No real impact, low pay, no career progression
Pros
Staff are enthusiastic, friendly and dedicated
Cons
Staff are really overworked. Senior management has a habit of pursuing every funding opportunity to the extent that only a small portion of the work done here has actual impact - there are many small projects that go nowhere and are actually subgranted to consultants. Quite demoralizing. Also pay here is below market rates for the non profit sector, despite what HR will tell you. They decide on market rates for each pay grade, but then actually pay more than 80% of their staff below these rates. Junior staff also have no real opportunities here - most cycle out in 2-3 years. However it is a good career stepping stone for many, due to the prestige and reputation WRI has built up in the past for doing excellent research and impact (no longer the case who knows how long org can continue to trade on that rep)