Todd Sherer

Poor leadership, lack of empathy When I first started at MJFF, I was on cloud nine. I could not believe I was working at this renowned nonprofit with such a strong, meaningful mission. To cure Parkinson's? A disease one of my immediate family members was diagnosed with? What could be better than this? The first year in, before I discovered how political it was, I enjoyed my time at MJFF. Then I discovered during my first bonus and raise season that high performance was futile. Those who were rewarded were the cliquey employees who positioned themselves correctly or endeared themselves to the right person. I began to become more and more disillusioned, but stuck with it, convinced my hard work would pay off. It never did and the environment got progressively more toxic. Rumors were tossed around that Senior Leadership had said we were all replaceable and didn't care about Officer level employees. I don't know if this is true, but you could just feel that it was true. I know that everyone IS replaceable, but creating a toxic environment where employees do not feel valued or respected is unacceptable. Research Partnership leaders feign sympathy and concern, but behind your back, it's a different story. Advancement is one giant clique that only the strong survive (if you're "sensitive" do not work here in Development). Most of HR is just incompetent, and actually a liability, except for the staff responsible for training. Our Research Programs team actually seems to be focused on their goal: funding research and existing above the fray. I had minimal contact with our Administration team, but since our former CFO left, they seem to be functioning well and performing their jobs well. I ended up leaving due to the heavy workload, low pay, and high stress. At one point, I found out that another person with the same title (in the same department no less) and less experience was making a much larger amount and it was my final straw. To enter a job with as much enthusiasm and spirit as I had and then to leave feeling so depressed and defeated was difficult. I truly hope they find their footing because I still care about finding a cure or at least a drug to treat symptoms, but disappointing is the word that I keep repeating when asked about MJFF.