My Nonprofit Reviews

My experience with Kenneth Young Center was overwhelmingly negative due to its toxic work culture, lack of leadership, and complete disregard for employee well-being. While I entered the organization with the hope of making a difference, I quickly realized that management prioritizes agency optics over both staff and client needs.

Lack of Leadership & Toxic Culture

Management is untrained, unqualified, and unprofessional, creating an environment of micromanagement, retaliation, and favoritism. Instead of fostering growth and supporting employees, leadership relies on excessive write-ups and punitive measures to control staff. Communication is poor, and major decisions—like layoffs and policy changes—are made abruptly with no transparency. Employees are constantly left in the dark, scrambling to adapt to unclear expectations.

Overworked & Undervalued

Workloads are unrealistic, with employees expected to take on more responsibilities than is reasonable. Boundaries are not respected, and the expectation to work long hours, answer messages after hours, and sacrifice personal time is normalized. Despite these demands, raises and career advancement opportunities are nonexistent. Hardworking employees are denied fair pay increases while being expected to do more, and when raises are requested, they are ignored or dismissed.

No Career Growth & High Turnover

There is no real opportunity for professional growth, and employees are often strung along with false promises of advancement. Promotions are based on favoritism rather than merit, and those who question leadership or advocate for themselves are pushed out. Turnover is extremely high, with talented employees leaving due to burnout, mistreatment, or lack of job security. The agency has even resorted to layoffs, proving its instability.

Self-Care is Not a Priority

While the agency preaches self-care, the reality is the complete opposite. Employees are expected to push through exhaustion, and when they bring up concerns, they are dismissed or retaliated against. HR exists solely to protect management, not to support staff. Any attempt to raise issues results in being ignored, gaslit, or even written up.

Final Thoughts

Kenneth Young Center is an unstable, toxic workplace that does not value its employees. If you care about your well-being, career growth, or work-life balance, avoid this organization at all costs. The best decision I made was leaving.