Mission-driven work with strong compensation, but promotion is tricky - Associate State Director -- Advocacy & Outreach AARP Employee Review

4.0
Jul 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Sincerely mission driven in advocating for the rights of seniors. Great compensation for a nonprofit. Ample resources to serve community.

Cons

Just being good at your job is usually not enough, but alignment with the leadership is key to getting promoted

Explore other reviews about AARP

5.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

amazing staff and nice work culture

Cons

no cons really just amazing place to work

2.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

benefits are strong - pension, vacation, sick, caregiving work life balance is generally good

Cons

AARP suffers from a serious toxic work culture, particularly in the IT and Digital Transformation departments. Leadership is atrocious. People leading the 2 key technology functions for the business are incompetent and ego maniacs. Both departments are extremely toxic with burned out employees and contractors. Money gets wasted in the extreme due to these factors. Constant signal switching on projects and priorities. Everyone you work with is unhappy. Bullying and retaliation are common. Avoid these departments in particular, but the whole organization is top heavy, with terrible leadership all around. Still there are some great and talented people, but it's not the norm, and senior leadership is wrought with incompetence and arrogance. The organization flails around endlessly, and blows money with no discipline or rigor to their work and methods. Think someone is juicing the Glassdoor numbers with people saying the place is great. No opportunity for growth. The organization tries to do good work, and does in many ways, but it's so poorly run that it severely hampers its potential.

5
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All