Proceed with Caution: Glass Ceiling & Invisible Cliff Ahead
Pros
You have a higher chance of getting hired, promoted and mentored at Ocean Conservancy if you're white, college-educated, cis, hetero, and “connected”. The latter is how the organization boasts not one but **two** daughters of a former CEO on staff. The organization also hired the niece of an influential Board member and created an internship position for the child of a powerful corporate partner. It’s not as if staff don’t notice or care. There just weren't avenues for real conversations or actual change. Plenty of lip service though. The toxic culture minimizes the experiences of folks that hold marginalized identities with "listening and learning" excuses, and micro- and macro-aggressions. Look at the staff, leadership and history of this organization. To my knowledge, not a single Black, Indigenous, person of color has risen to the CEO or any other top leadership position in the past 50+ years, with the exception of the somewhat recent head of People & Culture. It's not a pipeline problem. There are a handful of BIPOC folks in middle management, a few more in entry-level and admin positions. Is it surprising that a place with so many white women in leadership fails miserably at retaining women of color? OC engages around justice and equity as an intellectual exercise. White comfort remains central. It was both hilarious and painfully exhausting to be part of the charade. What's good at OC: The intentions, cute. The benefits and extra time off, nice. Community with other trauma-bonded colleagues, a lifeline. This place in my rearview mirror, a relief.
Cons
Read the Pros. And also, Ocean Conservancy allows and actively promotes toxic people and workplace practices. Bad managers create hostile work environments, especially for women of color. Huge amount of time spent on internal conversations instead of alignment with partners. Very few tangible metrics of success. Weak organizational monitoring, evaluation and learning structures. Haphazard program development that creates conflict and cross purposes. Believing their own hype.