Organizational Structure of the Cade Foundation

At the Cade Foundation, the organizational culture is very different from any other working environment I’ve been a part of. Interactions between staff members, including interns, were largely very informal. One of our supervisors, Kandice Oakley, Dr. Hammond’s executive assistant communicated with us largely via text messages when we were not in our weekly Zoom meetings. While this took me some getting used to, I really appreciated it. It allowed us to contact one another with ease and respond quickly without the pressure of crafting a formal email response. This also carried over to the way we as interns communicated with one another. We created a group text message so that we could ask each other questions and bounce ideas off each other with ease. It also allowed us to form a close bond and feel comfortable with each other, as infertility was a new topic and field for all of us. In emails, Dr. Hammond would often respond casually in the interest of saving both her time and ours. Even in our various weekly Zoom meetings, individuals dressed casually and there were instances where our supervisors even conducted the meetings from their cars. While this culture was unlike others I’d been a part of, it was a refreshing change from the often intimidating ultra professional office environments that seem to be very common. I believe that part of what has influenced casual office communication is the context of the organization. As a very small nonprofit organization, the staff members of the Cade Foundation are very close to one another. With only 4 full time staff members and a very undivided, open floor plan office space, they collaborate freely and have strong personal relationships. While Dr. Hammond is the CEO, there is no air of superiority or sense of division between the employees. Nonprofits in general are nontraditional work environments as they have a different focus from many other companies, as they are focused on achieving the mission of their organization instead of solely on profits. In addition to that, the size of the small team and the deeply personal nature of the work they do and clients they interact with, it has resulted in an extremely close knit, easygoing work culture.