The world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth laid off 6% of its staff last week, one year after it cut 12% of its staff amid allegations of financial mismanagement and union-busting activity. He was fired shortly after.
Three sources familiar with the matter all spoke to the Washington Blade on condition of anonymity, saying the move was a blow to the morale of some Trevor Project employees who had already lost trust in leadership overall. He said it would only make the decline worse.
The organization's problems were first reported by the Blade in August 2023. In the months since then, sources have agreed that management has failed to turn the organization around by neglecting its staff, including those who do the difficult and mission-critical work of crisis response. call.
Peggy Rajski, the group's founder and interim CEO, confirmed the job cuts in a written statement to the Blade, saying: “This decision was extremely difficult but necessary. We were committed to making decisions carefully and purposefully.”
“We worked closely and transparently with union representatives throughout the process to ensure the survival of our organization and our continued ability to fulfill our life-saving mission. “Thank you for your honesty and understanding,” she said.
Mr. Rajski's statement continues: “We continue to appreciate the dedication and contributions of each member of our team. We want to reassure everyone that our commitment to LGBTQ+ youth is steadfast.
“Our mission to provide critical supports and services to at-risk LGBTQ+ youth is as important as ever. As always, we remain available 24/7 for young people who need us.
“Even in a moment of change like this, The Trevor Project’s promise of service remains strong. We continue to support the life-saving programs we provide to LGBTQ+ youth we love and find all too difficult. Thank you to all our supporters and allies.”
Representatives for Friends of Trevor United, a union organized under the Communications Workers of America, did not respond to requests for comment. One official said the union was heavily involved in negotiations throughout the process, but was not given advance notice of the date on which the layoffs would take place.
“The atmosphere is really dark.”
“The volunteer training and experience team has been reduced by about a third,” the first official said, adding that employees at all levels, “from the lowest-paid coordinators to directors,” were affected by Wednesday's layoffs. added.
The source confirmed Radzisky's claim that the hotline service is open 24/7, but noted that the number of volunteers would decrease “as changes in team size proceed.” Another official said employee burnout began after the first round of layoffs last summer.
Employees had been warned of impending layoffs as early as last week, including in a Jan. 30 email from the interim CEO reviewed by the Blade.
“We did not expect to face such continued friction in our FY24 fundraising efforts,” Radzisky wrote. “Despite strict measures taken across the organization to reduce spending and raise additional funds, we continue to face significant revenue shortfalls.”
The email also explained that the layoffs will be accompanied by other cost-cutting measures, including cutting discretionary expenses such as non-essential hiring, travel and other non-mission-critical project spending.
Nevertheless, the first official said the team is already under pressure after major layoffs last year. “The mood is very dark,” the person said, with many employees expecting another round of layoffs within six to eight months.
“Trevor claims that the company has adopted cost-cutting measures since the last round of redundancies, but has hired externally for a number of roles. [executives] “They refuse to take a pay cut, the organization is too overburdened in its current state, and appears to be doing little to revamp and revitalize its fundraising efforts,” the source added.
Radziski and other leaders of the organization blamed the financial difficulties on the anti-LGBTQ political climate that has gained momentum in the United States over the past few years, three people told the Blade. ing.
But the influx of legislation targeting the rights of gay and transgender youth has increased the number of crisis calls that Trevor and other youth advocacy organizations are responding to, perhaps reducing their ability to raise money. rather, they said it would increase.
“Let me be clear,” the first source said. “Interim CEO Peggy Rajski has zero confidence from ground-level employees.”
Referring to Trevor's former CEO Amit Paley, who retired in November 2022, Rajski said, “Since taking over after Amit's retirement, there has been a complete lack of care and consideration for Trevor's staff.'' We have shown that there is.”
Paley's tenure was also difficult. For example, a second source said Trevor employees lost health insurance coverage for mental health services and gender-affirming care in August 2022, but that Trevor employees were “outraged” by the cost-cutting measures. He explained that he had since recovered after receiving protests.
The first source, recalling a story in the Blade last summer, said Radziski “created a hostile and traumatic work environment,” referring to The Wrap's reporting that her tenure at Trevor Co. He pointed out that before that, he had been accused of having an unpleasant management style. .
A second person said employees are being made to feel like they are “disposable.”
The Blade reported in August that Radzisky responded to negative feedback she received during an organization-wide meeting in which employees were allowed to share written comments and respond with emojis. He reportedly objected.
