Highly regarded but taking on too much - Programs AFT Employee Review

I came into the organization during a time of growth, found wonderful coworkers, plenty of opportunities to improve systems, opportunities to advance, felt respected by other staff, enjoyed a collaborative team spirit. I feel like most of the staff planned to stay for the long-term... and those that didn't, sometimes tried something else and then came back to AFT. It was a very fortunate place to be. We also had great benefits (until 2025 anyway, currently worth verifying).

in 2025, the fed gov administration's devastating choices for nonprofit organizations have hurt a TON of straightforward good causes... like this one focused on preserving farmland and making sure farmers could stay on the land and land could be maintained for farming. lost my job due to that, as did many others.

Working with dedicated fellow staff, farmers, and service providers.

Unfortunately your experience will depend significantly on your team, and because the overall culture seems to be deteriorating, it is likely you will have a bad experience. There are some very productive and incredibly respectful teams, however that is not the experience for all staff, and those teams still struggle to operate under dysfunctional executive leadership. My experience was of an elitist, discriminatory, exploitative workplace. Executive leadership with exorbitant salaries that are on full display in the grant application process, set an oppressive tone and cannot seem to find the funds to get genuine leadership training. Staff who advertise donor connections are protected at all costs. Staff, farmers, and partners who don't advertise connections are "accidentally targeted", and staff and farmers without connections are highly vulnerable in certain teams. I witnessed a large amount of nepotism in hiring, which leads to staff in some teams being very unequipped. There is a huge mismatch between the values of the farmers we serve and the values of leadership.