NEW YORK — The world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth laid off six percent of its staff last week, which comes less than a year after 12 percent of its workforce was cut amid allegations of financial mismanagement and union-busting activities.
Three sources familiar with the matter, all of whom spoke with the Washington Blade on the condition of anonymity, said the move has only exacerbated flagging morale among some Trevor Project employees who, by and large, had already lost faith in leadership.
Trouble at the organization was first reported by the Blade in August of 2023. In the months since, the sources agreed that management has failed to turn around the organization while neglecting staff, including those who do the difficult and mission-critical work 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 transparently with our union representatives throughout the process, and appreciate the heart, integrity and understanding of all involved to help ensure the organization’s longevity and ongoing ability to carry out its life-saving mission,” she said.
Rajski’s statement continues: “We remain grateful for the dedication and contributions of each member of our team. I want to reassure everyone that our commitment to LGBTQ+ young people remains unwavering.
“Our mission to provide critical support and services to LGBTQ+ youth in crisis is as vital as ever. This restructuring enables us to sustain our quality core services, ensuring that we continue to be a reliable, steady resource for those in need. As always, we remain open 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 supporters and allies for their continuing support for the lifesaving programs we provide our beloved but all too often besieged LGBTQ+ youth.”
Representatives for Friends of Trevor United, the union organized under the Communication Workers of America, did not respond to requests for comment. One source said the union was heavily involved in bargaining throughout the process but was not notified in advance of the date on which the layoffs occurred.
‘The mood is really gloomy’
“The volunteer training and experience teams were reduced by about a third,” said the first source, who added that all levels of employees were affected by Wednesday’s layoffs, from the “lowest-paid coordinators up to directors.”
This source confirmed Rajski’s claim that hotline services remain open 24/7, but noted there will be fewer volunteers “moving forward with these changes to the team sizes.” A second source said staff burn out had set in since the first round of layoffs last summer.
Prior to last week, employees were warned that reductions in the workforce were coming, including in an email from the interim CEO on Jan. 30 that was reviewed by the Blade.
“We did not anticipate facing so much continued friction with our fundraising efforts in FY24,” Rajski wrote. “Despite stringent actions that our whole organization has taken to reduce spending and bring in additional funding, we are facing major ongoing shortfalls in revenue.”
The email further explained that layoffs would be accompanied by other cost-saving measures, including the reduction of discretionary expenses like non-essential hiring as well as travel and other project spends that are not “mission critical.”
Nevertheless, the first source said, teams were already under pressure after major staffing reductions last year. “The mood is really gloomy,” the source said, with many employees expecting another round of cuts will happen in 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.
The three sources told the Blade that Rajski and other leadership at the organization have blamed financial woes on the anti-LGBTQ political climate that has become ascendant in the U.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. “There is ZERO confidence from ground floor level employees in the interim CEO Peggy Rajski.”
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 example, the second source described how in August 2022 Trevor employees lost health insurance coverage for mental health services and gender affirming care, which was subsequently restored after an outcry from Trevor workers who “were pissed” 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.
As the Blade reported in August, Rajski reportedly objected to the negative feedback she had received during organization-wide meetings that allowed employees to share written comments or react with 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 videos largely consist of leadership congratulating themselves, according to the second source, who along with the first source noted that Trevor Board Chair Julian Moore — a partner at multinational law firm Allen & Overy — announced earlier this year that the search for Rajski’s replacement had begun.
After KPMG was brought in, the second source said, the environment became “sterile” and “it felt like the only important people on the team were those making six figures rather than people 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 closest Rajski came to crediting the difficult work of those responsible for fielding crisis calls, the source said, was the refrain she has often repeated about how the organization must remember “what’s really important, the youth who we serve.”
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 shared several examples of concerns relayed by workers:
- “Not to sound like a broken record, but what IS our team’s plan to make C-Suite understand the urgency here? Every time they delay it hurts us all. How are our vertical leaders ensuring upper management faces the consequences of their bad-faith bargaining? I have been giving it my all and this is a slap in the face. It took six weeks for management to return a proposal on wage increases. This is beyond unacceptable and not something any of us deserve.”
- “I am echoing a sentiment of deep disappointment and concern here. Six weeks really underscores an apparent disparity in accountability. I have heard many of our leaders say they are committed to this in their values. I would love to have a clear answer in the next 24 hours of how we are effectively communicating to upper management the urgency of addressing this issue. We have diligently contributed to this orgs mission throughout the year. We need to see management reciprocate with a genuine commitment to good faith bargaining.”
- “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. A wound that is deepening in many of us the realization that our hard work, loyalty, and commitment is continually met with indifference… that all of our words are being minimized to the belief that the problem is “Management disagreeing with the union.”
- 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 blatant disregard for the sacrifices we’ve made throughout FY23. It is a painful reminder that our aspirations for fair treatment and recognition remain unfulfilled. For many of us, this stands as a stark symbol of shattered hopes… shattered hope for ourselves as workers, for the young queer kids we once were, for the young people who 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 said they hope speaking out will lead to some necessary changes at the organization, whose lifeline for at-risk queer youth has never been more vital.
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. Rather, we hold a monthly staff meeting via livestream format to share important updates from staff across all levels of the organization. We use this time to highlight staff contributions to the organization’s suicide prevention and intervention work, and the positive impact our organization makes on LGBTQ+ young people. This ensures that the space remains safe and productive for our entire community, and is a standard practice among large organizations with hundreds of remote employees.”
“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. Here is a high level of the staff health insurance benefits from that period, which we shared in an all-staff email on Aug 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. Out-of-network benefits will remain consistent with this past 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
- We have been able to extend the open enrollment period until Wednesday, Aug. 31″
