Volunteer: The Voice of the African Diaspora® (VOAD) Editorial Relaunch & Publishing Operations System

This is a volunteer opportunity provided by Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit creating social change through pro bono connections. African Diaspora United, Inc., doing business as African Diaspora United for Development (ADUD), is relaunching The Voice of the African Diaspora® (VOAD), its media and strategic-communications platform. ADUD has legacy publication materials, relaunch direction, potential contributors and an established editorial vision, but these resources are not yet organized into one dependable operating system. Editorial work currently risks depending on informal calendars, individual follow-up and inconsistent approval or archiving practices. This can cause assignments to be missed, deadlines to slip, permissions or sourcing requirements to be unclear, and institutional knowledge to remain with one person. ADUD needs a practical system that makes editorial responsibilities, decisions, deadlines, safeguards and records visible and repeatable. We are seeking an experienced pro bono editorial-operations, publishing, content-management or nonprofit-media consultant to build that system. The consultant will connect the calendar, workflow, tracker, templates, contributor structure, review controls and archive into one usable toolkit that a continuing Managing Editor can operate after the project ends. ADUD will provide available legacy materials, approved organizational direction, a primary contact, authorized stakeholder access and timely decisions. This is a bounded, independently recruitable systems project. It is not contingent on another Taproot project, and it is not an ongoing Managing Editor, writing, publication-design or content-production position. By the end of this project, the consultant will deliver an approved VOAD Editorial Operations Toolkit, operating guide and handoff package. The consultant will test the system through a structured walkthrough using sample editorial items; the project does not require production of a public edition or digest. Specific deliverables will include: A six-month editorial calendar structure covering themes, departments, content types, audiences, deadlines and channels. An end-to-end workflow from idea or pitch through assignment, drafting, editing, fact-checking, approval, production, publication, correction and archiving. A pitch, assignment and production tracker showing owners, status, dependencies, approvals and deadlines. Reusable assignment briefs, submission requirements, permissions requests and deadline-follow-up templates. A contributor-role map and directory structure for writers, interviewers, photographers, reviewers and other contributors. A first-level editorial-review checklist covering clarity, sourcing, factual assertions, attribution, permissions, conflicts of interest and sponsored content. An editorial archive structure with naming, version, permissions and retrieval conventions. A concise operating guide, SOPs, implementation notes and handoff/training session for authorized ADUD personnel. Success means ADUD has one usable, approved and maintainable editorial system; responsibilities and approval points are clear; records can be located and updated; and the continuing Managing Editor can use the toolkit without depending on the consultant. The first-edition content plan, pilot digital digest, public content production, indefinite contributor management, final editorial authority, legal review, publication design, website development and social-media management are outside this project and may be considered separately after the toolkit is in place. African Diaspora United, Inc. Mission: ADUD is a non-partisan, non-profit organization created to ultimately empower African diaspora communities worldwide, by engaging and partnering with individuals, businesses, agencies, and institutions in a collaborative effort to heavily contribute to the educational and social development of Africa and to build a stronger community. The vision of ADUD is to improve the partnership opportunities for our African diaspora communities, so that together we can stand strong to address the social and educational issues and lacks in Africa. ADUD staff and trained volunteers will educate, connect people to resources and encourage community collaboration addressing subtopics including but not limited to health, youth, families, welfare and community development. Our programs are developed in direct response to community need. In a global view, ADUD understands that for all of the reasons, whether it be for the pursuit of increased economic and civil stability, for increased health well-being, or if it is to embark on a new job or join a loved one, the African Diaspora target community in this 21st Century, consists of people of African origin living outside their country of origin, irrespective of their current citizenship and nationality, who are willing to contribute to the development of Africa, starting with their local community. Through our principal pillars Help, Educate, Lead, and Promote Philanthropy (H.E.L.P.), we assist our local diaspora communities by connecting people to resources here and abroad by offering specialized educational programs and projects, by offering various workshops on awareness of community needs and integration, healthy living, etc. and other educational trainings, coordinating social and professional networking events, and providing organized opportunities to give back to our local communities and our countries.