The world’s largest organization for LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and problems treatment, which had a team of six percent cut last year, less than a year after 12 percent of its labor was cut due to union-busting and economic mismanagement allegations, was laid off six percent of its labor.
According to three people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke with the Washington Blade on the condition of anonymity, the decision has just raised some of the Trevor Project’s employees ‘ confidence levels, who had, by and large, now lost faith in management.
The Blade initially reported on the organization’s troubles in August of 2023. The sources who spoke to the business in the months that followed said management had failed to turn the company around while ignoring staff, even those who handle the challenging and mission-critical task of fielding crisis calls.
“This decision, although very difficult, was necessary, and we committed to navigating it with care and purpose, ” the group ’s founder and interim CEO Peggy Rajski said in a written statement to the Blade confirming the layoffs.
We worked closely and honestly with our coalition representatives throughout the procedure, and we appreciate the heart, honesty, and knowledge of all parties involved to help ensure the organization’s continued success and ability to carry out its vital mission, she said.
Rajski’s speech continues: “We remain thankful for the passion and efforts of each member of our team. I want to convince everyone that we continue to be unwavering about helping LGBTQ+ youth.
Our goal is to provide essential support and services to LGBTQ+ children in turmoil, just as important as ever. This restructuring allows us to maintain our high standard of service, making sure that we are still a trustworthy, stable source of assistance for those in need. As always, we remain empty 24/7 for any young person who needs us.
“ In these moments of change, The Trevor Project’s promise of service remains strong. We thank our followers and allies for continuing to support the saving programs we offer to our favorite but all too frequently besieged LGBTQ+ youngsters. ”
Reps for Friends of Trevor United, a union run by the Communication Workers of America, did not respond to requests for comment. According to one source, the coalition was actively engaged in negotiations throughout the hiring process but was not informed of the cuts ‘ start dates.
‘The feeling is really gloomy ’
“The charity training and experience team were reduced by about a second, ” said the first cause, who added that all levels of people were affected by Wednesday’s cuts, from the “lowest-paid organizers up to managers. ”
This source confirmed Rajski’s claim that hotline services are available 24/7, but added that there will be fewer volunteers “moving forward with these changes to the team sizes.” According to a second source, staff burnout has increased since the first round of layoffs last summer.
Employees were informed that there would be workforce reductions prior to last week, including in an email sent to the interim CEO on January 1. 30 that was reviewed by the Blade.
In the first half of the year, we did not anticipate that our fundraising efforts would continue to be so stale in the second half. Despite the strict measures that our entire organization has taken to lower spending and increase funding, we are still facing significant and ongoing revenue shortfalls. ”
Further, the email further explained that layoffs would be accompanied by other cost-saving measures, such as reducing discretionary costs like non-essential hiring and travel costs and other project costs that are not “mission critical.” ”
Nevertheless, the first source said, teams were already under pressure after major staffing reductions last year. According to the source,” the mood is really gloomy,” and many employees anticipate that there will be another round of cuts in the next six to eight months.
“Trevor claims they’ve adopted cost-cutting measures since the last layoffs but they’ve hired externally for a bunch of roles, [executives ] refused to take pay cuts, the org is way too top heavy as it is, and they’ve appeared to do little to nothing to revamp and revitalize fundraising efforts, ” the source added.
According to the three sources, Rajski and other organization leadership have attributed financial problems to the rising anti-LGBTQ political climate in the U.S. S. over the past few years.
However, they said, the influx of bills targeting the rights of queer and trans youth, which has increased the number of crisis calls fielded by Trevor and other youth-serving organizations, would, presumably, lead to increased rather than decreased fundraising capabilities.
“Let me be clear, ” the first source said. Ground floor employees in the interim CEO Peggy Rajski have ZERO confidence in him. ”
Rajski has “demonstrated a complete lack of care and consideration for Trevor staff since she took over after Amit’s departure, ” she said, referring to Trevor’s former CEO Amit Paley, who left in November 2022.
Paley’s tenure was also fraught. For instance, the second source described how Trevor employees lost coverage for gender affirming and mental health services in August 2022. The coverage was later reinstated following a furore from Trevor employees who claimed they were upset about the cost-cutting measure.
The first source, recalling the Blade’s story last summer, said that Rajski “has created a hostile, traumatic working environment, ” and, referencing reporting in The Wrap, noted she had been accused of having an abrasive management style prior to her tenure at Trevor.
Employees have been made to feel they were “expendable, ” the second source said.
According to a report from The Blade in August, Rajski reportedly objected to the negative feedback she had received from organization-wide meetings that made it possible for employees to write comments or use emojis.
