Habitat for Humanity reviews

Unfortunately, the great mission of the organization is completely undermined by its incompetent CEO (Maureen Sedonaen) who has, in turn, hired other incompetent people (Chief Advancement Officer, as an example) in leadership positions. The organization is not only mismanaged, it's downright toxic. And should you challenge or question this toxic culture, or even just rub the CEO the wrong way, there is a high likelihood you will be fired or otherwise pushed out of the organization. Most staff manage as best as they can, with no recourse for addressing the CEO's behavior since she has cut off staff from the one thing that should be holding her accountable: the board. Should a board member walk into the office right now, 95% of staff would not know who they are, and vice versa. The CEO often undermines talented and valuable staff in front of other people, including those who have left the organization, creating a culture of paranoia and distrust. And should the CEO get wind of this dislike of her job performance, she will dive into a cringe-worthy 30-minute diatribe about how hard her job is. Given the total lack of transparency and communication, you would think that the organization's mission was to guard the nuclear codes. Everything is shrouded in strange secrecy, for seemingly no reason but to imbue management with a false sense of power. Either the CEO purposefully misleads staff on important information like when certain projects are meant to break ground, or she is ignorant of the reality of what's actually happening within her own organization. The result is a confused staff who feel misled, misinformed, and undervalued literally every day. Staff turnover is at an all-time high, which I imagine is why only the "Leadership Team" is listed on the website now. Honestly, I could go on and on. The takeaway? If you value your mental health, or if you have values at all, avoid this place at all costs.

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.