Historian (Volunteer)

Organizational Historian (Volunteer)

PromiseResearch | Organizational History, Archives & Oral History

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseResearch

Location: Remote with NYC-based collaboration as needed

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Type: Volunteer Leadership Role

Minimum Commitment: 6-month commitment required

Reports To: Chief of Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Research

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, social-emotional learning, educational enrichment, workforce development, creative opportunity, advocacy, housing innovation, and community-centered support.

Our history is more than a record of milestones—it is the story of people, relationships, resilience, and hope. Preserving that history ensures that future generations understand not only what we accomplished, but why the work matters.

About PromiseResearch

PromiseResearch advances learning, evaluation, and knowledge across Mentor A Promise. The division conducts research, documents organizational learning, evaluates impact, and preserves knowledge that informs programs, policy, advocacy, and continuous improvement.

Through research and historical preservation, PromiseResearch ensures that the experiences of children, families, volunteers, staff, and community partners become part of MAP's enduring legacy.

Role Overview

The Organizational Historian leads the preservation of Mentor A Promise's institutional history while helping build an ethical, trauma-informed historical archive documenting the experiences of the communities we serve.

Working closely with leadership and cross-functional teams, this role develops systems to preserve organizational records, collect oral histories, document major milestones, and establish historical archives that tell the story of MAP's growth and impact.

The Organizational Historian will also help build a volunteer team dedicated to documenting the broader history of youth and family housing instability through research, oral history, archival projects, and community storytelling—always with informed consent, respect, dignity, privacy, and trauma-informed practices.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational History

• Document the history and evolution of Mentor A Promise
• Preserve significant organizational milestones, programs, publications, and initiatives
• Maintain historical records, photographs, videos, and digital archives
• Develop archival standards and historical documentation practices
• Create timelines and historical summaries of MAP's development

Oral History & Community Archives

• Develop ethical oral history projects documenting lived experiences
• Help preserve stories of resilience, community, and hope shared by participants, volunteers, and partners
• Ensure all historical documentation follows informed consent, privacy, safeguarding, and trauma-informed practices
• Collaborate with families and community members to preserve community history respectfully
• Support long-term preservation of interviews and archival materials

Housing Instability Research

• Help document the historical context of youth and family housing instability
• Research historical trends, policies, and community responses related to homelessness and housing insecurity
• Collaborate with researchers to preserve community knowledge and lived experiences
• Contribute historical context that informs advocacy, education, and public understanding

Team Leadership

• Recruit, mentor, and support a volunteer historical documentation team
• Develop documentation standards and archival workflows
• Coordinate research and oral history projects
• Promote ethical historical research and storytelling practices
• Foster collaboration across multiple divisions

Cross-Divisional Collaboration

• Partner with PromiseVoice to preserve organizational communications
• Collaborate with PromiseStudios and PromisePages on documentaries, books, podcasts, and multimedia storytelling
• Support PromiseMeasure with historical impact reporting
• Work with PromisePublic to provide historical context for advocacy initiatives
• Assist executive leadership in preserving institutional knowledge

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in history, public history, archival science, museum studies, oral history, anthropology, sociology, nonprofit research, journalism, or related fields
• Strong historical research, writing, interviewing, and documentation skills
• Excellent organizational and project management abilities
• Experience working with archives, digital collections, or historical preservation is preferred
• Understanding of ethical research, informed consent, privacy, and trauma-informed practices
• Passion for preserving community history and amplifying lived experiences with dignity and respect

Why This Role Matters

Organizations remember through the people who preserve their stories.

By documenting Mentor A Promise's history and responsibly preserving the lived experiences of the communities we serve, the Organizational Historian ensures that lessons learned, voices shared, and moments of hope are never lost.

History helps us understand where we have been, strengthen where we are today, and guide where we go tomorrow.

Success Measures

• Development of a comprehensive organizational archive
• Preservation of significant historical records and institutional knowledge
• Ethical collection and preservation of oral histories
• Growth of a volunteer historical documentation team
• Strong collaboration across organizational divisions
• Meaningful contributions to MAP's research, education, advocacy, and storytelling initiatives

Leadership Participation

The Organizational Historian is expected to:

• Attend PromiseResearch leadership meetings
• Participate in regular check-ins with the Chief of Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Research
• Collaborate with leaders across multiple divisions
• Support organization-wide historical preservation and research initiatives

Volunteer Expectations

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Minimum 6-month commitment required
• Maintain timely and professional communication
• Collaborate through MAP systems and communication platforms
• Support MAP's safeguarding standards, privacy requirements, mission, and organizational values
• Demonstrate integrity, cultural humility, historical accuracy, ethical stewardship, and respect for the lived experiences of others

What You'll Gain

• Experience leading historical preservation within a growing nonprofit organization
• Opportunities to develop expertise in archival management, oral history, nonprofit research, and institutional documentation
• Collaboration with researchers, educators, storytellers, and executive leadership
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Meaningful experience preserving the history of an organization committed to advancing dignity, opportunity, and hope for children and families experiencing housing instability

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and include their resume and cover letter.

Please highlight any experience in historical research, archives, oral history, nonprofit research, journalism, museum studies, anthropology, sociology, or related fields.

Help preserve the history of Mentor A Promise and ensure that the stories, lessons, and resilience of the communities we serve continue to inspire future generations.

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