DAI reviews about "colleague"

Industry collapse (USAID) and simultaneous leadership change will permanently impact the future of the company.

As with any large org, your experience can differ wildly by department and manager. Several reorgs in recent years, some more disruptive than others. Fast-paced environment can cause burnout. While efforts have been made, yet to walk the DEI talk. Outlook now uncertain given dismantling of USAID and massive RIF.

Basically denuded of staff due to USAID cuts. Upper management had become obsessed with performance against metrics that were poorly fit to the business, and were focused entirely on how they might meet those metrics this week, without looking ahead to how to make structural improvements over the longer term.

- Growth opportunities were scarce - Workload was high, poor work-life balance

Dated practices of writing proposals. Misleading organization. Was hired for one role but was doing something completely different

DAI prides itself on ethics with annual ethics training. There is always a focus on respect for the global community, cultures and people. While the US Executive Order and subsequent Stop Work Orders may have come as a surprise, DAI demonstrated disdain for staff, particularly national staff, and inadequate leadership far from being remotely up to the task. They were very slow to accept the reality and make sound timely decisions. When decisions were made, they were damaging. DAI has had layers and layers of Vice Presidents. In 5 years, I had not even met or interacted with the VP for USG programs or any other VP. They were an aloof group. Not even an email. Most of us did not even know the names of these leaders. None of them had any real idea of the field work or the staff. A financial cash flow crisis began in 2024 and DAI was unable to provide sufficient wire transfers to cover costs. We were never told the reasons but have speculations of poor investments and resource mismanagement. Certainly, the layers and layers of VPs on indirect were an extremely costly bill and the collective output is questionable, at the least. When the EO was announced DAI was suddenly flat out of money. National staff were not paid for 3 months, while HQ staff, mainly white persons, continued to receive full salaries demonstrating the continued ease with which white Americans get ahead at the expense of brown and black persons. Vendors went unpaid. Chiefs of Party handled those issues with little to no concrete senior executive support from DAI. Lawsuits mounted. Threats came in phone calls and physical visits to offices. Stunning silence and shooting responsibility back down the line from the DAI President. There was expressed disdain when Chief of Parties raised inquiries about staff salary and vendor payments. A decree was issued where we were not allowed to ask or make verbal statements in meetings with the President; we had to write them in the chat boxes, where she picked and chose what she would answer. This was allegedly to save time, but we suspected she did not want to take the heat from us or answer questions. US furloughs were ,made and reversed. Communication was sent out regretting the loss of US staff. When the majority of national staff left the organization within days of each other, there was not one word from the DAI leadership. No expression of gratitude. No remorse. It was clear thjat DAI only really values the US based staff, who are predominantly white. DAI exists because of the work of the national staff who tirelessly implement and bring in millions of USD in indirect. The disdain and dismissal by the DAI President cannot be underestimated, nor can the insult to staff. When DAI brought back staff to assist with close out, we had either extremely capable competent colleagues or we had incompetent, lazy staff who did nothing. The selection process was neither consultative or transparent. We have closed country offices with unpaid vendors. Some national staff were offered consultant agreements at a fraction of their monthly salaries, furthering an already wounded insulted group. DAI may rise from all of this. There will always be people in need of work. However, anyone who was employed during this period will enter DAI employment with eyes wide open. Staff will be unmotivated expressing minimal commitment. I am not sure if DAI’s leadership has any idea about the damage they have caused to themselves.

not really around anymore due to USAID shutdown

Chaotic processes Work load Etc