The entire staff of a Burlington-based sexual violence prevention nonprofit resigned Friday in protest of its executive director.
Eight employees at HOPE Works said they would not return to work after a three-week strike, contending that its board did not address their concerns in good faith. They had lodged complaints against executive director Cathleen Barkley alleging racism and homophobia, ineffectual leadership, and threats against employee organizing.
Barkley and the organization’s board of directors “have shown us time and again that they do not in fact share the vision we have for building a better organization,” the employees wrote in a statement. “They have prioritized the optics of their public relations efforts over the basic humanity requested by staff to engage in a collaborative process.”
Seven Days reached out to Barkley, and Nicole Ravlin, a partner at People Making Good PR, which has taken over communications for the nonprofit, responded. The organization had been serving an average of 75 survivors of sexual violence each month, according to Ravlin.
Staffers said they decided to resign after months of complaints and building frustration. On December 10, employees filed a formal grievance against the organization’s leadership with the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, which forwarded the complaint to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
The 39-page document, which staff made public, details a litany of allegations against Barkley and months of apparent conflict with staff. Barkley repeatedly told staff she was burnt out and wanted to leave the organization, the complaint says. On December 7, she threatened to fire the entire staff when they tried to organize against a proposal to sell developer Eric Farrell land for an access road along North Avenue, according to Jas Wheeler, one of the former employees.
Charity Clark, chief of staff for the AG’s office, said she could not comment on whether it would pursue the complaint.
The staff went on strike on December 16. They demanded a reorganization of the board of directors and Barkley’s removal. Since then, they started a GoFundMe campaign to cover expenses, and have raised more than $16,000. “We heard from our community that they are with us and that they understand the choice we’ve made,” Wheeler said.
The board asked staff to return to work Friday. The board brought in a management consultant specializing in workplace communication to investigate the employee grievances. Barkley agreed to go on administrative leave during the investigation, according to Ravlin.
A temporary director, Susan Leonard, took the helm of the organization and as of Friday was the only employee.
Instead of showing up to the office Friday, staff handed in their letters of resignation, saying that the board’s efforts were insufficient. Board members “continue to minimize, dismiss, invalidate our experiences,” Wheeler said.
Later Friday, the number listed on the HOPE Works website was inactive.
Meanwhile, the organization is trying to maintain operations. Leonard will stay on for a month, with the option to extend her contract, according to Ravlin. If Barkley doesn’t return to the job, the organization will hire a new director.
Trained volunteers filled in gaps during the strike, and per diem clinicians were seeing patients, according to Ravlin. She said the board plans to hire more staff, but that it was too early to say what the future of the organization holds.
“It’s going to take more than 10 or 12 hours to have a plan in place,” she said. “Will we rebuild it exactly as it was? I’m not sure. But will we rebuild it [to serve] survivors? One thousand percent.”
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How are they going to help victims when they’ve already clearly invalidated the concerns of the people actually doing the WORK to help victims?
Problems with Cathleen Barkley have been going on for years: This is not a case of recent burn out.
HOPE Works is an essential service in our community. These staff members, with their invaluable experience and dedication, _are_ the boots on the ground in Vermont’s largest city. Kudos to them for their courage. They deserve everyone’s support.
The formal grievance is telling:
“After much conversation, the staff of HOPE Works has decided to release a redacted version of our formal grievance that we sent to the Vermont Network on 12/10/2018. The Vermont Network has done everything they can to address these issues with the HOPE Works Board of Directors. It feels clear to us that the HOPE Works Board and Executive Director are not operating in good faith regarding any efforts to repair and restore the damage done by HOPE Works leadership.
We have reached this decision after receiving notice today that our Board of Directors has elected to hire an intergenerational management strategies consultant to investigate claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation perpetrated by our leadership. Additionally, the Board of Directors has chosen to not meet our request of appointing an internal interim Executive Director and has instead hired a human resources professional with no apparent professional experience in sexual violence work.
It feels clear to us that the HOPE Works Board and Executive Director are not operating in good faith regarding any efforts to repair and restore the damage done by HOPE Works leadership.
