BootUp (UT) reviews

I worked at BootUp for several years and initially valued its mission and collaborative culture. However, recent leadership decisions have drastically shifted the organization’s direction, resulting in a toxic and disorganized work environment. Over half of the experienced professional development team was let go without a clear plan for how to support the school districts they worked with. This lack of foresight raises serious concerns about BootUp’s ability to meet its commitments to partners. Leadership’s lack of transparency with funding partners about these layoffs is troubling and should cause funders to question whether their investments are being managed responsibly. The new CEO has created a culture of fear, frequently dismissing or confronting employees in meetings. Other leadership appears unwilling to provide honest feedback to the CEO or advocate for best practices, instead quietly executing decisions they privately admitted to dreading. Employees were required to undergo a lengthy, redundant “reapplication” process for their existing roles, to a hiring board that already had a clear understanding of their value and work ethic. This added unnecessary strain to ongoing projects. The whole process gave the impression that results were predetermined, with leadership making offhand comments about “recusing” themselves from decisions if they shared any more information with worried colleagues 1-on-1. Communication between colleagues was heavily discouraged, with employees warned against discussing work-related matters under implied legal threats. This destroyed morale and created a culture of paranoia where camaraderie once thrived. Severance was not offered to laid-off employees despite the organization having available funding. Instead, terminated staff were offered poorly constructed contracts to fulfill obligations left unaddressed by the layoffs. When legitimate discrepancies in these contracts were identified, the CEO revised them unilaterally, reducing compensation further in what appeared to be a punitive move. The CEO demanded ideological alignment from staff on personal and political topics, creating discomfort for those with differing perspectives. The board seems disengaged, functioning more as a formality than an active governing body. For an organization emphasizing equity, the lack of ethical leadership and moral accountability is glaring. Ultimately, the once-motivating environment at BootUp has been replaced by one dominated by fear, mismanagement, and poor treatment of employees. I hope leadership takes these concerns seriously and reevaluates its approach before further damaging its reputation and relationships.