She later removed the ability to share feedback on Google Meet and instead began pre-recording video messages that constituted all-staff “meetings,” three people said. It said it had appointed management consulting firm KPMG to oversee the introduction of new values in the organization. , which emphasizes “heart, integrity, community, belonging, and progress.”
A second source said the video mostly consisted of the leaders congratulating themselves, along with the first source, Trevor, a partner at multinational law firm Allen & Overy. He noted that board chairman Julianne Moore announced earlier this year that the search for Radziski's replacement was well underway. started.
After KPMG was introduced, the environment became “sterile” and “it felt like the only important people on the team were the people making six figures, not the people actually doing the work.” '' said a second source.
One source said: “Crisis managers are the lowest paid people in an organization. This just baffles me because they literally do a job that aligns with the organization's mission.” he said.
Sources said Radzisky gave most credit to crisis leaders for their difficult work because of how the organization remembers that “what really matters is the young people we serve.” It was a refrain she often repeated about what she had to do.
On January 5th, Friends of Trevor United took over the workplace messaging app Slack to “pursue accountability, demand transparency, and challenge management's response to the union's pay increase proposal over the organization's performance review cycle.” “To share our frustration with the delayed and undignified opposition.” ”
The union shared several examples of concerns communicated by workers.
- “Not to sound like a broken record, but what is our team's plan to get executives to understand this urgency? Every time they are late, it hurts all of us. How do vertical leaders ensure that upper management faces the consequences of bad faith negotiations? I've done my best and this is a slap in the face to management. It took six weeks for the company to come back with a proposal for a pay increase. This is completely unacceptable and not something any of us deserve.”
- “I hereby express my deep disappointment and concern. The six-week period highlights a clear disparity in accountability. I've heard that they are working on it, and I hope to get a clear answer in the next 24 hours about how they are effectively communicating the urgency to address this issue. We have contributed passionately to the mission of this organization throughout the year, and we need our management to demonstrate a commitment to good faith negotiations.”
- “Trevor, whoever you are, you need to prove that you can be trusted.”
- “I've seen the reactions here and on #org's announcement…but I can only hope that it becomes abundantly clear that this is a collective wound. A growing realization that the hard work, loyalty, and dedication of our employees is consistently met with indifference…Everything we say leads us to believe that the problem is that management is not in agreement with the union. There is a sense that it is being trivialized.”
- “Executives showing up to the negotiation table empty-handed, their response on channels where we have been silenced from responding… these resonate as betrayal and disrespect, and are dehumanizing. It's a blatant disregard for the sacrifices we've made throughout the year. It's a crushing reminder that for many of us, our aspirations for fair treatment and recognition remain unfulfilled. It stands as a stark symbol of the hopes that have been shattered… for us as workers, for the queer youth who were, and for the youth we are still here today, silenced and half-hearted. The response resonates louder than any words.”
- “For those of you who are listening intently, please understand that we are not just asking for a raise…we are craving the recognition, respect, and fair treatment that everyone deserves. ”
In conversations with the Blade, three sources said they believe in Trevor's mission and the work, regardless of their feelings toward management. They said they hope speaking out will lead to needed change at an organization whose lifeline for at-risk queer youth has never been more important.
After publication, a Trevor Project spokesperson contacted us with three corrections.
“The union was given advance notice of the termination date.''
“This article states that all-staff meetings are ‘pre-recorded’ videos, which is inaccurate. Instead, hold monthly staff meetings in a livestream format to share important updates from staff at all levels of your organization. We will use this time to highlight the contributions of our staff to our organization's suicide prevention and intervention efforts and the positive impact our organization is having on LGBTQ+ youth. This ensures the space is safe and productive for the entire community and is standard practice for large organizations with hundreds of remote employees. ”
“While there has been some confusion and frustration regarding some changes to our health insurance coverage, this is generally due to communication developments, so staff may have some incorrect assumptions or perceptions about coverage. Below is a summary of our staff health insurance benefits at that time, as shared in an email to all staff on August 18, 2022.
- The Trevor Project covers 100% of all employee health insurance plan premiums, including medical, vision and dental.
- In-network mental health care is free. This means you won't have to pay out-of-pocket for mental health services, even before you reach your deductible.Out-of-network benefits will remain the same as they have been for the past year
- All of our plans include gender reassignment surgery and care, including procedures such as electrolysis, facial feminization, and breast implants.
- The Trevor Project will pay 50% of your dependents' premiums
- We have been able to extend the recruitment period until August 31st (Wednesday). ”
