Chair, Learning Advisory Board (Volunteer)

Chair, Learning Advisory Board (Volunteer)

PromiseLearning | Education, Literacy, Learning Innovation & Student Success

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseLearning

Board: Learning Advisory Board

Location: Remote with NYC-based collaboration as needed

Type: Volunteer Advisory Leadership Role

Commitment: Approximately 3–5 hours per month, with additional participation around key educational priorities

Minimum Commitment: 1-year commitment preferred

Works Closely With: PromiseLearning Leadership, Chief Executive Officer, PromisePrograms, educators, curriculum leaders, researchers, and Learning Advisory Board members

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking an accomplished education leader to serve as Chair of the Learning Advisory Board and help build a multidisciplinary team of educators, literacy specialists, curriculum experts, researchers, school leaders, learning scientists, and youth-development professionals.

The Chair will help recruit and develop the Advisory Board, establish annual learning priorities, facilitate meetings, and ensure the Board's expertise strengthens MAP's educational philosophy, curriculum, literacy initiatives, academic enrichment, mentoring practices, and student learning experiences.

The Chair will work closely with PromiseLearning leadership to ensure MAP continues asking an essential question:

How do we create learning experiences that recognize where every student is today while helping them discover how far they can go?

Key Responsibilities

Build the Learning Advisory Board

• Help define the Board's structure, expertise, and membership priorities.
• Recruit accomplished educators, researchers, school leaders, literacy specialists, learning scientists, and other education professionals.
• Build a multidisciplinary team representing complementary perspectives on learning and youth development.
• Identify gaps in expertise and recruit members who strengthen the Board.
• Help onboard, engage, and retain Advisory Board members.
• Build a culture where members actively contribute their knowledge, experience, research, and networks.

Learning & Educational Strategy

• Advise on MAP's overall approach to learning and educational enrichment.
• Help strengthen literacy, academic support, mentoring, and educational programming.
• Provide perspective on evidence-informed teaching and learning practices.
• Support developmentally appropriate approaches for students ages 5–18.
• Help MAP consider different learning needs, abilities, strengths, interests, cultures, and experiences.

Curriculum & Program Quality

• Review and advise on curricula, educational resources, workshops, and learning initiatives.
• Help establish principles for high-quality learning experiences.
• Support alignment between learning objectives, activities, student needs, and desired outcomes.
• Encourage accessible, inclusive, culturally responsive, and engaging educational practices.
• Help identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Literacy & Academic Development

• Advise on literacy development, reading engagement, writing, academic enrichment, and learning support.
• Help MAP strengthen approaches for students who may have experienced educational disruption.
• Encourage learning experiences that build confidence alongside academic skills.
• Support strategies that promote curiosity, persistence, agency, and a positive relationship with learning.

Learning Innovation

• Help MAP explore emerging research, educational models, technologies, and instructional practices.
• Advise on responsible uses of technology and AI in learning environments.
• Identify opportunities for creative, experiential, project-based, and interdisciplinary learning.
• Help distinguish promising innovation from trends that lack meaningful educational value.

Research, Measurement & Continuous Learning

• Collaborate with PromiseResearch and PromiseMeasure to strengthen evidence-informed educational practices.
• Help identify meaningful indicators of student learning and engagement.
• Encourage MAP to learn from both quantitative evidence and student, family, mentor, and educator experiences.
• Help translate research into practical recommendations for programs.

Ideal Chair Profile

Strong candidates may have leadership experience in:

• Education
• Teaching and learning
• Literacy
• Curriculum and instruction
• Learning sciences
• Educational psychology
• Special education
• School leadership
• Higher education
• Youth development
• Educational research
• Educational technology

Advanced academic or professional credentials are valued, but the strongest candidate will combine expertise with the ability to listen, convene people, build a team, and translate knowledge into practical guidance.

What Success Looks Like

Success means MAP develops an engaged and respected Learning Advisory Board with complementary expertise; educators and researchers have meaningful ways to contribute; MAP's educational programs become increasingly evidence-informed, accessible, engaging, and developmentally appropriate; and PromiseLearning has a trusted group of experts available to examine important questions about teaching, literacy, learning, and student success.

Most importantly, the Board should help MAP understand students not simply through academic outcomes, but as learners with different strengths, experiences, aspirations, interests, and possibilities.

Role Boundaries

The Learning Advisory Board is a non-governing advisory body.

The Chair and Board provide expertise, recommendations, perspective, and constructive challenge. They do not supervise MAP staff or volunteers, independently direct programs, replace PromiseLearning leadership, or exercise the fiduciary authority of MAP's Board of Directors.

MAP leadership retains responsibility for organizational decisions and implementation.

Why This Role Matters

Housing instability can disrupt education. It should never define a child's capacity to learn.

MAP wants to surround its students with people who understand that meaningful education is about more than completing assignments or improving test scores. It is about helping young people develop skills, confidence, curiosity, voice, belonging, and belief in what they can become.

The Chair will help bring those experts together.

Build the team. Strengthen the learning. Challenge our thinking. Help us create educational experiences worthy of every student's potential.

Commitment

• Approximately 3–5 hours per month
• Additional participation around major educational priorities as appropriate
• 1-year commitment preferred
• Chair scheduled Learning Advisory Board meetings
• Help recruit, onboard, and engage Advisory Board members
• Maintain regular communication with PromiseLearning leadership
• Maintain confidentiality, professionalism, integrity, and appropriate advisory boundaries

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Brief Statement of Interest

Please highlight relevant experience in education, literacy, curriculum, learning sciences, educational research, school leadership, youth development, educational technology, or advisory leadership.

Help us build a community of educators and thinkers who believe that where a young person lives should never determine how far that young person can learn, grow, imagine, or go.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Mentor A Promise. At this time, volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.