Pros
A lot of really smart, talented, and passionate people worked at this organization while I was there (almost all have left since). The mission is good. Also, everyone gets a week off in the Summer.
Cons
This is a terrible place to work. If you care about racial equity or social justice DO NOT work at Generation Hope! The organization claims to care about these things but does not treat staff in ways that reflect these so-called values. The stated commitment to race equity is entirely performative. It is abundantly clear that “positive” responses on GlassDoor were posted by members of the leadership team in an attempt to cover up the reality of what is it actually like to work at Generation Hope. Growth is prioritized over stability and impact. Turnover at the organization is shockingly high. Talented, passionate staff are pushed out or unfairly fired on a regular basis. It is not uncommon for people to be hired for leadership positions who are not qualified for their jobs and lack the skills and expertise necessary to be effective in their roles. Personal friends of the CEO and other Directors are often hired, regardless of whether they are the right person for the job. Leadership cares more about union-busting and pushing employees who they don’t like out of the organization than they do about actually making a difference in the lives of student parents, which is disappointing. They have spent huge amounts of money on lawyers and PR to respond to unionizing efforts - resources that should be put towards actually supporting the organization’s mission. They have vilified unionizing staff and taken actions to create harmful racial divides in the office in an attempt to turn staff against one another. Staff are written up and sent home for policies that don’t exist in their handbook and have never been communicated with them and policies are enforced inconsistently. If the CEO and COO like you, you can get away with pretty much anything. Benefits are lacking and do not meet the needs of the staff. Despite claiming to support families, the organization does not offer any health insurance options that include dependent care. Several staff members have had to keep their children on Medicaid while employed full-time at Generation Hope. Staff are only eligible for a maximum of seven days of paid maternity or paternity leave upon the birth of a child, adoption of a child, or placement of a foster child. The organization also “forgot” to contribute to staff’s retirement for several months and did not make staff aware of or adequately correct this mistake. Staff are still missing money from this. HR is incompetent and staff constantly have to spend time helping one another navigate their benefits, especially around maternity leave, as HR is not aware of these policies nor able to share accurate information with employees. The new office in Ivy City was infested with bugs for several weeks and staff were told to continue working in-office. The area is not metro accessible and some staff spend well over an hour commuting each way. It is in an unsafe area of the city and no efforts are made to ensure staff or Scholar safety. When staff reported to HR that they had been harassed/grabbed on their way into or out of the office (this has happened several times), leadership minimized their experiences and lacked any empathy. They invited DC police officers into the office to “teach staff how to avoid danger,” without warning staff that there would be a police presence. Considering that the majority of staff hold marginalized identities, this was a careless and harmful decision by leadership. Many members of staff do not feel safe at or around the Generation Hope office.