diff --git a/scripts/deploy-standard-workflows.sh b/scripts/deploy-standard-workflows.sh
index ff5832062..998034567 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-standard-workflows.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-standard-workflows.sh
@@ -29,9 +29,23 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
 STANDARDS_DIR="$REPO_ROOT/standards/workflows"
 
-# Repos to never touch.
+# Repos exempt from blanket standard-workflow deployment.
+#   .github         — self-host source of truth; its own callers use local refs
+#                     (e.g. add-to-project.yml pins ./.github/...), which a
+#                     channel-pinned stub must never overwrite.
+#   .github-private — self-manages its workflow fleet (dev-lead runs inline, etc).
+# A repo here may still opt into a *specific* workflow via SKIP_OVERRIDES below.
 SKIP_REPOS=(".github" ".github-private")
 
+# Per-workflow opt-ins for otherwise-skipped repos. Keyed by workflow filename;
+# value is a space-separated list of SKIP_REPOS that should still receive it.
+# .github-private participates in the org Initiatives board, so it receives the
+# add-to-project.yml caller (the org board is a single shared target — the stub
+# is identical for every repo) while staying exempt from all other stubs.
+declare -A SKIP_OVERRIDES=(
+  ["add-to-project.yml"]=".github-private"
+)
+
 # Workflows deployable from standards/workflows/<name> verbatim.
 # Excludes ci.yml, sonarcloud.yml (tech-stack-specific) and
 # feature-ideation.yml (requires repo-specific project_context input).
@@ -43,6 +57,7 @@ DEPLOYABLE_WORKFLOWS=(
   dependabot-automerge.yml
   dependabot-rebase.yml
   dependency-audit.yml
+  add-to-project.yml
 )
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -84,6 +99,25 @@ is_skipped_repo() {
   return 1
 }
 
+# True if a normally-skipped repo has opted into this specific workflow via
+# SKIP_OVERRIDES — lets a self-managed repo receive one stub while staying
+# exempt from the rest.
+repo_opts_into() {
+  local repo="$1" workflow="$2"
+  local opt_in="${SKIP_OVERRIDES[$workflow]:-}"
+  [[ -z "$opt_in" ]] && return 1
+
+  # Split the space-separated opt-in list into an array (read -r -a avoids the
+  # pathname expansion an unquoted expansion would be subject to).
+  local -a allowed_repos
+  read -r -a allowed_repos <<< "$opt_in"
+  local r
+  for r in "${allowed_repos[@]}"; do
+    [[ "$repo" == "$r" ]] && return 0
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
 # Fetch a file from the repo API in one call; outputs "sha<TAB>decoded-content".
 # Returns empty string on 404.
 fetch_existing() {
@@ -194,12 +228,27 @@ fi
 log "Deploying ${#WORKFLOWS[@]} workflow(s) to ${#REPOS[@]} repo(s)"
 
 for repo in "${REPOS[@]}"; do
+  # Fully-exempt repos (no per-workflow opt-in) skip with a single log line
+  # instead of one per workflow.
   if is_skipped_repo "$repo"; then
-    skip "$repo (exempt)"
-    continue
+    opts_in_any=false
+    for w in "${WORKFLOWS[@]}"; do
+      if repo_opts_into "$repo" "$w"; then
+        opts_in_any=true
+        break
+      fi
+    done
+    if [[ "$opts_in_any" == "false" ]]; then
+      skip "$repo (exempt)"
+      continue
+    fi
   fi
 
   for workflow in "${WORKFLOWS[@]}"; do
+    if is_skipped_repo "$repo" && ! repo_opts_into "$repo" "$workflow"; then
+      skip "$repo/$workflow (exempt)"
+      continue
+    fi
     deploy_workflow_to_repo "$repo" "$workflow"
   done
 done