When Speaking Up Becomes the Problem
It’s interesting how quickly the conversation changes when someone decides to speak up about something they believe is wrong.
Organizations often welcome your time, your dedication, your commitment, and your willingness to contribute. They appreciate your hard work as long as you’re helping move their mission forward.
But what happens when you start asking questions? What happens when you challenge decisions, question leadership, or bring attention to practices that you believe are unfair?
Suddenly, you’re no longer seen as someone who cares. You’re seen as someone creating problems.
My experience with VCACA and Caribfest taught me an important lesson: sometimes, the people who contribute the most are the very people who are expected to remain silent when things don’t go as they should.
I brought people into a project believing their time, sacrifices, and contributions would be respected. People gave up time with their families, invested their resources, and dedicated themselves to making something successful. Yet, when questions were raised about how those contributions were recognized, the conversation shifted toward labeling people as volunteers rather than addressing the underlying concerns.
Let me be clear: this was never simply about money. It was about transparency, communication, fairness, and respect for the people who helped make the event possible.
An organization’s nonprofit status should never become a shield against accountability.
If an organization is willing to accept people’s time, labor, dedication, and resources, it should also be willing to listen when those same people raise legitimate concerns.
Speaking up does not make someone disloyal. Asking questions does not make someone difficult. And refusing to remain silent about unfair treatment does not make someone the problem.
Perhaps the real question organizations should ask themselves isn’t why people are speaking up, but what happened that made them feel they had to.
I’m not speaking up to tear anything down. I’m speaking up because I believe things can and should be better.
And if telling the truth about an experience makes people uncomfortable, perhaps that discomfort is exactly where the necessary conversation needs to begin.