Pros
The program people are dedicated to the mission and want to contribute to the advancement of the students. The people you work with on your team continually pour into students and one another.
Cons
Decision making- There is only a handful of people in the org that make decisions. And when I say a handful, it’s literally five. Every single person at a site and region could align and when the suggestion reaches the handful it’s shot down. But the people at the individual contributor levels are held accountable. It’s such a flattened matrix that no one knows what the own, drive, lead, decide. So it takes forever to get “aligned” before you can even send recommendations up to the handful for rejection. Compensation philosophy- let’s just say there isn’t one until functions revolt and then magically peoples salaries are changed. Not to mention the free labor, modern day slavery, promoted by hiring MSW interns with no compensation but having them manage a caseload to support retention metrics. Infrastructure and Integrity- LACKING. They laid off 20% of staff only to back door and hire new people. And black men were the largest group laid off at a social impact organization. No transparency in the decision making at all. And since the RIFF has hired back the exact quantity of roles at more senior levels. Frauds! Regional structure is not clearly defined, multiple roles in the highest compensated function, Corporate Engagement, mostly employed by white men and women, with no clear impact or accountability. Growth strategy is chaotic and driven by money and market share, not balanced with staff and student experience and outcomes. Culture- I saved the worst CON for last but believe me it’s the absolute WORST. Driven by white dominant culture- they want it fast and perfect from all the black and brown staff as directed by white staff. Under the guise of being the experts in attracting, retaining, and advancing black and brown talent, this org has no clue how to do it for their own staff, let alone students. Up until 1 month ago the entire Exec team were white, older, men. Additionally, some of the most extreme racially charged comments I’ve ever heard were said here at this company and HR did nothing. It’s a revolving door. No one stays in the role over 12 months so everyone is always as scrambling for coverage to support students. This culture is CULT like and a consensus culture. Group think is encouraged and rewarded. The student recruitment teams are so stressed to meet metrics they literally go and pull young people off the bus stops, out of mental institutes, and even from their parents death beds to start the program. All DEI work is performative. And when you share feedback to exec leadership you’re reminded to adhere to the company’s core values. How about you lead with your own values and hold your leaders to those blues instead of muting the voice and experience of your staff? And be prepared to work a minimum of 50-60 hours per week. And your manager to placate you by sharing they work the same amount of hours. No work life balance. They want you to work while you have COVID, work and check emails on PTO. Folks will call and email you while you’re on vacation, at the hospital, funeral, graduation- it doesn’t matter because everything is urgent.