Since the Avaaz leadership is now actively reaching out to former staffers for "diverse, honest and helpful reviews", I decided to write one that fulfils these criteria.
What started off as an exciting job, with some of the most talented people I've ever met, slowly descended into a toxic cult that threatened the very humanity of the people working there.
There’s a concept at Avaaz called the "judgement gap" that implies the higher up the chain someone is, the better judgment they have. And that doesn't only apply to campaigning, it applies to life. So in the case of the CEO, he takes the best decisions on everything, period. That, of course, includes the board. Any decisions they take can be overruled by the CEO, because they ‘respect the judgment gap’.
If you disagree on anything you put yourself at risk of being told you're triggered or that you have a problem with hierarchy. The Avaaz management team are experts at gaslighting — it’s the basis of their whole management system and leads to systematic silencing of critical thought. If you raise feedback on something as simple as a campaign process you might find yourself having to discuss childhood trauma that might ‘explain’ why you’re reacting to it in this way. It’s part of the culture for management to ask inappropriately personal questions or make assertions to explain why it’s just you that feels a certain way.
In the last few months, the CEO has spiralled totally out of control, as a result since the start of this year nearly 20% of the Avaaz team have resigned, including half the senior management team.
The CEO has a messiah-complex and is now trying to turn the organisation into some kind of spiritual movement with him at the centre. And he’s willing to do it at all costs and has said he’d happily lose 70% of the team if it meant that the people around him were 100% committed [to him].
Avaaz has so much potential and is/was full of talent, but to consider applying there now, you’d have to be in the market for a guru and be prepared to totally submit yourself to his every whim.