A Note from Jerome Rankine:
Good moments are easier to share, but often it’s most important to be open about the hard moments. It’s a hard moment at Pollen.
Over the past few years, Pollen made a strategic choice to invest in our growth. Like any investment, it came with a degree of risk. Unfortunately, our growth in capacity did not bring about the growth in income we’d anticipated. Despite our best efforts, we reached a point where we had to make some difficult choices about people we love.
Ruby Oluoch has resigned as executive director, and we’ve had to let go of our colleagues Brenda Tran, Andrés Pérez, Annemarie Eayrs, Cat Polivoda, and Chelley McLear. I have stepped in as Interim Executive Director to guide Pollen to more stable footing. Ruby, Brenda, Cat, Annemarie, Chelley and Andrés all made lasting contributions to Pollen, and will be missed in our work.
Pollen has been through hard times before, but this is one of our most difficult moments. Simply put, we need your help.
Pollen needs to raise $50,000 by August 15 to give us the stability we need to continue delivering the storytelling that has been part of our work for over a decade. We are extremely grateful that one of our Pollenites has offered a $20,000 match towards this goal. If you value Pollen’s role in our community, now is the time to show your support. If you and everyone in the Pollen community can donate $25, we can raise $50,000 by August 15 and we can confidently continue our efforts to change our community’s shared story for the better.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being part of the Pollen community,
Jerome Rankine, Interim Executive Director
