Everytown for Gun Safety Employee Reviews about "people of color"

Cons

The cons outweigh the pros. Racism and discrimination are things here. Whether it be pay inequality, promotions, and hiring people of color in real management positions, diversity and inclusion are only buzz words. This bad behavior is often rewarded. It is extremely top-down with leadership making decisions without experience, knowledge or understanding of the realities in the field. Work/Life balance is good for some while others face long hours and work on the weekends.

Cons

From leadership to the volunteers, it's a pretty tough place to work for people of color. The CEO once referred to people of coloro people of coloro people of color as 'people of comment.' Don't be surprised if he hits you with 'you people.' The volunteers are allowed to mistreat staff (of color) and there's no real upside to the organization. The policy agenda does not focus on folks disporotionately affected by gun violence. Bullying is allowed and celebrated.

Cons

In July 2020, my former supervisor called me to confirm, validate and apologize for the racial trauma that forced me onto FMLA while working at Everytown, including her role and complicity, by literally bringing up every trauma that I experienced while there. I left Everytown in August 2019. My white, former supervisor named George Floyd's murder as impetus for her thinking + apologized to me for her ability to 'turn the other way' while I was being harmed. She said that Everytown is still most toxic for Black employees. Everytown is rampant with racism, discrimination and inequity, both internally across departments and across the volunteer base of Moms + Survivors. The racial trauma that I experienced at Everytown was unrealistically horrid and never acknowledged while I worked there. From collective harms, like: - President/CEO John Feinblatt referringn Feinblatt referringn Feinblatt referring to people of color as people of comments--aloud, in an open office--when the then DEI Committee [of which I led a working group] asked to implement an equity work plan; - Refusing to acknowledge police shootings of unarmed Black people until it became useful, confirming staff thoughts that Black lives don’t matter to Everytown, unless it’s a survivor’s story pushing policy or raising monies. To the constant tokenizing + exploitation of my own person, like: - Being forced to navigate problems far above my pay grade with survivors of gun violence who were deemed 'difficult', which was always a dog whistle for Black. - Being made to present a survivor campaign to a national gun violence prevention coalition because 'it needs to come from a person of color'. [These were my supervisor's actual words.] Meanwhile, I was told that I could not present to Pres/CEO John Feinblatt because 'he doesn't take meetings with staff below director'. As there were no POC directors on staff during my time at Everytown, this meant that John F. did not have to interface with any people of color, ever, if he so chose. - My white department director saying aloud that i should “ask for a cut” of the tens of thousands that Everytown raised from the email campaign about the tragic shooting death of my 16-year-old Black cousin--knowing full well how hard i was fighting for pay equity--and losing - Spending a year elevating deep concerns about my workload being exploitative/not making sense only to see my role be divided into two whole positions upon my departure - And the list goes on After I communicated to my former supervisor that her apology was triggering, unacceptable, only centered her white guilt and still left me without reparation, I received an email communication and eventual call from Everytown's Chief People Officer, Jacqueline Murray. Ms. Murray claimed that she wanted to talk about what she'd learned about my previous work experience but via her line of questioning, I quickly realized she wanted to know if I had any evidence and if others might validate or reiterate my experience. Ms. Murray went so far as to say 'Hey, I'm Black too' to convince me of her motives. It was truly disgusting. I asked her, 'Now that my discrimination has been validated by a Director who still works at Everytown, what does reparation look like?' She promised to follow up after her vacation. I never heard from her again. There are so many experiences across these reviews that name racial trauma, discrimination, exploitation, gender discrimination, fatphobia, and so on. This has to stop.

Cons

Poor and weak leadership at the Senior Staff level. No clear reporting lines or hierarchy lead to constant infighting and toxic environment. Lack of internal communication. Rampant racism towards people of color. Not enough women in senior roles. Reactive approach to defeat the NRA and the gun lobby. HR is incompetent and spread too thin, putting diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts on the bench. No ownership or importance placed on managing and cultivating culture.

Cons

Poor management - from team level to Senior management; inefficient Human Resources staff; lack of coordination and structure across the organization; and racism. Overall, an unhealthy work environment for many people, especially people of color.