Hunt Institute Reviews

In today's job market, you may be tempted to latch onto any job that expresses interest in you. This is not that job. You should not move across the country for this job. I watched this job impact the mental, physical, and emotional health of nearly every staff member I worked with. This job led me to experience frequent anxiety attacks. Turnover throughout my tenure was atrocious. The organization ballooned in size at a rate that it did not know how to support/sustain, leading to an overall collapse in staffing numbers as staff sought a more supportive working environment. The staff that remains is deeply overworked. Turnover was consistent across the board - with both directors and junior staff turning over so frequently, it was often difficult to keep track of who was leading which team. It is my understanding that there is no end in sight for turnover related concerns. The organization also has a (in my opinion) dated view re: remote work. A significant sticking point among the staff consistently revolved around the need to be physically in office (and live within 40 minutes or so?). Throughout my time at the organization, I watched us lose a number of high-quality staff members and leaders due to leaderships inability to be flexible to the demands of the modern labor force. While in office, employees often work siloed and there is little opportunity for collaboration, making the work in office feel like an exercise in futility. The CEO also does not consistently report to the office - creating a further rift amongst staff. Overall, the organization has a noble mission, but it is soiled by horrific leadership that cannot effectively steer the ship. Junior staff could frequently hear senior leadership screaming throughout the halls of the buildings, and stories of staff members getting screamed at were frequent. A significant number of the staff are young - on paper, this is a great experience for a young policy professional straight out of school looking to gain experience. But it is also reflective of something more sinister - older, more senior professionals know better and are less willing to put up with the stress that comes with working at The Hunt Institute. This job almost destroyed my love for education. While everyone's experiences/needs/background are different - I would encourage anyone going through the interview process for The Hunt Institute to seriously take a breath and consider all there options. I would also encourage you to reach out to any current and/or past staff via LinkedIn or other sources in your network to get an accurate representation of what it is like to work for this organization.

My short-lived experience at THI was a study in the book, “The Five Dysfunctions of Leadership.” There were red flags during the first interview when the CEO, Javaid, did most of the talking, and shared openly that there were culture issues and dysfunction org-wide. He asserted that he needed a Managing Director who could be loyal like one of his current employees (who was leaving the company). At this point, he referred to her as his “loyal dog.”. Three times, he said he needed another “dog” like her who could be loyal and carry his message. I was so offended and startled by his language that I couldn’t believe my ears! I took this as a really bad sign and withdrew my name from consideration. Javaid called me immediately to say he was so impressed by me and really wished I hadn’t withdrawn. I appreciated his phone call and the nice things he said about me so I decided to give him a second chance and the benefit of the doubt. Throughout the interview process, I shared my values around leadership – creating psychological safety among team members so that true collaboration can occur (a space where diverse opinions are welcome and respectfully challenging the status quo is encouraged); trust as the foundation for great teamwork; and the principles of servant leadership. The senior leadership seemed aligned with those values. I thought I was being hired to bring that kind of mindset to the workplace to help solve the dysfunction and create a more productive, high-performing staff. I was excited about the opportunity to make a difference. During my first week, the dysfunction at THI was on full display. As a former leadership coach and consultant with decades of professional experience, I was incredibly alarmed by the negativity and toxic comments from senior leadership. Multiple people quit, people were getting fired and it was a literal dumpster fire. In my 23 years of experience in the workforce, I’ve never seen anything like it. I saw the CEO multitasking and being distracted during important leadership meetings and dialing in remotely when no one else was allowed to work from home. I think this is hypocritical. They force people to take sick time for days when they need to work from home (for a sick child or when they might be contagious because of a sick spouse). I saw staff keeping their heads down and trying to stay out of the line of fire. I heard people state that there was a lack of safety in the office to speak up. Overall, I witnessed a draconian environment not conducive to high-performing teams. It was obvious there were serious trust issues. The meme comes to mind: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” I continued to assert that I was optimistic we could shift things and create a better culture. I stated multiple times that “The Hunt Way” of providing exceptional service to external stakeholders should also be a guiding force internally where staff were treated with the same intention. I started my job with the mindset to help create a high-performing culture, but they wanted a policy-enforcer, not a leader and I refused to violate my integrity and values as a leader. I didn’t last long at THI and wouldn’t recommend working here.