Noble goal, poor execution - Anonymous employee Year Up United Employee Review

2.0
Sep 27, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It has a noble mission at it's core and there are good amount of employees who are genuinely enthusiastic to bring about social justice. Certain managers can also be very caring and supportive on an individual basis and are willing to be flexible in terms of schedule and career goals. If you are willing to play your part (which means not rubbing certain power holders the wrong way), you can also expect to be promoted as the organization is scaling at break neck speed.

Cons

The senior leadership is often too pro-business and there are numerous times when corporations dictate their desires that have very negative consequences for our student population, which leadership eagerly eats up. While good at achieving small tactical success of getting 40% of our students hired into full time positions, larger issues of systemic discrimination and corporate induced gentrification remain unexplored, unaddressed and willfully ignored. Leadership is overwhelming White and male and are hesitant, if not outright resistant to genuine discussions of ethnic or racial diversity outside of their framework. There is lip service paid to diversity, but in reality it is little more than tokenism and window dressing with most behaviors/attitudes that are not suburban, White and male easily deemed as 'unprofessional'. Openly discussing issues of race, class and gender are a sure fire way to limit your career and become pigeon holed as not the right material for promotion. This behavior is replicated for the students we serve as well. Unless you have an MBA, you are unlikely to ever reach positions of real influence. Lastly, there is a strong trend of importing labor from the East coast to the other sites across the network, ironic in that the mission is to encourage corporations to hire locally and diversely, However, the drive for scaling often negates these concerns and the mantra of "there aren't just any candidates!" is pitifully applied.

Explore other reviews about Year Up United

5.0
May 31, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexibility, team culture, colleague dedication, meaningful work

Cons

Sudden benefit elimination (professional development funds, sabbatical, student loan support, etc.), sudden change in hybrid-work policy,

1
5.0
Jan 21, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Competitive compensation - Excellent organizational leadership, passion, and culture - Programs really make a difference in the students' lives

Cons

Any new site comes with some growing pains and so we are still figuring some things out as we go. Could use a little more direction or "best practices" from other sites or leadership. But again, these things come with any new sites!

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