American Heart Association Employee Reviews for Anonymous Employee

"One of the worst places you could land a job, in terms of the development side of the house. It is run, from the National offices to the affiliate (speaking mostly of the SWA) by micromanaging leaders with no strategic thoughts except how to preserve their own high paying jobs. Laughably they talk about creating a culture of accountability but that only applies below. If you are not a part of their clique then you will not last long. Eventually the numbers don't come in and someone has to be blamed. Don't just believe me, look at the numbers. Extremely high turnover in the field, but surprisingly little turnover at the top. HMM..interesting how that happens over such a prolonged time. Insanely dumb tactics used that are outdated and not productive in the non-profit space...goals based on nothing but what the leaders need to get their bonuses (yes bonuses for non profit) and ridiculous motivators like daily standups and report outs twice a day. (haha). They treat donors/companies like pawns...spoken about behind closed doors,,,how can they get more money from them. This organization is in such a need of management turnover but the board has no power and the clique protects one another. Look into the nepotism..sisters who hold high ranking jobs and are moved around to accommodate each other. Neither one qualified. It is sickening."

"The American Heart Association is a poorly run company consisting of a smattering of silo'd departments that refuse to work together because of competition for funding. This organization's sole goal is to secure enough funding to ensure their longevity. On a macro level, the company is focused on touting heart stents because the pharma giants that line the AHA's pockets just so happen to manufacture those stents (stents that, if research is looked at properly, do not even help remediate heart disease, but only treat the symptoms). They also push "healthy" diets rife with meat and dairy because, you guessed it, they ALSO take funding from them as well! On a micro level, leadership doesn't understand the value of good marketing, hates new ideas, is stuck in an old, tired rut and refuses to get out of it. I can't impress upon those contemplating a future career at the AHA to PLEASE consider it carefully. Your health will deteriorate due to long hours, low pay, bosses that don't care if you have a life outside of work, etc. Current employees that are there: LEAVE! You are worth so much more than that place. It's making you overweight, stressed and playing you right into their hands: The AHA wants its employees hyper stressed, overeating and depressed. Then, when their employees have heart attacks, they can use it as a platform to further drive home their message of "eradicating heart disease". (Which, why on earth would an organization that gets its funding from pharma companies want to eradicate a disease that makes them a lot of money? Think about that.) Pros: NONE. Cons: bad leadership, bad work environment, old, outdated management style, poor work-life balance, underhanded motives, stressed, overworked colleagues."

"Run!! If you value your reputation and the health, the AHA is not for you!!!! I have never worked for such a poorly ran organization in my life. Micromanagement at its finest. If you like being set up for failure and enjoy working in a hostile environment then this is for you."

"Communications is not valued here, and leaders do not know the distinction between marketing and communications. The only thing valued is getting grants and funding. Some grants are duplicative, with departments rarely coordinating with each other on the same initiative!"

"Bad place to work. Micromanaged to an obscene degree, no original thought, new ideas shot down, out of control egos all over the place."

"Important, very high communication level."

What do you like about working at American Heart Association?

"It was personally rewarding and the staff was commited to the cause of eliminating Heart Disease."