Creative Associates International reviews

I really think Creative is everything that's wrong with development. It sprints after USAID dollars and other funding with wild abandon and no sense of itself. Creative has no soul and no core. For all it's self-congratulation about it's long history and core values, it's all talk. They try to fake expertise in any area to win a bid. What a disservice to beneficiaries. There is zero effort to achieve sustainability in most programs. Who cares, right? Creative will just win another contract. What terrible practice. When it comes to senior managers, some are really great people and wonderful at what they do. But others are absolutely horrific and are never called out. They treat people horribly but are kept on because they bring in money. I didn't think being a family business would be a big deal before I worked at Creative. Now I know to RUN from the next family business I'm considering. I can't even tell you how messed up this company is because of the twisted lengths they go to to employ their family and friends in top positions and keep them there despite complete ineptitude and laziness. It's poison and it affects every division. Creative is also really behind the times in terms of processes. There is basically no knowledge management- no good databases cataloguing work on things they say are cross-cutting issues like gender and incredibly slow timelines for stuff like paying consultants. I've had consultants tell me Creative is the worst company they've every worked for. The company's bad management is finally catching up to itself so watch out: they recently laid off dozens of people.

It's a very bad management culture. Neglect and really just disrespect for the great young people they've attracted to work for the company. They come and go, with very little real chance for advancement or a career at Creative, and no one bats an eye. Nasty place. Total kiss up, kick down environment. And as the losses have piled up, it's getting worse and worse all the time.