American Promise Reviews

When I joined American Promise (AP), the organization felt like a mission-driven community: ideals were clear, teams listened to one another, and there was a palpable sense of “we can do this.” Over time, that culture shifted. Leadership changes brought a top-down approach that prioritized centralized decision-making over input from the people actually doing the work. Invitations to open-door conversations were met with resistance, and strategic planning became increasingly siloed. As the internal climate grew less collaborative, optimism faded. Many talented colleagues left, and retention plummeted—during my tenure staff turnover approached 40% among newer hires. Opinions that diverged from management’s perspective were often dismissed, and priorities appeared guided more by donor expectations than by the staff or the mission. There are many organizations that truly value collaboration, employee voice, and meaningful impact. If you’re seeking a place to invest your most precious resource—time—consider options where leadership actively listens and staff are empowered to shape the work.

It was a fairly disorganized operation when I started, but there was a sense of hope, purpose and excitement. Leadership was always a flitting image, but it became worse and a new leader was brought in. That killed everything. The organization became cold, unfriendly and hostile. Longtime employees and those with legitimate political experience or extensive experience/education in their fields were driven out or removed. Leadership became insulting and combative while replacing staff with personal relations as contractors. The worst part is probably the fact that they falsely advertise. They constantly promote themselves as non-partisan, but that is the biggest farce. Since new leadership took hold, they’ve implemented a “right to left” strategy, but that strategy is in actuality just pandering to the extreme right-wing. They refuse to post anything shared from left-leaning politicians or public figures, even if the content itself is not strictly left, but will happily promote conservative agendas and politicians. They are working with members of the Oath Keepers (Mark Finchem - which they tried to hide when there was blowback) and The Sinclair Institute, and have their chief legal counsel chatting with Steve Bannon. Many of their new hires are heavily right-leaning. Staff was advised of appropriate social media policies, such as not posting your political opinions on sites like LinkedIn (standard corporate social media policies), but conservative staff members have been allowed to post pro-MAGA agenda opinions without consequence or redirection. Staff is regularly told not to address certain topics or avoid certain questions that the organization feels would compromise this status, putting public-facing employees in difficult and morally questionable situations. If that’s the direction you want to go in, that’s fine, but stop touting yourselves to be a non-partisan organization because people volunteer, accept positions, and promote American Promise thinking they’re working with people across the political spectrum when they aren’t. Jeff Clements needs to reassess why he started this organization in the first place and why he has allowed one individual to overtake the entire operation. I have never experienced such an inept, dishonest, and dismissive leader as their current president. She is disingenuous and rude, telling staff that “everyone has to sacrifice” when their salaries barely pay living expenses, while she regularly jets across the country to wine and dine with those who she feels can boost her own personal brand. Every staff member from the time I started has been let go or is absolutely miserable feeling as though they have to either pay the bills/feed their families by selling their souls or compromise their financial stability by leaving.