Pros
It is exciting working for an organization doing such great work in the Middle East, especially if that is your area of interest. Having worked there has opened doors to other jobs in international education since it is a rather well-known org. Certain departments are more social than others, but the other young people in the office are really fantastic and make a real effort to get to know one another. There is no shortage of work happy hours. I made close lifelong friends at this job and really loved coming to work largely for that reason. AMIDEAST will pay for classes if you are proactive about getting the paperwork done, and the benefits were decent. This was only my second job out of college so I don't know what's normal as far as company events or parties, but I did enjoy the company picnic, coffee hours, holiday parties, and other parties thrown within my department. While I have some gripes, AMIDEAST did benefit me in the long run and overall working there was very positive for me due to the quality of experience and my coworkers.
Cons
The starting pay for a program assistant is very low, which wouldn't be an issue if they ever gave raises or promotions. But they don't. Unfortunately since the organization is pretty well-known they don't have to provide competitive salaries to recruit smart and eager recent graduates, and they don't especially need lower-level people to stick around for more than a year or so. I think this is the way many non-profits in DC operate. I felt very replaceable there since it is nearly impossible to move beyond the Program Assistant level without a masters degree. It doesn't take long to plateau in the content of your work; after a certain point there is simply nothing left to learn (and for me that point arrived after about a year). The older people who have worked there for a long time definitely seem jaded and complacent about their jobs. Excellence was often not a priority. I would never make a career at this organization.