Obama Foundation Reviews

The organization lacks strategic vision and implementation abilities. Gaslighting is all too common. Whenever there is a concern, staff are often told "Working at the Obama Foundation is a privilege." Any sort of constructive feedback to improve organizational culture and morale is often dismissed and ignored. There is an expectation to always be on and to perform multiple roles, work life balance is almost impossible. Operates like a campaign office vs. a traditional non profit.The Foundation has spent a year + crafting an anti-racist framework that is very fluffy in language, but there has been no tangible DE&I progress internally, only social media tweets showing solidarity when a movement is trending and public announcements of diversity hires to appease external audiences. Proximity to the President drives everything. It is common for more senior staff to play political and optics games to ensure they can move onto bigger opportunities post Foundation. Burnout is real and there isn't a desire to retain talented staff.

DO NOT WORK HERE. The senior leaders know they can make outlandishly unrealistic demands of staff because, with the Obama name on the door, there is always someone else willing to take the abuse until they burn out. This won't stop until people take these reviews seriously and STOP ACCEPTING JOBS HERE. I ignored the reviews to my own detriment. I couldn't leave fast enough. If you are under 45 or 50, expect to be dismissed and disrespected. They truly do not respect the expertise and perspective of anyone under 50 if they aren't a personal friend. You will be gaslit by the CEO saying staff mental health is a top priority of the organization, but then have her push expectations that are hugely detrimental to staff. You will not have any work/life balance because programs are understaffed and if you don't like working nonstop, then you're ungrateful for the blessing of working for Obama. There's no logic to promotions nor clear opportunities for growth. A major promotion was given to someone whose entire team turned over under them during their one-year tenure because that person created such a toxic, hostile work environment. Overall, the executive leadership team is in over their heads because they prioritized hiring friends from the administration who have limited to no experience running an organization. Do yourself a huge favor and don't work here.