SVEF Reviews

Pros

The organization is mission-driven and employees show genuine commitment to the students that they serve. While there is a lack of training procedures, colleagues step up to ensure that you have needed information.

Cons

Little support exists for employees. Positions are not well-defined and leadership has created a culture that leads to extremely high turnover. Before you consider working with this organization, pay attention to reviews from full-time employees and notice the difference between those and the reviews left by contractors who are not in the office day to day.

Pros

The mission of SVEF is excellent. The employees are committed to the mission.

Cons

(this does not apply to seasonal Faculty). The CEO and workplace are toxic. The CEO does not know how to manage or hire people. She has personally hired several upper level people and had to fire them. People that are excellent at their jobs get called out publicly in meetings and blamed for things beyond their control. Others are put in positions they are not suited for, setting them up for future failure. People are disrespected by upper management and treated as replaceable cogs. Turnover is very high, and not because employees have other opportunities.

Pros

Good colleagues who are mission-aligned

Cons

Incredibly toxic leadership. CEO Lisa Andrew berates and shames employees in front of others. Even worse, will make comments about employees about their absence to the entire staff. "Students first" is definitely not on her mind as she chastises employees for being absent from meetings when they are serving the needs of students/teachers/schools. PTO is not respected or an excuse for being absent either. She has a fake "sweet/caring" demeanor when you attempt to confront these issues head on, which is also how she stays in the good graces of board members.

Pros

- Very flexible - Decent pay - Good networking / Nice staff - Very rewarding

Cons

- Not always able to choose the school district - Curriculum can be unconventional

Pros

Great team and working experience.

Cons

Nothing wrong with the company.

Pros

Good place to get educational initiatives up and running

Cons

Sometimes it’s not as flexible

Pros

Great teams and resources available

Cons

As a small organization, not much room for growth.

Pros

Great mission, strong and passionate program managers

Cons

Note: All the prior reviews on this page address the company before its merger with A-Learn and the hiring of a new CEO, Lisa Andrew. The new CEO is problematic. Frenetic leadership style, responds to uncertainty by isolating rather than empowering staff. Hires friends/out of convenience rather than going through a robust recruiting process. Turnover is high, especially in departments she has more contact with. Avoid this company, unless you're isolated from the top.

Pros

SVEF is committed to its mission of educating underserved students, and provides great resources to teachers. They pay well, although benefits are bargain-basement.

Cons

Management has created a toxic work culture for employees. Shame-based motivation, isolating/ siloing employees from each other, last-minute changes to complex projects from above (with employees below taking the heat), overall atmosphere of suspicion, arbitrary restrictions on when you can take PTO. Not recommended.

Pros

The employees, the funders, the advisory boards, the educators -- a great group of people, together, fighting for a common cause. Another pro, the extremely high turn over rate resulting in quick lateral movement, and not to mention the desperation for staffing so everyone gets hired regardless of skill set. No structure or organization so you can do whatever you want and whenever you want, another bonus.

Cons

High turn over rate. New employees every few months because C-level execs don't care about the people or the cause, resulting in people quitting left and right. No trust between C-levels and employees leading to a destructive work culture. Upper-management is condescending, rude and unprofessional. Hard not to believe that the CEO and COO's first priority isn't making connections with other C-levels, funders, donors, "big players" etc. and reaping in the benefits. There is no denying that they have no passion at all for education.