EngenderHealth Reviews

A burning dumpster fire of a once-great organization. The level of chaos the new CEO, Ulla Muller, has created in less than a year is astounding. If the goal was to dismantle the organization in the slowest, most callous, most corrupt way possible while causing as much pain and fear to employees around the globe... then mission accomplished. I won’t repeat all of what my amazing colleagues have voiced in previous Glassdoor posts, but will only say it’s all true and worse. The CEO and her complicit Executive Team pinch pennies from country programs and junior/ middle management staff while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars (that is not an exaggeration) of unrestricted funds on lawyers to strip her own employees of rights, consultants to teach her how to act like a human being, consultants to inform those consultants on how to talk about the fact that the CEO is a monster, and even computer forensic specialists to search employee laptops to see who is speaking ill of the Dear Leader. Ulla cares so deeply about these Glassdoor posts that she launched a campaign forcing staff to write positive posts (which no one could bring themselves to do), but still won’t acknowledge them of have an honest discussion about staff grievances. Anyone who asks valid questions in meetings is belittled. Anyone who questions her in private is let go, including some who tried to warn her that using the organization as her personal bank looks bad to donors. US-based colleagues are leaving as quickly as possible, even before the “restructure” was announced. Colleagues in country offices voice their displeasure and feelings of being disrespected, but Ulla is so neo-colonial she either doesn’t see it or doesn’t care. The damage has been done. This field is small, and word travels fast. Ulla Muller has made a name for herself, and it’s not good. EngenderHealth may not survive Ulla Muller’s insane narcissism and nonsensical “strategic plan,” to the great detriment of the country programs that provide lifesaving work. However, to borrow from Ulla’s patronizing mantra which she states every time she makes an ill-informed decree, we are “brave and determined.” Ulla, please rest assured that the dedicated, passionate, technically trained EngenderHealth employees around the globe that you have demeaned and taken for granted are VERY brave, and also very well-connected. We are determined to ensure that all of the heartless and downright corrupt acts of Ulla Muller come to light. The only thing making me feel better as I watch the implosion of EngenderHealth is knowing that the rest of this field is watching too. Ulla Muller will have a hard time getting a new job in this field after she’s done destroying EngenderHealth, and it’s completely her own doing. At this point, we are spending our time consoling each other, protecting our colleagues as best we can from Executive Team, helping each other look for jobs, and fighting for the organization to stick to SOPs and respect HR contracts.

As my colleague mentioned in their March 21, 2018 post, don’t be fooled by the positive reviews written with boilerplate language - they are fraudulent reviews written for the executive leadership by absurdly overpaid consultants to recruit new employees in DC. After ousting an incompetent, authoritarian, and manipulative President, whom they hired, the Board took the reigns and decimated its technical and operational talent. Instead of engaging staff, who have expertise and experience in the SRHR sector, and owning missteps, they continued with the former President’s plan to re-structure and move the NY office to DC. Prior to the President’s departure, an external consultant came onboard to interview staff across departments and recommend a new structure that would better support EngenderHealth’s strategic plan. At that point, the strategic plan was (and still is), a PowerPoint, filled with immeasurable objectives, antiquated jargon, and inspiring photographs. We were told the re-structure assessment would be a participatory process and an opportunity for staff to provide input. Instead, three months later (post-President’s departure), the Board and VPs presented the new organogram (with no accompanying narrative or rationale) that eliminated many operational positions critical to the organization’s functioning – and there was no time for Q&A. The rationale for the move (and the process by which it is being carried out) has never made any sense to staff. I can be sympathetic to lay-offs when there is a sound rationale and feasible plan in place, but leadership has never authentically communicated the logic behind their decisions. They continue to autocratically plow forward with hubris, treating those beneath them as insubordinate nuisances, rather than human beings with dignity or professionals who have relevant expertise and training in SRHR and who have committed their life’s work to social change and gender equality.