Pros
Meaningful mission with opportunities to support service members around the world alongside many talented, resilient, and mission-driven coworkers. The organization can provide valuable leadership, crisis management, relationship management, and event operations experience in fast-paced and unpredictable environments. Some of the experiences and relationships I've built during my time here will stay with me for life.
Kontras
Leadership alignment, communication transparency, and long-term operational planning have significantly declined in recent years. The organization is currently undergoing a massive workforce reduction and restructuring effort that has often felt reactive, disorganized, and poorly communicated to employees. Experienced staff with years of institutional knowledge were frequently treated as interchangeable despite carrying critical operational continuity, relationships, and field expertise that cannot easily be replaced. Communication surrounding role eliminations, remote work expectations, and staffing changes was often vague or contradictory, creating unnecessary uncertainty and frustration during an already difficult transition period. Career progression also became increasingly inconsistent and influenced by internal politics, shifting leadership priorities, and perception management rather than operational contribution or performance. In my own experience, I spent years on a strong upward trajectory with increasing responsibility and impact (with stellar reviews year over year) until eventually falling under leadership that seemed more focused on control and optics than developing and retaining high-performing employees. There is still meaningful work being done here, but morale, trust in leadership, and operational stability have taken a significant hit.