Pros
For the most part, the staff at VAL are all wonderful people. They are compassionate, smart, and socially conscious.
Cons
The organization is run from the top down with new policies not reflecting the reality of the work being done on the ground or the lives of the students. VAL has slowly turned into a "Boys Club" especially in upper management while staff who identify as women are predominantly the educators - the gender disparity throughout the organization is problematic. There are no opportunities for promotion, training requests are forgotten about and never fulfilled, and they have a tendency to hire from the outside rather than promoting seasoned staff. I left because I am emotionally burnt out from the policy changes, the lack of support, and the professional stagnation. I really wanted VAL to be my career, it's ending as a dead end.