I think they mean that she voluntarily took a pay cut relative to her former place of employment.
Which, in my opinion is an interesting take. Many people take pay cuts to work at start ups and it would be irresponsible to think that a 10 or even 200 person company could pay like FAANG. Salaries aren’t static across the industry.
It doesn't say she left her previous employment in order to take on a job for less money, it simply says it paid less than her previous employment. For all we know she could have been out of work for a year between, trying to get a job.
Saying someone accepted a job at a miserly rate doesn't make the rate acceptable. We don't think paying immigrants a fraction of the minimum wage is acceptable, we don't (any more) think that expecting years of unpaid internships is acceptable, and we don't think that the jobs the factory workers first started to unionize against, with terrible wages and unsafe conditions were acceptable, despite all those people "voluntarily" accepting the jobs.
Having a job isn't just "voluntary" for most people. The pressure to have one in order to survive, plus the difficulties, costs and risks associated with switching, gives the employer power over the employees.
There's a lot we don't know though. We don't know how long ago that was or what she was told to expect as far as salary increases go. Plus, Change.org is 14 years old now so I wouldn't really call it a startup anymore.
You are right that it's not a startup, but a ~200 person company is far from Google or Apple and you can't really compare them. Change.org is about social justice as I would say their major goal is not profits so the pay will be lower than a publicly traded company.
Which, in my opinion is an interesting take. Many people take pay cuts to work at start ups and it would be irresponsible to think that a 10 or even 200 person company could pay like FAANG. Salaries aren’t static across the industry.