Pros
The staff at Propper Daley are very passionate about the work they do with clients and rightfully so. Although working with so many A-list organizations in the social impact and philanthropy world can be overwhelming and stressful at times, there is a collective mindset within the team that, at the end of the day, the work you're doing is helping people. Additionally, the team here is very diverse. It's really refreshing to be a part of a company that not only champions diversity but also actually makes a point to implement that action into the company. My manager was thoughtful, collaborative, and understanding. They were the main reason for any positive experiences that I had here. However, after having to work with other managers, I think I just got lucky. If you're in an associate position, you can't guarantee what kind of management you get here. Training and guidance for roles really varies, and it's really just the luck of the draw.
Cons
During my first few months at PD, I started noticing how fast and high the turnover rate was here. Employees in all sorts of positions were constantly leaving, while new ones were always being onboarded. At first, I had no idea why. It's not exactly an encouraging thing to see as a new employee. But after spending a bit more time here, it became more and more clear. For a company that prides itself on being "progressive change-makers", they sure don't apply that mindset to their own employees. The staff at Propper Daley is extremely overworked and understaffed. We are always expected to have all the answers for our clients, often with little to no guidance from upper management. Interns and fellows are especially left in the dark depending on who they get as a manager and are often underpaid for the amount of work they have to take on. There is very little regard from upper management to make sure interns and fellows are actually being paid for their work on time and are learning from their experience, which is something PD explicitly promises in applications and program descriptions. The team at PD loves to put on a "big happy family" vibe- but it's all a front. As a previous review has stated, there are no boundaries between employees and clients. There is NO work/life balance whatsoever. The hyper-perfectionist culture at PD only destroys the potential for the work we do to be great. They love and reward people who say "yes", as if "no" is not an acceptable answer. People here are miserable and drowning in work, but are pressured to keep burning themselves out because they are told their work is seemingly "changing the world". I had an issue with a client that deeply affected my mental health, and nobody on my team seemed to care because they always prioritize the client over the employee. Every single time. Employees get no support. Obviously, the work we do here is important- but NOT at the cost of any employee's health or wellbeing. To the upper management at PD: if you care so much about mental health, maybe you should enforce that within your own company's culture.