The dedication and passion of the staff, as well as the potential to create real power that makes the world a better place, is being squandered by Avaaz leadership.
Avaaz has mostly abandoned meaningful work on any issue besides Facebook disinformation and fundraisers.
Despite massive coffers and members in every country around the world, these days Avaaz campaigns rarely amount to more than an online petition backed by a photo op or a report. Avaaz could build power and enact impressive change with the resources at hand, but senior leadership’s attention span is too short. Much more attention is paid to acquiring new members from viral petitions with weak or non-existent theories of change than actually winning tangible improvements in people's lives.
Senior staff acknowledge that petitions are regularly sent to their 60+ million person email list without real strategies or without commitment to do anything on the issues they say they’re working on. There is no meaningful reflection or debrief on effectiveness of campaigning, which leads to zero accountability on decision making or how funds are allocated.
Previous reviews have touched on the cult nature of Avaaz, so I’ll only say a few things about it. Ricken Patel ("President and CEO") is undoubtedly running a cult, replete with its own lingo that is meaningless to outsiders, and unique rituals, all of which is built on a foundation of absolute unquestioning trust in Patel. It’s worth noting that since these reviews have started to increase in frequency, it seems that Avaaz has started building two parallel teams: the “Delivery Support Team” and the “Core Team.” The cult stuff, like sitting for readings of Patel’s perpetually unpublished book, amateur psychoanalysis sessions, or feats of physical strength (think pushups in front of your peers), are limited to the Core Team — if you’re offered a Delivery Support Team role, you can probably avoid it, but know that ascension to the Core Team and promotions are contingent on complete submission to, and fluency in, the cult.
A ritual of public submission to Patel, and its ongoing fall out, has led to a large number of top staff quitting since early 2019.
Something less mentioned in the previous reviews is the discriminatory atmosphere of Avaaz.
Hiding behind the myth of “meritocracy,” Patel has built a team that is overwhelmingly homogeneous and privileged. Any mention of racism, sexism, or general introspection on issues of power and privilege — what Patel pejoratively refers to as “identity politics” — has been known to send him off on tirades about the dangers of “tribalism” and urgings to honor our “shared human identity” over all else. Over-identification with any facet of one’s identity is actively discouraged.
Multiple allegations of discrimination are openly whispered about by staff. Outright racist incidents have gone unaddressed. Issues of harassment have been handled in informal processes.
When one holds up Avaaz’s myth of meritocracy -- like Patel’s below proclamation that “we hired 8 of the last 2,900 applicants” -- against its overwhelmingly homogenous staff ranks, filled with grad school buds, romantic partners, and acquaintances, it’s clear that Avaaz’s hiring practices are not only nepotistic, but discriminatory.
Hiring a team that looks and thinks in similar fashion has created an Avaaz at odds with its own mission of creating the world that most people everywhere want. In the last year, when issues of police violence, racism, and income inequality have been the driving forces behind some of the biggest social movements in a generation, Avaaz’s class and race blind spots have prevented them from meaningfully engaging with any of these issues and left them squarely on the sidelines of social change.
It seems that no amount of diversity and inclusion training could help Avaaz under Patel. His toxic ideology on issues of identity are deep-seated and troubling. Staff who publicly question his racist views will be subject to “alignment calls”, where Patel will seek submission to his ideas. These could be many hours long.
Under the guise of “streamlining,” it appears that Patel has neutered the board of any effective oversight of him or senior managers. Its size and composition had been shrunk to personal friends and those who have previously worked at Avaaz and submitted to his absolute monopoly on judgment and truth; the governing documents themselves even give Patel a “judgment gap” on board members.
Recently an investigation into misconduct on Patel's behalf led to the en mass resignation of the Board and all but one Trustee -- a long time friend of Patel.