As such, we feel like it is necessary to share with our community, our supporters, as well as those who are against us–what exactly we were and continue to be up against at HOPE Works.
please check out this link to see the grievance.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/0962c0_26a625b3735740c498f20d605d657b97.pdf “
Thanks for sharing the link, sew216. I second that everyone should read. As a community member, I am very concerned by the actions represented in the document taken by the Executive Director and the Board.
There is a footnote in the complaint that explains the makeup of the Board. I can’t help but feel that if the makeup of the Board was more representative of the population it supports and the specific community accessing services then this whole problem could have been handled years ago.
This is just another example where old, white, cis dudes hold on to power (it looks good to be on a Board) and it does direct damaged to society’s ability to move forward.
If you are an old, white dude reading this and you are on a board (especially for an organization serving a population you do not belong to and who have very different experiences of the world than you) I implore you to consider stepping down. You may have the best of intentions and you may even feel you add a valuable perspective, however, your presence is in itself causing harm. If you occupy a space where someone of color, someone in the LGBT community, a survivor of domestic violence, someone who experienced homelessness in childhood, etc. should be sitting, the best service you can do is to resign and specifically call out not including marginalized populations/the populations these organizations serve on the Board.
As someone new to this controversy, I’ve taken the time to read the full complaint at the link provided by a commenter and it is a shameful, hate-filled character assassination. To understand the true intent of its authors, look at the fact that they’ve chosen to redact their own names while they have no problem publishing the full name of the person accused. It smells of a witchhunt. I have no idea whether the leader of this organization was effective or discriminatory and whether there is actual fire behind all this smoke. Maybe there is, and that would be a shame. But what is crystal clear from the complaint is that a group of entitled, manipulative, scheming snakes has been deliberately sabotaging and gaslighting their leader for years. Rape crisis service is grueling, heartbreaking work and it’s easy to see how the people doing it can start to view themselves as victims. But I hope the hate-soaked accusors will think twice – they are cannibalizing one of their own and crippling services for all of the rape survivors in our community for years to come.
Observant Reader I also am new to this controversy and have read the complaint. Nothing you wrote has any evidence and is just name calling. Your comment only reflects the way you think. I suggest you talk to a therapist about your projection issues as you seem pretty toxic.
I see a lawsuit happening here. Once Cathleen Barkley is cleared of all these false allegations she should sue for defamation. After 15 years at HOPE Works and thousands of people served she now has to deal with her reputation being dragged through the mud by a conspiracy to take her over her job and the entire organization. To accuse her of “racism and homophobia, ineffectual leadership, and threats against employee organizing.” is a joke and an outright lie. The evidence will prove her innocence. For weeks she has continued to serve victims alone while these accusers have walked out on those same people that they profess to care so much about. All the while plastering her name all over the public forums while staying in the shadows themselves. What cowards.
forgottn19 sounds like you are Ms. Barkley trolling.
jfg88 this whole article struck a nerve for me. Many years ago, I too was falsely accused and my name smeared around town and only after threatening a lawsuit did it all stop. I had an uncle that was falsely accused of a crime and it destroyed him. Even after being found innocent and the true culprit found he never got his life back. I know what kind of havoc it can play with your life and there has been no supporting evidence, only vague accusations. I can only imagine the kind of personal hell that Mrs. Barkley is going through right now and I empathize with her situation. People can be so ruthless sometimes.
Stephanie Potter What problems do you speak of? How about some examples? From what I hear she is married to a black man so I don’t see how “racist” she could be. If she had to discipline an employee in her roll as director, that is her job and just because the person was a “person of color” doesn’t a racist make her. If these staff members were so dedicated, why then did they walk out on the very people they were being paid to help?
I read the entire dossier compiled by the staff against the HOPE executive director. What struck me is how much this community has its own language, priorities and principles. So much so that it makes me wonder how transferable these complaints are to the wider working world.
Having worked for many years with survivors of domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and sexual assault, I know that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do that difficult work, day in day out, in an environment that does not provide deep support and understanding for staff. If the board and director do not respond to the frustrations and need for overall well being of the workers, the workers have every right, and indeed, the responsibility to try to change the work place. I’m sorry that this apparently could not happen here, despite the hard work and courage of the staff.