The Sound Lab, and The Story Space, we nurture academic development, emotional well‑being, and creative voice within a trauma‑informed, culturally responsive, and accessibility‑centered framework.
Role Overview
The Chief Writing, Literary Arts & Academic Writing Officer (Volunteer) will architect and lead Mentor A Promise’s entire writing ecosystem as the executive leader of the PromisePages division. This role is visionary, intellectually rigorous, and mission‑driven, overseeing the development of programs, curriculum, publications, workshops, editorial standards, literary initiatives, and authorship pathways that help students become stronger writers throughout every stage of their educational journey.
Core Responsibilities
- Lead the long‑term strategy, vision, and growth of PromisePages.
- Build systems that establish writing excellence across the organization.
- Develop division goals, strategic plans, program models, success metrics, writing standards, and long‑term growth initiatives.
- Establish PromisePages as a nationally recognized model for youth writing development.
- Lead programs supporting poetry, fiction, memoir, personal narrative, flash fiction, playwriting, songwriting, spoken word, storytelling, and literary arts programming.
- Develop academic writing supports focused on essay writing, research writing, argumentative writing, informational writing, scholarship essays, college essays, revision strategies, grammar & mechanics, citation practices, and writing across disciplines.
- Create writing support systems modeled after leading university writing centers, including one‑on‑one coaching, consultations, revision support, workshops, peer review sessions, mentor support, academic assistance, and scholarship essay support.
- Lead MAP’s flagship youth authorship initiative, coordinating student anthologies, poetry collections, story collections, children’s books, literary journals, publishing opportunities, public readings, and author showcases.
- Establish division‑wide editorial and publishing standards, including developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, editorial review, style guides, rubrics, revision processes, and publication quality.
- Build a vibrant literary culture through author talks, poetry readings, open mics, storytelling events, writing challenges, literary festivals, publishing celebrations, and youth writing showcases.
- Recruit, develop, and support a collaborative team of directors, teachers, editors, coordinators, and fellows to build a culture of mentorship, creativity, and excellence.
Qualifications
We welcome candidates from diverse literary, academic, educational, and publishing backgrounds.
- Experience in creative writing, literature, publishing, editorial leadership, English education, writing program administration, writing center leadership, curriculum design, literary arts administration, youth writing programs, higher education, or journalism/communications.
- Exceptional writing ability, editorial expertise, strategic leadership, program development experience, teaching and mentorship skills, commitment to literacy and youth development, strong systems thinking, and the ability to build sustainable programs and teams.
- Advanced education or equivalent professional experience is highly valued.
First‑Year Priorities
- Build the PromisePages division structure.
- Launch writing programs and workshops.
- Establish editorial standards.
- Create writing curricula and resources.
- Develop the Promise Authors Program.
- Recruit and support writing volunteers.
- Launch publication opportunities.
- Create student writing showcases.
- Build writing assessment systems.
- Establish MAP’s long‑term literary vision.
Success Measures
- Increased student writing confidence.
- Improved academic writing outcomes.
- Growth in creative writing participation.
- Student publications produced annually.
- Youth authors published.
- Literary events and showcases hosted.
- Volunteer writing mentors trained.
- Sustainable writing pathways established.
- Strong editorial and publishing standards implemented.
- Recognition of PromisePages as a leading youth writing initiative.
What You’ll Gain
- Executive leadership experience building a nationally distinctive writing initiative.
- Opportunity to shape MAP’s writing ecosystem from the ground up.
- Collaboration across education, publishing, creative, and research teams.
- Meaningful impact supporting youth literacy and authorship.
- Professional references and letters of recommendation.
- The chance to help build one of the most innovative youth writing programs in the nonprofit sector.
How to Apply
- Resume or CV
- Writing, editing, publishing, or teaching samples
- Brief statement of interest
- Experience involving writing instruction, creative writing, academic writing, publishing, editorial leadership, literacy development, or youth programming
Volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data‑privacy, and programmatic requirements. Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Mentor A Promise.
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