I have been hesitant to write this review as I was told by the President to stay away from Glassdoor in our last conversation before leaving the company. However, I want to give an honest review of my time here to inform prospective employees about my experiences in the workplace as someone who was one of very few diverse employees.
Teak does not have true DEI. The very few diverse, lower-level employees were frequently asked to attend presentations for proposals to appear more diverse, were asked to take on the weight of writing diversity statements for Teak, and were even used as “diversity bait” in pitching nonprofits to seemingly appeal more to a prospective clients’ work (for example - I found that leadership was using specific employees’, including my own, diversity qualities to appeal to nonprofits working in advocacy. However, these same diverse qualities were the target of microaggressions in the office, and when teammates raised concerns about discomfort, they were left unresponded and ignored by leadership).
There were often racist, sexist, and transphobic comments and “jokes” made within leadership that also went ignored. When diverse employees raised concerns and discomfort in the workplace about these comments, they were quickly brushed under the rug. Employees who expressed concerns about feeling uncomfortable in the workplace faced more critical evaluations and conversations with leadership.
When putting in my two-weeks at Teak, I was treated very differently than a colleague who left just a few weeks before me - I had to repeatedly ask to be given an Exit Interview, even though it was just a given for my other colleague. During this call, the President made threats about my right to an honest Glassdoor review and did not let me speak to my experiences and concerns (so it would be disappointing to see that the first time my feedback is requested would be in a Glassdoor comment response). I was also told I was “lucky to have had Teak pay for my medical care” (of which using 5 days was fully within my employee rights and benefits under the sick time policy, and was my first time using in a year and a half). My private medical information was also spread as gossip around the office without my consent, and resulted in multiple microaggressions made to me by senior leadership.
On the work side, team leads are very set in their ways and mistake different work and writing styles as incompetence. The easiest way to get through the day was to keep your head down and to mimic each account leads’ style, rather than hone in on your own or try something new and learn. Managing up to the AVP was strongly discouraged and would reflect poorly on your performance.
Overall, the values in which Teak treats their employees and operates internally do not correlate to the external messaging and values they “sell” to clients. I experienced a culture of fear and intimidation, and left feeling extremely disheartened that a company who strives to do the “good work” for nonprofits, failed to do the “good work” for their employees.
