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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Creative Director of Inclusive Fashion & Adaptive Design (Volunteer)
PromiseInclusive | Disability-Centered Fashion & Adaptive Apparel Innovation
Organization Mentor A Promise (MAP) – PromiseInclusive Brand
Location Hybrid (Remote with NYC-based research, fittings, and production collaboration required)
Type Founding Leadership (Volunteer Executive Track or Structured Contract Role)
Reports To Chief Brand & Product Officer
Works Closely With Industrial Design Lead, Accessibility Advisory Council, Production & Sourcing Team, Community Research Partners
About PromiseInclusive
PromiseInclusive is MAP’s disability-centered fashion brand dedicated to reimagining apparel through adaptive engineering, inclusive sizing, and dignity-driven design.
Traditional fashion systems have excluded disabled bodies — treating access as a modification rather than a foundation. PromiseInclusive rejects retrofit thinking.
We design from the body outward.
PromiseInclusive integrates adaptive functionality, aesthetic refinement, and lived-experience research to create apparel that supports mobility devices, limb differences, sensory sensitivities, chronic pain conditions, and neurodivergent needs — without sacrificing style, structure, or expression.
Access is not accommodation.
It is design architecture.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Creative Director of Inclusive Fashion & Adaptive Design to lead the vision, collection development, research strategy, and technical architecture of PromiseInclusive.
This founding leadership role will define the brand’s aesthetic direction, adaptive engineering standards, fit philosophy, and production framework.
The Director will translate lived disability experience into scalable, manufacturable, structurally refined collections — balancing beauty, utility, compliance, and durability.
This role requires creative authority, technical garment fluency, and deep alignment with disability justice principles.
Key Responsibilities

• Lead full creative direction and collection development for adaptive apparel lines
• Develop inclusive sizing architecture beyond traditional fashion grading systems
• Design adaptive closure systems (magnetic closures, one-hand functionality, modular fastenings)
• Engineer seated-wear optimization for wheelchair users and mobility-device integration
• Conduct structured community research with disabled designers, wearers, and advocates
• Translate lived-experience research into technically engineered garments
• Oversee pattern development, technical packs, grading, and production documentation
• Evaluate textiles for stretch architecture, pressure distribution, temperature regulation, and sensory compatibility
• Oversee prototyping, fittings, wear trials, and durability testing
• Establish accessibility and performance benchmarks for production
• Contribute to brand positioning, lookbooks, pilot launches, and municipal or institutional presentations
• Maintain timely, professional responsiveness via email and chat in Google Workspace
  

Qualifications

• Background in fashion design, adaptive apparel, technical garment construction, or industrial design
• Demonstrated experience designing for disability, mobility differences, or inclusive body architecture
• Advanced knowledge of pattern engineering and garment grading
• Experience overseeing prototyping and production
• Strong ability to integrate function and aesthetic integrity
• Systems-thinking mindset with public-facing brand awareness
  

Preferred Skills

• Experience working with disability-led advisory councils
• Familiarity with universal design principles
• Knowledge of ethical manufacturing and sustainable sourcing
• Experience launching new fashion lines or brand sub-labels
• Understanding of regulatory considerations related to adaptive closures and safety
  

Commitment

• Founding leadership role
• Structured engagement (minimum 5–10 hours per week for executive volunteer track; scalable for launch cycles)
• Community-centered research required
• 6-month minimum commitment preferred for collection continuity
  

What You’ll Build

• A disability-centered fashion identity rooted in dignity and structural innovation
• Adaptive apparel collections that center autonomy and expression
• A scalable inclusive sizing and engineering framework
• A brand that challenges the fashion industry’s structural exclusions
  

Fashion should not exclude the bodies that move through the world differently.
Help build a system where adaptive design is not niche — but foundational.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with our organization. At this time, leadership volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, manufacturing compliance, and regulatory requirements. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these constraints.