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A Nightmare Executive Director and the Five-Year Fight for Justice
I first met Kat Sweeney through the Changing Work community, a wonderful group based on improving and elevating the current atrocious state of work. She mentioned that she has a very intense work experience to share, and what she went through is perfect for this book — showing that dysfunction exists in so many different types of organizations.
The Director From Hell
“Kat, please tell me all about what you experienced,” I said.
“I was working in the nonprofit world in Rochester, New York,” Kat said. “Specifically at my city’s local and largest LGBTQIA+ center, the Out Alliance. At first I volunteered, and then I started working there.
“I had been working there for several years and loved my job. Then they fired the fantastic Executive Director and brought in a new Director. When the outgoing Director was walked out, the accountant resigned on the spot, followed by several others shortly after. Getting rid of such a strong leader didn’t make sense.
“The new Director turned out to be a literal tyrant. Some believe he got the job because he was friends with someone on the Board. This was March of 2020. He was sexist, racist, and every ‘ist’ you can think of. He played people against each other.
