Women Rising Reviews

There are many cons. The organization is run by older women who have been working there for 20+ years and are not open to change. I’m fact, the executive director is in her 80s I believe, and gets easily influenced by these seasoned managers. The executive director is kind but very passive, and forgetful. There is no training in any department except Youth and Family, where the manager will literally spend days in a room with you reading through a binder full of 30-year-old worksheets, word for word, for hours. These women have created an environment where original thought, creativity and boundaries are not respected or encouraged. Many women start the job hopeful and excited to make a difference in the lives of survivors of domestic violence. However, even though the work is meaningful, and there’s fulfillment in interacting with the clients, the staff instantly get bombarded with managerial asks to fulfill company wide gaps since there are always empty positions since the organization is too cheap to hire people at a normal rate. The staff get burned out quickly and there are no benefits, no real perks to keep you going… except maybe that you get a boss, like the DVS director who never checks on you, is rarely present, and answers your questions begrudgingly, rudely , or with a simple one word answer. It may seem great to have that freedom but it can actually fill anyone with anxiety. Imagine getting comfortable working at your own pace with no metrics really, and then a dictator-like supervisor periodically surprises you by asking for all the paperwork at once, or asking you to complete a task she has never trained you for last minute. If you don’t fulfill her commands, she will gossip about you to other coworkers who tell you about it. It makes anyone feel unappreciated, hurt, and it’ll grow extreme distrust. Overall, many women are prone to gossip there and it’s not called out. It really makes working there uncomfortable. The smartest thing to do, if you must work there is to stay for about a year and leave. There’s nothing to gain except experience. There have been long periods of time where we didn’t have HR, so we would have nowhere to complain. At the moment, HR is cliquey and unprofessional, so workers don’t trust telling them what is going on. Aside from the work environment, working with domestic violence clients is difficult because you have to get used to hearing terrible stories often and you also have to get used to be lied to constantly, since many women return with their abuser. Anyone who works here has to engage in serious self-care after work, and go in caring for clients, but also making sure they set clear and concrete boundaries.

It’s easy to burnout because the caseload is high