Pros
Great teams and people, most staff are accomplished, committed, awesome people. Truly unique and compelling use of social marketing and training as a tool for conservation, Field teams are the tireless horse that pulls the cart at Rare (and fills their own trough); but unfortunately often get the whip.
Cons
Speaking from experience, working at Rare wears you down, burns you out, and leaves you an empty husk. Towards the end, leadership never treated me as a person and my value was only seen in my ability to achieve and champion their narrow vision and goals. If I disagreed I was shushed and shunned and made to feel worthless. I don't like looking back and would normally not even write a review but after seeing the comments of "Vice President" felt I had to say something as I was often given much of what s/he writes in that review as feedback: "you are uncomfortable with change" and "we need to stay the course". Made to feel as if something was wrong with me if I wasn't 100% compliant and enthusiastic. But in truth, typical Rare staff aren't afraid of change, they actually embrace it. They sought out a job at Rare because it used to be a dynamic, nimble, and proactive organization. The problem really arises when that change is managed poorly, haphazardly, and without transparency. It's like renovating your house, there's a way to do it and a way not to do it. You discuss with your family/neighbors, hire an architect, review the plans, maybe get a second opinion, then approve the plans, and then construction begins. Sometimes it gets messy but you have an idea of how things will look in the end and most of all you can trust the architect's vision. At Rare, leadership has just unilaterally purchased a bulldozer and decided they know best. Yet they have no sense on how to operate heavy machinery and have just jumped on that bulldozer themselves expecting great things. In the process, tearing out the foundation, knocking down some structural supports and then acting shocked when parts of the house start to crumble. And of course, it's not their fault, it always comes back to staff failings. We just weren't the right staff to begin with; how dare we express discomfort with the bulldozer smashing at our house; can't we see that the house looks amazing now, who needs a roof anyways?!?; or, most often, we simply didn't believe hard enough in the magic bulldozer to make it work properly.