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National Wildlife Federation

Engaged Employer

Stay far away - Manager National Wildlife Federation Employee Review

1.0
Jun 1, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice office in DC (but no one goes in)

Cons

I know several people who have been in therapy for months to deal with the trauma of working here. Tons of politics and undercutting. Unclear how money is truly being spent (pledged money for a cause does not seem to go to the actual cause but to NWF itself). No accountability for leadership. One leader took off for 3 weeks and her away message was "I will delete all of my emails when I get back - if important, resend then." Terrible HR department who is not looking out for employees. Terrible leadership who randomly makes long-winded rambling speeches that other employees have to clean up afterwards. Do not expect to get promoted. Do expect to spend a lot of time circling around emails in NWF within the organization, without them going anywhere. Genuinely does not seem like NWF has made environmental impact: think to yourself, what have they done that has changed the game for the environment? Benefits are not open to everyone - the therapist on-staff gossips about staff to other staff in therapy sessions, and her sessions are always booked up. Interns rarely get hired. Lots of talk about being equitable and white guilt but organization does not promote kindness or have good retention of BIPOC staff. Extremely toxic culture - I would not recommend this organization to anyone, not even if you're trying to get your foot in the door, as it can come with years of professional baggage. Worked insane hours.

Explore other reviews about National Wildlife Federation

5.0
May 1, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work place and people!

Cons

No cons for this place

3.0
Feb 9, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Staff are generally passionate, thoughtful, dedicated to the mission, and committed to collaboration and progress; have never worked with a more inspiring or supportive team - Work and organizational structure present opportunities to collaborate with diverse partners from across the world, both inside and outside NWF, which benefits the work and one's professional growth - True commitment to work/life balance, evidenced in both policies and messaging from leadership at multiple levels; incredibly valuable, especially for working parents and people navigating health and family issues - Teams are doing good and important work that's making a difference

Cons

- Limited potential for upward mobility - organization made welcome strides in recent years to standardize performance reviews, position descriptions, and salary bands, but rollout has been slow and confusing; in an attempt to put everyone on a level playing field leadership has blocked the ability of teams to support growth of deserving individuals; this prevents NWF from actually valuing and nurturing talent - Lack of accountability and strategic, values-based decision-making from executive-level leadership - leaders are great at couching decisions/updates in the language of humility and transparency, but outcomes and process is often anything but; staff are consistently met with defensiveness when they raise legitimate concerns about lack of clarity or shifts in programmatic structure that are unaligned with organization's strategic plan; this devalues the expertise of staff and fuels a demoralizing work environment; actions of CEO and supporting staff sometimes seem to be more interested in protecting CEO's potential future political career than the well-being of the organization they lead

5
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