Sadly, many of the improvements came too little too late. So many people had left (prior to Covid) for being treated badly that across the industry (especially in the Black media spaces) Blavity has a bad reputation. It really took multiple paying clients to say they would not continue to work with us for necessary changes to be made despite internal calls to do so for years. There are still a few people in leadership who are not equipped for the role but they're so ingratiated into the world of Blavity that they can literally fail and still be promoted based on friendship and favoritism. They won't leave because they are paid well but the majority of people are not. You may find that when asking for a promotion you are not only made to feel like you don't deserve it, if you do manage to get it, your job title will have changed drastically -basically moving you up to a new title and salary bracket for a very slight bump in pay. It took me 2.5+ years to get an increased base salary despite the high turnover in my role and proven success internally and externally. Unfortunately, there aren't many people to talk to internally to get things done or solved for. Concerns often felt like they were dusted under the rug and approached instead by leadership as "well what would YOU do to solve this?" That's great if your feedback is listened to but it rarely was. Top sellers still feared being let go when all-hands meeting were called which is a terrible sign. Honestly, the talk track of "all Black people are happy" sounds great to investors harboring white guilt, but it's incredibly disrespectful to the very unhappy Black and POC employees who keep the company afloat with no real space for input, ownership or comfort.
