Chief Public Affairs & External Relations Officer (Volunteer)

Mentor A Promise is a New York City–based nonprofit serving children and youth (ages 5–18) experiencing housing instability, grounded in the belief that every child is a Promise—full of potential, dignity, and possibility. We deliver consistent, high-quality programming across mentorship, literacy, social-emotional learning, and creative expression in shelters, schools, and community spaces, creating structured environments where students can grow, be seen, and build lasting skills. Through signature experiences like The Imagination Studio, The Kitchen Table, The Sound Lab, and The Story Space, we nurture academic development, emotional well-being, and creative voice, all within a trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and accessibility-centered framework. Our work prioritizes dignity-protective storytelling, consent-driven engagement, and deep community partnership, ensuring that how we serve is as intentional as whom we serve. We are not only addressing immediate needs - we are building pathways to confidence, belonging, and long-term opportunity, so every child has the support and foundation to carry their promise forward.
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Chief Public Affairs & External Relations Officer (Volunteer)
PromisePublic | Policy, Advocacy, Government Affairs, Disability Justice, Accessibility & External Relations
Organization Mentor A Promise (MAP)
Division PromisePublic
Location Fully Remote — United States, with NYC-based collaboration as needed
Type Volunteer Executive Leadership
Commitment Approximately 5–10 hours per week
Minimum Commitment 6 months
Reports To Chief Executive Officer
Leads PromisePublic
Works Closely With PromiseBridge, PromisePrograms, PromiseRise, PromiseLearning, PromiseMeasure, PromiseVoice, PromiseTrust, PromiseShield, and Executive Leadership
About Mentor A Promise
Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit serving children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, literacy, social-emotional learning, creative expression, career development, advocacy, and community-centered opportunity.
MAP works directly alongside young people and families while recognizing that many of the challenges they encounter are shaped by policies, institutions, public systems, accessibility barriers, and decisions far beyond any individual program.
PromisePublic exists to help MAP engage those systems thoughtfully, responsibly, and effectively.
About PromisePublic
PromisePublic is MAP's public affairs, policy, advocacy, government affairs, disability justice, accessibility, and external relations division.
The division connects MAP's mission and community experience with the institutions, policies, systems, and public conversations capable of shaping opportunity for children and families.
Its work includes
Public policy and systems change
Advocacy
Government affairs and agency relations
Disability justice
Accessibility
External affairs
External and stakeholder relations
Public education and civic engagement
Coalition and community engagement
PromisePublic should help MAP understand the world outside the organization—and determine where MAP can responsibly contribute to changing it.
Role Overview
The Chief Public Affairs & External Relations Officer serves as MAP's senior executive responsible for public affairs, policy strategy, advocacy, government relations, disability justice and accessibility, external affairs, and stakeholder engagement.
Reporting directly to the CEO, the Chief builds and leads an integrated PromisePublic function capable of connecting MAP's direct experience with children and families to responsible institutional engagement and systems change.
The Chief connects
Community Experience → Evidence → Policy → Advocacy → Relationships → Public Engagement → Systems Change → Learning
This is not simply a government-relations or policy position.
It is an enterprise leadership role responsible for how MAP understands, engages, and builds relationships with the broader systems surrounding its mission.
Public Affairs Strategy
Develop and lead MAP's organization-wide public affairs strategy.
Establish priorities across policy, advocacy, government affairs, disability justice, accessibility, external relations, and public engagement.
Determine where MAP's voice, relationships, evidence, and community experience can contribute meaningfully.
MAP does not need to participate in every public conversation.
It should participate where its mission, experience, evidence, and potential contribution justify doing so.
Policy & Systems Change
Lead MAP's public-policy strategy and policy function.
Guide analysis across issues relevant to MAP's mission, including housing instability, family and youth homelessness, education, chronic absenteeism, youth development, economic mobility, workforce development, accessibility, disability inclusion, and other issues affecting children and families.
Use a disciplined framework
Community Experience → Research → Evidence → Policy Analysis → Organizational Position → Strategy → Engagement → Monitoring → Learning
MAP should understand an issue before advocating around it.
Policy positions should be evidence-informed, appropriately reviewed, clearly documented, and authorized before being communicated externally.
Advocacy
Provide executive leadership for MAP's advocacy function.
Translate approved policy priorities into organized and responsible advocacy strategies.
Support campaigns, public education, coalition activity, stakeholder outreach, meetings, testimony, letters, public comments, and other appropriate advocacy tools.
Build advocacy around
Issue → Evidence → Community Perspective → Organizational Position → Goal → Audience → Strategy → Action → Follow-Up → Learning
Advocacy should not end when an email is sent.
Follow-through matters.
Government Affairs & Relations
Build constructive relationships with government agencies, elected officials and their staff, public institutions, and other relevant government stakeholders in a nonpartisan institutional capacity.
Monitor government developments affecting MAP's mission.
Prepare MAP leadership for government meetings through
Purpose → Participants → Background → MAP Position → Evidence → Key Messages → Request → Questions → Follow-Up
Government relationships should not exist merely for access.
They should help MAP understand public systems, communicate community needs responsibly, and identify opportunities for meaningful institutional change.
Disability Justice & Accessibility
Provide executive leadership for MAP's disability justice and accessibility work.
Ensure accessibility is treated as an organizational responsibility rather than an accommodation added after decisions have already been made.
Advance a framework of
Access → Participation → Belonging → Influence
Partner across MAP to identify and address barriers affecting programs, communications, technology, educational materials, events, creative work, and organizational practices.
A diagnosis should never become a prediction of someone's potential.
Accessibility Is Not About Lowering Expectations.
It is about removing unnecessary barriers to participation.
The Chief should ensure the Disability Justice & Accessibility team has meaningful authority to identify concerns, recommend improvements, and help MAP strengthen inclusive practice.
External Affairs & Relations
Lead MAP's broader external affairs and stakeholder-relations strategy.
Develop relationships with community leaders, public institutions, advocacy organizations, coalitions, policy organizations, civic leaders, researchers, professional networks, and other mission-aligned stakeholders.
Ensure important external relationships have clear organizational purpose, ownership, documentation, and follow-through.
A relationship is not valuable simply because the person or institution is influential.
Its value should be understood in relation to MAP's mission.
Community Voice
Ensure public affairs work remains connected to the people most affected by the issues MAP addresses.
Create ethical and appropriate mechanisms for youth, families, and communities to inform MAP's understanding.
People are not evidence to be extracted.
Their experiences belong to them.
Youth and families should never be used as symbols to strengthen an argument adults have already decided to make.
Participation must be voluntary, appropriately consented, safeguarded, and respectful of privacy and dignity.
Coalitions & Civic Engagement
Evaluate and coordinate MAP's participation in coalitions, working groups, public forums, community initiatives, and other collaborative efforts.
Before committing MAP, understand
Purpose → Membership → Position → Expectations → Commitment → Risk → Organizational Value → Decision
Joining a coalition is not the objective.
Creating responsible collective action is.
Public Education & Thought Leadership
Partner with PromiseVoice and appropriate subject-matter leaders to help MAP explain complex iss

Work arrangement
Yes