PLEASE Read Cons - Organizer One Fair Wage Employee Review

This is hands down the worst organization I ever worked for. No long-, mid- or short-term plan exists. As a result, everything asked of its employees is always (always) last minute, unclear, without any resources or support, a crazy high bar, and falsely framed as incredibly important. When employees manage to deliver results despite these consistent parameters, their contribution is unacknowledged and quickly forgotten about. Management, and particularly the Executive Director, have constantly shifting goals and priorities because they themselves have not decided what those goals and priorities are in the first place. This leads to frustration, anxiety, and negativity among staff at all levels related to wasted effort, damaged relationships, and distrust, and in turn leads to systemic low-moral, burn out, high turnover, and a toxic work environment. All of this is at the expense of employees, volunteers, members, strategic partners and the very issue for which they (fail to) advocate. 

The org seeks to reform chiefly the restaurant industry, one that is known for high employee turnover rates of between 40%-50%. While I worked here for almost all of 2021, 10 employees out of a total of 25 were fired, quit or otherwise forced out. That is the same turnover rate as the very industry OFW seeks to reform. The pot truly calls the kettle black. Employees, volunteers, members, and strategic partners describe the org as “a revolving door.” Multiple strategic partners told me that the only reason they work with them is b/c OFW has the money.

 I know, for a fact, that literally millions of dollars are wasted on this org that could directly go to others that are much more well-run and deserving. Simply based on 25 total staff and the assumption that they are each paid $50k/year in salary/wages alone (although that figure is very flexible b/c employees are paid wildly different figures without any justification or criteria), that’s $1.25M/yr. Then factor in the cost of healthcare, benefits, turnover, events, and other expenses such as PR and ad campaigns and funds are increasingly wasted. All of it amounts to nothing b/c the org is unorganized, toxic, and ineffective and fails to move the needle in any meaningful way while burning-out employees and burning bridges with strategic partners.

 The root of this failure lays with the Execute Director. While she is an excellent and effective public speaker, fundraiser, and well-connected to people in positions of power, she is either unable or unwilling to understand that she stands in the way of her own org’s success. She is often personally involved with low-level staffer’s workloads (see this post’s second sentence in paragraph one for cause and the next sentence for effect) and frequently criticizes their performance to them directly. She needs to focus solely on fundraising and public speaking and put systems & structures in place related to operations, as well as leave her mid- and and lower-level staff alone. She constantly, knowingly or not, undermines staff’s ability to work effectively, and advocacy suffers as a result.

 All of the above is rooted in her inability in organizational operations and willfully leaving goals and strategy undefined, despite perceived qualifications of an advanced degree from an elite university and the many books she’s written and promoted through her failing organization. 

Do not work here. The 5-star review from "Jan 28, 2021 - Digital Strategist" is definitely a fake. No amount of money, resume-building, or any other factor is worth the amount of anxiety, frustration, or toxicity you will experience.