Marketing & Outreach Lead (Books & Literacy) (Volunteer)

Marketing & Outreach Lead (Books & Literacy) (Volunteer)

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: Storytelling, Literacy & Publishing (PromisePress)

Location: Remote via Google Meet and/or New York City

Type: Volunteer (Unpaid)

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit dedicated to supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability. Through mentorship, literacy development, academic enrichment, social-emotional learning, creative expression, and community-centered storytelling, MAP creates safe, consistent, and empowering spaces where young people can thrive.

Through PromisePress, MAP publishes children’s books, literacy materials, and educational content rooted in empathy, resilience, identity, and belonging. Our goal is not visibility for its own sake, but meaningful reach—ensuring that books and literacy resources connect with children, educators, families, libraries, and communities that need them most.

The Opportunity

The Marketing & Outreach Lead (Books & Literacy) is a senior, mission-aligned role responsible for shaping how MAP’s books and literacy initiatives are introduced, shared, and sustained in the world.

This role exists to ensure that marketing and outreach efforts are ethical, accessible, educator-informed, and equity-centered, amplifying literacy work without commercializing or diluting its purpose.

This is not a growth-hacking role. It is a strategic communications and community outreach position grounded in trust, clarity, and long-term impact.

Core Responsibilities

Marketing Strategy & Messaging

• Lead marketing strategy for PromisePress books and literacy initiatives.
• Develop clear, values-aligned messaging for children’s books, educational materials, and literacy campaigns.
• Ensure consistency of voice, tone, and purpose across platforms and materials.
• Collaborate with Editorial and Education teams to translate content into accessible public-facing narratives.

Outreach & Audience Development

• Build outreach strategies targeting educators, families, libraries, schools, literacy organizations, and community partners.
• Support campaigns that introduce new books, series, or literacy initiatives.
• Coordinate outreach efforts with Library & Educational Partnerships and Publishing teams.
• Identify appropriate channels for reach (email, social, events, partnerships), prioritizing access over scale.

Collaboration & Campaign Execution

• Work closely with Multimedia, Social Media, and Communications teams to align visuals and messaging.
• Support book launches, reading initiatives, and literacy campaigns with thoughtful promotion.
• Help develop outreach materials such as one-pagers, educator toolkits, newsletters, or campaign briefs.
• Track outreach efforts and refine strategies based on engagement and feedback.

Systems, Ethics & Continuous Improvement

• Establish outreach workflows, timelines, and documentation.
• Ensure all marketing practices reflect trauma-informed, culturally responsive principles.
• Check and respond to emails daily, with responses within 48 hours.
• Take responsibility for performance improvement by refining messaging, systems, and outreach impact over time.

How MAP Supports Marketing & Outreach Leaders

MAP treats marketing and outreach as relational and ethical work. In this role, you can expect:

• Clear scope, priorities, and strategic trust
• Close collaboration with editorial, education, and leadership teams
• Respect for time, capacity, and thoughtful pacing
• Transparency around goals, audience needs, and constraints
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Recognition of outreach leadership as mission stewardship—not promotion-for-promotion’s sake

Ideal Background & Skills

• Experience in marketing, communications, outreach, or audience development—ideally within education, publishing, or nonprofit settings.
• Strong writing and messaging skills, with the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.
• Understanding of how educators, families, and literacy communities engage with content.
• Ability to collaborate across creative, educational, and operational teams.
• Strategic thinking balanced with practical execution.
• Commitment to literacy access, educational equity, and mission-driven communications.

Valued but Not Required

• Experience marketing children’s books or educational resources
• Familiarity with literacy initiatives or school-based outreach
• Experience working with nonprofit or mission-driven brands
• Bilingual or multilingual abilities (Spanish or Haitian Creole a plus)

Commitment

• Volunteer role, approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Minimum 6–12 month commitment preferred
• Remote collaboration via Google Meet, with optional NYC-based meetings
• MAP prioritizes sustainability, clarity, and care over urgency or burnout

What You’ll Gain

• Senior-level experience leading marketing and outreach for literacy initiatives
• Portfolio-worthy campaigns centered on education and equity
• Collaboration with writers, educators, publishers, and nonprofit leaders
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• The opportunity to help books reach children in ways that are respectful, thoughtful, and impactful

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist.

For any additional questions or concerns, please email us directly at hr@mentorapromise.org

Market with integrity. Reach with purpose. Help ensure that stories written for children find their way into spaces where literacy can change lives.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with our organization. At this time, our volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals who are based in the United States. This limitation is due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, and programmatic requirements associated with our work. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these constraints.