Senior Director of Creative Production (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.

Division: PromiseStudios
Department: Creative Production
Location: Remote with NYC-based collaboration as needed
Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week
Type: Volunteer
Minimum Commitment: 6-month commitment required
Reports To: Chief Creative Officer

About PromiseStudios

PromiseStudios is Mentor A Promise's film, animation, photography, multimedia, and creative production division. The division brings together artists, filmmakers, photographers, illustrators, animators, designers, producers, and visual storytellers to create mission-driven work that supports education, publishing, fundraising, communications, advocacy, digital media, and organizational storytelling. PromiseStudios creates meaningful visual experiences while maintaining high standards of creativity, accessibility, ethical storytelling, and production excellence.

About The Creative Production Department

The Creative Production Department transforms ideas into compelling visual experiences across Mentor A Promise. Working collaboratively across the organization, the department develops creative assets for children's books, educational resources, documentaries, social media, websites, campaigns, exhibitions, publications, events, and digital storytelling. The department includes four primary creative disciplines:

• Illustration
• Animation
• Photography
• Motion Graphics

Responsibilities

Creative Strategy & Direction

• Develop and lead the department's long-term creative production strategy
• Establish artistic, production, and quality standards across all creative disciplines
• Translate organizational priorities into clear creative plans
• Guide the visual direction of major projects and campaigns
• Ensure creative work reflects MAP's mission, values, and brand identity
• Promote innovation while maintaining consistency and accessibility

Department Leadership

• Provide senior leadership across illustration, animation, photography, and motion graphics
• Supervise and support department directors, managers, and team leads
• Establish clear roles, priorities, workflows, and accountability
• Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing across creative teams
• Support recruitment, onboarding, mentorship, and professional development
• Build a healthy, inclusive, and high-performing creative culture

Production Operations

• Oversee production schedules, pipelines, resources, and project priorities
• Coordinate creative projects from concept through final delivery
• Monitor deadlines, dependencies, workloads, and production risks
• Develop scalable systems that improve efficiency and consistency
• Ensure teams have the materials, information, and support needed to deliver strong work
• Strengthen project documentation, asset management, and approval processes

Creative Quality & Review

• Establish creative review and quality-assurance processes
• Provide feedback on concepts, drafts, edits, and final deliverables
• Ensure work meets visual, technical, accessibility, and safeguarding standards
• Maintain consistency across campaigns, publications, media, and educational content
• Address quality concerns before final release
• Encourage thoughtful experimentation and continuous improvement

Cross-Divisional Collaboration

• Partner with PromiseVoice on communications and storytelling initiatives
• Collaborate with PromiseBrands on marketing, identity, merchandise, and campaign assets
• Support PromiseLearning through educational illustrations, animation, and visual resources
• Work with PromisePages on literary and children's storytelling projects
• Collaborate with film and documentary teams within PromiseStudios
• Align creative production with organizational priorities and deadlines

Strategic Growth & Innovation

• Identify opportunities to expand MAP's creative capabilities
• Explore emerging technologies, tools, and production methods
• Develop recommendations for new creative services and initiatives
• Support long-term workforce and leadership planning for the department
• Strengthen partnerships with artists, studios, schools, and creative organizations
• Help position PromiseStudios as a respected mission-driven creative division

Senior Leadership Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and oversight for Illustration:
  • Children's book illustration
  • Editorial illustration
  • Character design
  • Concept art
  • Visual development
• Provide leadership and oversight for Animation:
  • 2D animation
  • Stop-motion animation
  • Educational animation
  • Character animation
  • Animated storytelling
• Provide leadership and oversight for Photography:
  • Documentary photography
  • Event photography
  • Portrait photography
  • Program documentation
  • Ethical visual storytelling
• Provide leadership and oversight for Motion Graphics:
  • Motion design
  • Animated graphics
  • Visual effects
  • Campaign assets
  • Digital content animation
• Provide leadership and oversight for Creative Production Operations:
  • Production workflows
  • Creative scheduling
  • Resource planning
  • Quality assurance
  • Asset management
  • Cross-functional delivery

Qualifications

• Significant experience in creative production, art direction, animation, illustration, photography, motion graphics, multimedia, or related fields
• Experience leading multidisciplinary creative teams
• Strong understanding of creative workflows, production planning, and quality assurance
• Ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and stakeholders
• Excellent leadership, communication, and feedback skills
• Strong portfolio demonstrating visual and creative excellence
• Experience in nonprofit, education, publishing, entertainment, media, or mission-driven creative work is preferred
• Commitment to accessible, ethical, inclusive, and dignity-centered storytelling

Why This Role Matters

Visual storytelling shapes how people understand our mission. Every illustration can inspire imagination. Every photograph can preserve a meaningful moment. Every animation can bring learning to life. Every motion graphic can make an important idea easier to understand. The Senior Director of Creative Production ensures that these disciplines work together with clarity, quality, and purpose—helping Mentor A Promise educate, engage, and inspire communities while honoring the dignity and creativity of the children and families we serve.

Success Measures

• Quality and consistency of creative work across all teams
• Timely delivery of major creative projects
• Strength of production workflows and departmental coordination
• Growth and development of creative leaders and contributors
• Effective collaboration across MAP divisions
• Alignment with brand, accessibility, safeguarding, and storytelling standards
• Expansion of MAP's creative capacity and organizational impact

Leadership Participation

The Senior Director of Creative Production is expected to:

• Attend one weekly Senior Leadership Meeting
• Conduct regular check-ins with direct reports
• Lead department planning and production review meetings
• Participate in PromiseStudios strategy and organizational planning
• Support cross-divisional collaboration and major organizational initiatives
• Provide timely updates on project progress, risks, delays, and resource needs

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, mission, and organizational values
• Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, accessibility, inclusion, accountability, and continuous learning

Benefits

• Senior leadership experience building a multidisciplinary creative department
• Opportunity to shape the visual and creative direction of a growing nonprofit organization
• Collaboration with artists, filmmakers, educators, writers, marketers, and executive leaders
• Experience strengthening creative production systems and team structures
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Meaningful impact using creativity to support children and families experiencing housing instability