Toxic work environment starts at the top - Anonymous employee Habitat for Humanity Employee Review

When I first started working at Habitat, I thought I’d be there for many, many years. The staff was dedicated and tight knit, the management trusted the staff to do their jobs, and the Habitat homeowners were treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, the CEO left and the new CEO, Maureen Sedonaen, changed my feelings about this wonderful organization to the point where I had to leave, as I no longer felt good about our day-to-day work. Maureen Sedonaen leads by fear and intimidation. If you’re not 100% in agreement with her, she considers you against her. When some staff members were concerned about the sudden lack of transparency between staff and management (triggered by sudden layoffs), I heard her describe these concerns as staff members just “bitching” and “making demands.” Any comment about the organization is seen by her as a personal insult. A vast majority of the original staff members have left, many without another job lined up. During her tenure, the hiring processes have become questionable, with acquaintances receiving jobs and positions being filled before the job is even posted online. In the past year alone, she has hired and fired 2 CAOs, both of whom were terrible at fundraising and who never connected with the major donors whose gifts are so important to the organization. The lower levels of donations recently (a consequence of not having strong development leadership) resulted in “creative” reporting of fundraising totals to the board and committees. This place is becoming sketchy. The CEO’s culture of toxicity didn’t end with the staff. When speaking with major donors, Maureen would repeatedly exaggerate stats and make promises the organization was unable to keep. More than once I heard her discuss the Habitat homeowners in an incredibly disrespectful way, complaining about how many family members they brought to an event (those family members were acting as translators for their non English-speaking parents). Sadly, what was once a distinguished organization with strong community ties and a dedicated staff has now become a vanity project for a woman who seems to have no empathy toward those less fortunate. I am hopeful that if she is fired or quits, Habitat Greater San Francisco can return to its former position as a leader in affordable housing. Until then, the board needs to do its job and protect the organization by ridding it of her toxic management.