Pros
It has a unique, important mission that you won’t find anywhere else. Small staff. Everyone but the Executive Director (ED) is friendly and eager.
Cons
Incompetent Manager (ED): - The ED is a massive micro-manager who doesn’t trust employees. She is quick to blame employees for issues (even if they’re her fault). She often gives unconstructive, disparaging comments or feedback in all caps. - She pretends to value work-life balance by aggressively complaining if an employee logs hours on the weekend, but it’s impossible to meet her unrealistic expectations without doing so. - If you raise concerns about her management style, she says she’ll fix the issue, but she never delivers in full or the change doesn’t last long. ED’s Difficult, Unpleasant Personality: - The ED has very unpredictable mood swings that make it impossible to determine what she wants or expects because it varies depending on her mood. - The ED seems to care more about her own image than helping survivors or taking a truly victim-centric approach, which is sad since she herself is a survivor of forced marriage. E.g., in private, she has called survivors “crazy” when their concerns become too onerous for her, indicating her lack of understanding of experiences of trauma that differ from her own. - Her unpleasant personality may have contributed to the organization’s inability to fulfill its mission at a faster, higher rate because of her problematic behaviors toward policymakers. High Turnover and Toxic Atmosphere for Employees: - Turnover is appallingly high as exemplified by the fact that the longest-serving employee still left before two years. I think the ED’s trigger-happy tendency to fire people prompted some employees to quit. The ED also lied about the circumstances under which people left the organization during my interview and early days at the organization. - Unhappiness seems to be the norm among employees.