The three sources said she has subsequently removed the functionality to share feedback with Google Meet, and instead began prerecording video messages that now constitute all-staff “meetings, ” all while retaining management consulting firm KPMG to oversee the implementation of new values at the organization, which stress “heart, integrity, community, belonging, and progress. ”
The second source noted that Trevor Board Chair Julian Moore, a partner at the multinational law firm Allen &;, is largely portrayed in the videos as the leaders congratulating themselves. Overy earlier this year announced that the search for Rajski’s replacement had begun.
According to the second source, the environment became” sterile” and it appeared as though the only important members of the team were those who were producing six figures rather than those who were actually doing the work. ”
“The crisis workers are the lowest paid people in the organization, ” a source said, “which just baffles me because, you know, they’re doing the literal work of the mission of the org. ”
The refrain she has frequently repeated about how the organization must remember “what’s really important, the youth who we serve ” was the closest Rajski came to crediting the difficult work of those responsible for fielding crisis calls. ”
On Jan. 5, Friends of Trevor United “took over Slack, ” the workplace messaging app, “to seek accountability, demand transparency, and share frustration around Management’s delayed and undignified counter to our Union’s wage increase proposal for the organization’s performance review cycle. ”
The union gave several examples of workers ‘ concerns being echoed:
- What IS our team’s plan to make C-Suite understand the urgency here? Not to sound like a broken record, but it does sound like a broken record. Every delay they make hurts us all. How do our vertical leaders ensure that senior management is accountable for their bad-faith bargaining? This is a slap in the face because I have been giving it my all. It took six weeks for management to respond to a proposal for wage increases. This is beyond unacceptable, and it belongs to no one else. ”
- I feel a lot of sadness and worry right now. Six weeks really underscores an apparent disparity in accountability. Many of our leaders have said they are committed to this in their values, I’ve heard of. In the next 24 hours, I’d like to know how effectively we are communicating to senior management the need to address this issue. Throughout the year, we have made a diligent contribution to this organization’s mission. We need to see management show a sincere commitment to fair trade. ”
- “Trevor, whoever you are, you need to prove you are trustworthy. ”
- “ I see the responses here, and in #org-announcements… but I can only hope it has been made abundantly clear that this is a collective wound. Many of us are becoming aware that our efforts, loyalty, and commitment are being consistently met with indifference, that our words are being minimized, and that the issue is ‘Management disagreeing with the union,’ which is deepening in many of us. ‘ ”
- “Management’s empty-handed presence at the bargaining table, their responses in the channels we’ve been silenced from responding in… these things resonate as betrayal, as disrespect, and they’re dehumanizing. It is a flagrant disregard for the sacrifices we made throughout the FY23. It serves as a painful reminder that our aspirations for fair treatment and recognition are still unfulfilled. This is a stark illustration of the shattered hopes that many of us have for both the young queer kids we once were and the young people we are still here for. Silence, or half-hearted responses, are echoing louder than any words spoken. ”
- “For anyone genuinely listening, please understand that we are not merely seeking raises … we are yearning for the acknowledgement, the respect, and the fair treatment we all deserve. ”
In conversations with the Blade, the three sources said they believe in Trevor’s mission and its work, no matter their feelings about management. They expressed hope that speaking out will enable some necessary adjustments to the organization, whose support for queer at-risk youth has never been more crucial.
After publication, a spokesperson for the Trevor Project reached out with three corrections:
“The union was notified of the date in advance ” of the layoffs.
“The article inaccurately says that our all staff meetings are ‘pre-recorded ’ videos. Instead, we hold monthly staff meetings in live-stream mode to share important news from all organizational levels. We use this opportunity to highlight the positive impact our organization makes on LGBTQ+ young people and staff contributions to the organization’s suicide prevention and intervention efforts. This is a standard practice among large organizations with hundreds of remote employees, making sure the space is safe and productive for our entire community. ”
“ While there was some confusion and dissatisfaction around some changes to our health insurance coverage, it was generally due to roll out communications, and therefore staff had some untrue assumptions/perceptions about coverage. A high level of the staff’s health insurance benefits from that time was provided in an all-staff email on August 18, 2022.
- The Trevor Project will cover 100 % of premiums for ALL employee health insurance plans, including medical, vision, and dental
- Mental health care is free for in-network, meaning there are no copays, even before the deductible is reached, for mental health services. Benefits outside the network will remain the same as they were last year.
- All our plans cover gender-affirming surgery and care, including procedures like electrolysis, facial feminization, and pectoral implants
- The Trevor Project will cover 50 % of premiums for dependents
- The open enrollment period has been extended until Wednesday, August. 31 ″
