Once a great place to learn and meet peers, now a crumbling organization with an identity crisis and poor leadership
Pros
I learned a lot about project management, managing up, internal operations/team management, consulting services, scope writing, and the social sector in Boston. I now have many skills that positioned me competitively when I was looking for new opportunities. I had a fabulous manager who truly cared about my personal growth (who has since left) and amazing peers who were able to critically think about the social sector, issues of equity and privilege, etc. Unfortunately, many of these peers have since left and I cannot vouch for many pros at the current organization. Lastly, since Root Cause is a fairly smaller organization, I got to interact with all levels of the staff and learn about things outside of my role.
Cons
If you are considering working here I strongly encourage you to prepare STRONG interview questions and do your homework/research on what has happened with the organization. Highlights you should know about below: Organization went through significant change starting last fall, which stemmed from a decision the CEO made alone and that reflected he does not truly understand the organization he is running, or that he is managing people's lives by being the leader of an organization. Many of the bright, talented, determined staff have since left. The organization is not sure what its mission is, and is tempted to "blow with the winds" and follow the latest "trend" in the social sector, e.g. pursuing a focus on empowering organizations with data and evidence. While an occasional mission clarification is healthy for an organization, working somewhere that does not have a strong value proposition and changes at a whim is nerve-wracking. Select senior staff (namely the ones who have been there since the beginning and know they are not in danger of ramifications) do not know how to manage well and are not interested in learning. Feedback from junior staff on how difficult it is to work with these senior members of the team fall on deaf ears. It is not encouraging/supportive (frankly, it is sometimes embarrassing) to work for people who do not care about your development, from whom you cannot learn, and who are not willing to think critically about the sector and your work with you. HR, promotions, salary, and professional development are not strong. Even if you think you don't care as much about those aspects of an organization as the actual work and content you'll be involved in (as young professionals can sometimes think), please consider carefully. Without a supportive team you can trust, a healthy feedback loop, and being valued and given credit for your work, you will not enjoy going to work every day.
