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Hi Isha,
This is not the email I want to send a week before our annual conference. But the fact is, this conference may be our last.
I am no longer confident that New Harvest will raise our budgeted total for the year. We have $1,056,228 in the bank and will spend $201,209 every month if we stick to our budgeted expenses. Unless something changes, New Harvest will run out of money October 31, 2022.
I am usually very, very optimistic. It's what's gotten me through this work for the past decade. But this recent economic downturn has forced our hand. The time has come to shift from a growth mindset to survival mode.
Over the next few weeks, I will have to make several challenging decisions about the future of New Harvest. Unfortunately, staff cuts are unavoidable in order to prioritize impact, supporting our research grantees, and extending our runway beyond October.
I know this news will hit our community hard. I’m so incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the years. We’ve literally built the field of cellular agriculture from scratch. But we’re experiencing the third “once in a lifetime” economic downturn in New Harvest’s lifetime and it's not responsible to count on hope anymore.
You probably have a lot of questions. I’ll be hosting an open town hall during the conference on June 10th at 3:30pm EST to answer questions as best I can and discuss the future of New Harvest. If you can't attend in-person, you can tune in and participate via livestream by registering here.
In the meantime, we’re on the search for new funders and grant opportunities. If you have any leads, please let me know.
I sincerely believe this will be just one short part of the much longer New Harvest story. New Harvest isn't going anywhere, but we have to make rapid and drastic changes to survive.
Talk soon,
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