In a nutshell: Do not work here if you're not already. It seems unlikely that Digital Moment (formerly Kids Code Jeunesse) will continue to exist for much longer. It is entirely dysfunctional and very, very toxic. They mismanage their funds so badly and donors are catching on to that. If you want to read on, please do.
TOP FLAGS:
The organization has a massive identity crisis. Ten years on they still haven't figured that out. They probably don't want to because that means doing actual work, and hiring (and keeping) competent people, which they want nothing to do with.
The old troopers (minus one or two good folks who mostly stay quiet) are really incompetent (and I mean zero competence), toxic, resistent to change, believe they are above any rules, guidance, or doing actual work. If you try to challenge this status quo you will be putting a target on yourself, and gaslit.
For a "digital" organization, the "Digital" in "Digital Moment" is a dumpster fire: they have many internal tools and apps, all of which are very inefficient. The staff have no say in what they can access in terms of tools or equipment, one person decides that for the entire organization without really knowing what each person's unique needs for their jobs are. There are many websites and social media pages (I don't know them all!), none of which gets updated.
HR is in crisis: the highest turnover in HR you would ever see, and each head of HR is worse than the one before. They mostly run their own show, set priorities and makes decisions and rules as they please. Try to talk to them about the problems and work with them on actual, tangible solutions, they will either dismiss you in a condescending attitude or play along until they have figured out how to gaslight you and turn the tables. This has been the experience with many current and former employees who wanted to do something about this chaos but were met with nothing but roadblocks and discouragement.
The CEO has no interest in achieving actual goals beyond parroting empty slogans of "knowing one's privilege" and "wanting to make a real impact in the world" where the reality presents a person who founded the organization but couldn't care less about anything but personal interests and polishing a glossy image. As apathic, imperialistic, white savioury, and colonial as anyone can be, and without holding any of the internal cycle of disciples accountable.
The senior leadership as a whole is not better. The old ones still don't seem to figure out what they want so they keep batting heads with each other, and almost each of them runs a side hustle or has something else going on so they don't really care about the (vague) mission, (nonexistent) values, or about real impact or change. The newer ones are either the same or simply fall in line and just care about receiving paycheck to paycheck. What has the organization accomplished, for real? Can you find any stories or reports that show their work transparently?
Whatever they say they do, and wherever they say they work, is probably not true. They do not work in Indigenous communities, they do not work in remote communities, they do not work in underserved areas or poverty pockets. They say they do, but if you consider a one-off one-hour session of anything once in a blue moon somewhere random, without any outcomes or substance, to be "work", then sure.
They master overpromising and underdelivering to funders. They get paid huge amounts of money and end up not knowing where to spend it, but then it gets spent in more ambiguous ways! Where and on what? How can they afford to give each person an Apple computer? Who is getting these kickbacks and benefiting from this mismanagement? Don't ask...
It would be impossible to list all of the cons because they are larger than the organization itself, but I recommend reading the other critical reviews. Don't be misled by the defensive responses from leadership and what's written in there, they mean none of it, nor by the positive reviews: they were clearly written by Digital Moment's / KCJ's leadership. If you're reading all of this to consider whether or not to work there then I sincerely encourage you not to. I actually believed in their mission and the lies they told me, but the more I learned about their reality the faster my job search was expedited. and if I did not have a family to worry about and did not need the money I would have resigned and stayed unemployed until I could find another job. I'm hoping to find one very soon and leave right away.
