Senior Advisor to the CEO (Volunteer)

About the role

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit serving children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, social‑emotional learning, creative expression, and related programming. The organization is seeking a Senior Advisor to the CEO to act as a trusted strategic thought partner, helping the CEO examine major organizational questions, pressure‑test decisions, anticipate consequences, navigate complexity, strengthen leadership practices, and maintain perspective as MAP grows. The role sits close to organizational strategy without substituting for the CEO, Chief of Staff, COO, or division leader.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Advisory – serve as a confidential thought partner on organizational strategy, growth and scale, organizational design, executive leadership, strategic priorities, institutional development, major initiatives, partnerships and opportunities, organizational capacity, leadership structure, culture, risk, long‑term sustainability, and emerging organizational challenges.
• CEO Thought Partnership – provide a trusted environment for the CEO to examine ideas before they become decisions, asking probing questions about the problem being solved, assumptions, impacts, precedents, organizational readiness, ownership, and delegation.
• Decision Support – for significant organizational matters, help the CEO define the decision, separate facts from assumptions, identify alternatives, examine implications, surface risks and dependencies, consider stakeholder perspectives, identify information gaps, determine appropriate consultation, clarify decision authority, set follow‑through expectations, and revisit decisions when circumstances change.
• Organizational Strategy & Growth – advise the CEO on long‑term development including organizational priorities, program expansion, new divisions and initiatives, leadership capacity, institutional partnerships, revenue diversification, sustainability, innovation, technology, geographic or programmatic expansion, organizational infrastructure, reputation, positioning, and long‑term impact.
• Organizational Design – advise on how MAP’s evolving structure can support accountability and execution, covering executive structure, division responsibilities, leadership roles, reporting relationships, decision rights, cross‑functional coordination, delegation, boundaries, leadership spans, and accountability systems.
• Executive Leadership Development – serve as a resource to the CEO in strengthening executive leadership across MAP, addressing expectations, accountability, delegation, performance, development, succession,