Pros
As one of the few statewide orgs who work with the rural nonprofit sector, the mission is easy to buy into, especially for younger talent who are born idealists. Great opportunities to travel across the state and expand your network. The employees (below leadership) are wonderful people and truly care about the mission. The faults of the organization will teach you what not to do, so if you're open to this experience, go for it. Then work for someone else in the nonprofit sector and do the opposite.
Cons
1) Paralyzed by too many programs. Some programs are legit and belong, but others don't seem to fit within the mission. The end result is that people are stretched way too thin and trying to make sense of how it all fits together. Instead of doing 1 or 2 things really well, CRC seems to try to do 8 things really well and ends up doing each of them only marginally well, if that. It perpetuates the silo's within the organization. 2) Culture of fear because of leadership. While I was an employee, it was common to hear from junior employees who were afraid of senior leadership, and that's how leadership liked it. It's not uncommon to hear junior employees apologizing several times during meetings simply because they have an expressed thought. Everyone seemed to walk on egg shells all the time, which had a drastic impact on true progress and innovation within the org. In a culture of fear, people don't want to try new things, but just maintain the status quo. The CEO is quite friendly and approachable at first, but the more you work with her the more apparent the ego becomes. I came to view her as being completely apathetic to employee needs because she doesn't share their challenges. 3) Zero upward mobility. Staff are viewed as expendable by leadership, hence why most everyone who works there is under 30 and new to the sector. One third of the workers are Americorp Vistas, who do incredible work, but further perpetuate the idea that talent is expendable and not worth investing into. Even a director-level employee confirmed this when I worked there. 4) Odd structure of directors, managers, coordinators, and assistants. Nearly everyone reports to multiple teams leading to total confusion and mismanagement of time. You'll find yourself doing the work of 5 people. 5) Only superficial commitment to diversity and inclusion within the nonprofit sector. The org pretends to be inclusive, but all the talk doesn't translate into action, when the sector needs it badly. Some employees are truly passionate about D&I, but fall on deaf ears with leadership. 6) Lack of benefits to attract and sustain older, more established talent. The org seems to preach one thing to the sector but practices the opposite. My prediction is that they will continue to churn through young talent. 7) The org operates very much from a business perspective, seeing other nonprofits as purely transactional relationships. They cover a lot of subject areas, but only go skin deep. Their knowledge assets don't lie within the employees, but on PowerPoints that can be delivered over and over again by anyone.
