Editorial Director (Volunteer)

Editorial Director (Volunteer)

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: Storytelling, Media & 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 and families can thrive.

PromisePress is MAP’s editorial and publishing arm, responsible for children’s literature, blogs, newsletters, essays, curriculum-aligned content, and long-form storytelling that centers dignity, resilience, and lived experience.

The Opportunity

The Editorial Director is the steward of MAP’s written voice. This role exists to ensure that all editorial content—across children’s books, blogs, newsletters, educational materials, and storytelling projects—is coherent, ethical, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and of the highest quality.

This is a senior leadership role focused on vision, mentorship, and editorial integrity, not content volume or speed.

What You’ll Do

• Lead editorial vision, voice, and standards across all MAP written content.
• Oversee children’s books, blogs, newsletters, essays, curriculum-aligned writing, and storytelling initiatives.
• Guide and mentor writers, editors, bloggers, and editorial volunteers.
• Establish clear editorial guidelines, review processes, and revision standards.
• Ensure all content is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, age-appropriate, and mission-aligned.
• Collaborate with Education, Multimedia, Communications, and Program teams to align content with impact goals.
• Review drafts for clarity, structure, tone, emotional resonance, and ethical framing.
• Support developmental editing without erasing author voice.
• Coordinate editorial calendars and publishing priorities.
• Represent PromisePress in leadership meetings and cross-functional planning.
• Check and respond to emails daily, with responses within 48 hours.
• Take responsibility for performance improvement by strengthening editorial systems, workflows, and quality over time.

How MAP Leads and Supports

MAP values editorial labor as intellectual, emotional, and ethical work. In this role, you can expect:

• Clear leadership scope and editorial authority
• Thoughtful collaboration and trust-based leadership
• Respect for time, capacity, and creative boundaries
• Transparency around goals and expectations
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Recognition of editorial leadership as stewardship, not extraction

Who We’re Looking For

• Significant experience in editorial leadership, publishing, or content strategy.
• Strong background in writing, editing, and developmental feedback.
• Ability to guide voice and quality across diverse formats and age bands.
• Excellent communication, mentorship, and organizational skills.
• Deep sensitivity to ethical storytelling, especially involving youth and marginalized communities.
• Commitment to equity, literacy, and mission-driven publishing.

Helpful but Not Required

• Experience with children’s literature or youth-centered content
• Background in education, journalism, publishing, or curriculum development
• Experience managing volunteer writers or editorial teams
• 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 editorial leadership experience within a growing nonprofit
• Portfolio-worthy oversight of books, essays, and educational storytelling
• Collaboration with executive leadership and cross-functional creative teams
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• The opportunity to shape how stories are told—with dignity, depth, and responsibility

How to Apply

Please send your resume and LinkedIn profile (and a brief statement of editorial philosophy, if desired) to

hr@mentorapromise.org

Subject line: Editorial Director – Mentor A Promise

You may also apply directly here:

https://forms.gle/ptgy2zBZXJB1q7GV8

Guard the voice. Shape the story. Help ensure every word reflects care, clarity, and promise.