Pros
LaunchCode’s mission is its most powerful selling point. Together with positive press coverage, strong social media, a good website, and broad support from the community, the organization tells a great story to candidates, employer partners, and prospective investors. As a result, the organization receives a high volume of qualified job candidates who are eager to dedicate themselves to solving entrenched economic problems. It should give applicants pause, then, that so many positions remain vacant for a long period of time, and that turnover at the organization has increased as the organization has grown.
Cons
LaunchCode's mission promises significant societal impact, and the organization attracts engaged, motivated professionals who are passionate about producing change through their work. Unfortunately, the nonprofit suffers from all the hallmark ailments of founders syndrome: a largely inexperienced senior management team intent on keeping total control of decision making; an executive director who is reluctant to take input from staff; management that fails to share information about their projects or the organization’s focus; a deep-seated belief in the organization’s uniqueness despite ample evidence to the contrary; and a founding team that avoids taking responsibility for failures, instead placing blame on mid-level and junior employees who are regularly undermined and denied the basic tools they require to be successful in their jobs. As a result, the organization continues to struggle. It has expanded too quickly, and leadership has failed to create strategic goals or produce the outcomes it has promised. While these mistakes are common among start-ups, rather than learning from their failures, the director and a handful of his VPs have been strident in their refusal to evolve. A brief list of nonprofit ethics and best practice violations I observed or participated in during my time at LaunchCode include: • Reporting falsified financial and placement data to state funding agencies, existing and prospective donors, and the board. • Reporting inflated outcome data to clients, investors, employers, and the media. • Submitting inflated salary and program budgets to investors. • Maintaining a significant cash reserve while claiming urgent financial need. • Instituting substantial pay disparities between staff doing the same work who have relatively similar educational and professional backgrounds For an organization that exists in the public trust, participation in any one of these activities would be troubling. That all of these practices continue with the knowledge of a handful of LaunchCode’s leaders is reprehensible. LaunchCode’s informal motto, cribbed from a speech by President Obama, is that “if you can do the job, you should get the job.” In LaunchCode’s short life, many of those who can do the job have quit or been pushed out. Many in leadership who got the job were afforded that privilege not because of their skills or experience, but as a result of their pedigree or proximity to the founder. In turn, they have suppressed evidence of their mismanagement and disregarded the spirit and promise of LaunchCode’s mission.