Pros
Historically Flamboyan attracts passionate, highly skilled, and wide-eyed optimist that enter the organization truly hoping to change their corner of the world for the better.
Cons
In my opinion, when trying to capture what the cons are, it’s important to highlight that Flamboyan has no Human Resources arm; no person, people, or systems to capture how people enter or exit the organization. There appears to be no strategy for dealing with the complexities of race; little consideration for the bilingual nature or relationship between the DC and Puerto Rico office; no North Star for how employees leverage their experiences to garner leadership opportunities, professional development, or promotions. So how has this organization thrived for 10+ years with such little leadership and guidance in this area? In my opinion, they make it up as they go along. They hire characters that portray leadership tropes instead of embodying the true tenets of leadership. Upper level leaders lack the ability to be adaptive. They appear to make challenging situations more complicated by talking behind the back of current and former employees and “keeping it real”. The 3-5 leaders that currently run the organization appear to lead from, and to be lead by their own ego; instead of the betterment of folks in the organization. This half-hazard approach to dealing with their people leads to: 1. People leaving unhappy. In my opinion, most people leave Flamboyan in a rage. Furthermore, in a true display of organizational gaslighting, executive leadership in the organization create narratives of people that have left that are not true in an effort to make the organization look good. 2. There appears to be no guiding strategy for dealing with race and equity. There is a dualistic approach to race: Black or White. Many organizations struggle with race, so Flamboyan’s struggles aren’t necessarily shocking or unique. What makes their approach so dastardly and vile, is the self-righteous manner in which they utilize a singular definition of Blackness that limits some Black staff members and idolizes others; based solely on your perceived alignment with leadership. What’s also telling is that the staff members in Puerto Rico experience many of the same issues. Even with the physical diversity within and across the organization, Whiteness and White Supremacy Culture still runs rampant and reigns supreme. In my opinion, the organization appears to utilize Black women to do the dirty work of its founder; weaponizing their race and gender to silence white and dissenting Black staff, leading staff to turn inwards, remain silent, or retreat. The cycle seems to be somehow calculated and messy at the same time and ultimately leads to the organization being unable to truly address the needs of the community it tries to serve. 3. The mission of the organization is to address the inequities in communities most impacted by systemic racism. Unfortunately, this work is eclipsed by the manner in which staff are treated and how the organization is run. It’s not an outright abusive organization or environment, but the subtle and reckless, divisive leadership is toxic, riddled with problematic diatribe, and a ruthless necessity to be right; instead of good.