Under the former leadership things were toxic... like extremely toxic. There was no trust, so much misogyny, racism, sexism, harassment, screaming, ableism, bullying... I mean it was a nonstop barrage of workplace abuse and violence.
There are rules that made it very clear you are never to be trusted:
1) Staff have to sign in and out of the office, even for lunch...and might even need to email the entire office if you step out for a moment or go to a meeting.
2) No food at your desk (its done under the guise of not wanting bugs but its to keep track of and control you).
3) You have to pick a time slot to eat and stick to it - 12-1 or 1-2pm and you CANNOT eat anytime before or after 12-2pm. If you have a medical condition that might require you to eat more often, you won't be accommodated.
4) Staff can't speak to each other for a few minutes between things, you must be at your desk working otherwise your gathering will be broken up by your boss (depending on your boss, of course).
5) No funds for grabbing coffee with a colleague or peer at another organization. If so, you have pay out of pocket and even take PTO!
6) If you have to go to a medical appointment you cannot makeup the time, you automatically have to take PTO at 30 minute increments even if you always work late or if you only took 40 minutes, then that costs you 60 minutes of PTO.
Morale has been low since at least 2014 when nearly the entire office turned over (and turned over twice more since then). Staff are screamed at and belittled regularly (might be that the person doing the screaming and yelling learned this from a former boss who did the same...). One staff member was pushed out for not sharing personal details of their lives that did not affect their work.
The organization has published articles to make clear they are at odds with the reproductive justice movement (google: Why We Are and Must Remain ‘Pro-Choice’). Maybe under the new leadership they'll take a different stance? Who knows. It's great that the new leadership is a woman, a white woman, who hopefully won't remain at odds with Black and brown women who are leaders in repro.
Parents, but more specifically mothers, are not supported and not really welcome. The only people who ever have children and can even remain employed are cis men. If you're planning on having children during the time you might be working here... just don't do it. Or plan to leave before you do. There is no support or real accommodation. Most staff who were pregnant had their babies and left soon after returning. This might change with having to work from home because of the pandemic, but prior, parents could not work from home and were frowned upon. (This really isn't unique to CFC since many other repro orgs are similar across the movement, but its good to know which ones are not supporting ppl who choose to become parents).
As for benefits:
1) Leadership claims to pay for a platinum level plan but it barely covers medication and co-pays are high for medical visits.
2) Parental Leave - For a reproductive health organization the benefit 6 weeks paid, 6 weeks unpaid. One of the worst parental leave options in the movement and most parents leave after this time because they already know life will be challenging being a parent here. (Go speak to some former employees who are parents!).
3) Professional development - we didn't have any available to us, but doesn't mean that hasn't changed.
4) 403b - you had to wait a year for the organization to match and the match was a bit weak. Most organizations are moving to ensure benefits are vested as soon as you start. Do your research before you accept offers at organizations to see which benefits vest immediately.
The organization is small, 12-15 people so keep that in mind when thinking about the culture. You can't hide in another division completely if things are toxic.
Most staff are underpaid, assistants got paid starting at 30k even if they had an advanced degree. Not sure what the CEO is getting paid now, but the former CEO was getting paid over 200K with a $3M budget, meanwhile most junior level staff had to have a second job to survive in DC.
DEI - Given the stance on repro justice organizations and leaders, there would never even be a consideration of diversity, inclusion, or equity let alone any commitment to anti-racism work a few years ago. Since leaving, I have not heard of the organization making a change in this area, but given the social unrest in the past year, this might move the organization to make a firm commitment and make changes to ensure all staff feel comfortable and safe bring their full selves to work! Again, depending on the department, some may feel comfortable, not sure if this is the case across the board.
HR - there is none. There is an office manager type person who does their best but there isn't a formal HR department. I know several folks who had formal complaints with the previous office manager and it didn't make a difference (both staff and the former office manager left soon after). The person now is great at her job and has been in the role for years but I don't know what the process would be like if you have a formal complaint or issue. Check with staff now to see what the process is like.
Obviously do your due diligence and find out what is going on at the organization now and in the specific department you might be applying to work in. Speak to former colleagues that left in the recent past but also speak to staff who work at the organization now.