National Eating Disorders Association Reviews

Board of directors does not reflect the people who have eating disorders and are out-of-touch with the staff and field in general. Under their leadership they have ignored a large percentage of those who need help and have no awareness of the issues that are most important to those doing advocacy and fighting for their lives. The interim CEO and her sidekick have completely destroyed morale and in an field where fatphobia is a major component of the mental health issue being addressed, these 2 women have contributed to bringing diet culture in to the organization. They have harmed people on staff who have eating disorders and body image concerns with their flippant comments; especially those who are higher weight. They have no concept of mental health "safety" and are in no way fit for these positions. That the board of directors hired and supports this interim leadership is appalling and the remainder of the eating disorders field should be very concerned about what this means for the "National" organization supposedly working to end eating disorders. Let's be clear: this is a fundraising organization that does very little that is actually helpful to those with these disorders. Its supporters were shafted last year when a leader in the field was fired because she was outspoken that marginalized individuals did not have a place in the field and had little access to care. The interim leadership and board do not care about anyone but the thin, white community who has always had the attention of the media and field. The entire staff was shocked when this happened and it has been downhill since that time. NEDA contributes nothing to the field. There are other eating disorders organizations actually doing amazing work.

NEDA is centered on maintaining Board privilege, not on helping people with eating disorders. In response to community concern that they were in a leadership crisis and doing nothing to help marginalized groups, the Board hired two toxic white women to run the organization further into the ground. Staff are overworked even for a nonprofit and morale is at an all-time low. Management in the past has focused on gaslighting lower level employees into feeling responsible for outcomes that were directly related to a lack of Board leadership and lack of clear vision for the org. Current interim leadership doesn't have even a basic understanding of eating disorders or mental health issues, saying things in meetings like "My anorexic daughter weighs X pounds" and "I would kill myself if I had to …” This is who was hired to replace the talented staff members who were let go in what was a disorganized, ill-thought out chain of events. This organization is for and maintained by rich white people. Interim leadership is fatphobic and dysfunctional. Staff is thrown crumbs and expected to work 18 hour days. There is also an incredibly toxic staff member who deliberately tries to sabotage coworkers. It creates an exhausting if not impossible environment for those who are forced to interact with them even on menial tasks. There was at one time some semblance of work-life balance with this org, but that has gone out the window with the loss of the former CEO. The one pro of NEDA burning to the ground is that there may be more money and resources available to leaders in the field who are committed to doing meaningful work.