After careful reflection, the Apiary board has decided to sunset Apiary’s operations and programs, with the process to be completed by June 31, 2027. Below, we explain how we reached this decision, what will happen to our programs and materials, and what comes next. We have greatly appreciated your patience while we worked out our next steps. 

How we came to this decision

After a period of reflection, Apiary spent several months interviewing and surveying members of the Hivemind community for a deeper understanding of their practical support work, their organizations’ outlook, and their relationship to our organization. These conversations were grounding and invaluable, and we thank everyone who made time to meet with us. 

Apiary’s board reviewed these findings alongside a landscape-view of abortion access and philanthropy. Based on this- with input from trusted advisors in this community- we concluded that while members still found some programming impactful, it is not enough to justify sustaining an operation that competes with its own members for funds and faces an increasingly uncertain economic environment. Sunsetting felt like the clearer and more honest choice, and a chance to practice recognizing endings when they come, which we believe is necessary for a vital, emergent movement.

Apiary’s journey was a fruitful period of experimentation in which we stepped into, or created, spaces where the need was immense, and learned that not everything is meant to exist in perpetuity. We had successes and made mistakes. Like many organizations, we faced structural and institutional challenges, as well as personal ones, and we will keep learning from them.

Coalition Exploration

In light of the space Apiary’s departure creates, the many practical and existential needs the practical support community has articulated, and the continually evolving landscape, we want to offer the community the opportunity to keep innovating to meet its own needs. This led us to the idea of supporting the community in exploring the value and possibility of forming a coalition (or some other formal or informal structure). This is not a proposal to replace Apiary as a home for its programs, but an opportunity to reimagine how to meet the community’s needs and its collective future.

To do this, Apiary has hired a consultant and convened a small Design Team of representatives from practical support organizations and abortion funds to oversee the first phase, which will run through March 2027. In this phase, the consultants, a representative from Apiary and the Design Team will distill the core questions, interview and survey Hivemind members, and ultimately assess the desirability and feasibility of forming a structure. This proposed path forward will then be shared with the entire community for discussion and decision making. 

What happens to Apiary’s programming?

We are in conversation with a few different organizations as possible new homes for the most valued of our programs. Our goals, as always, are to uphold the unique needs of practical support organizations and prioritize values alignment, affordability and accessibility. Updates to this process may be posted here depending on the program.

What happens to Apiary’s materials?

Many training materials, educational resources, and documents from our programs will be made available through distribution and/or a password-protected site. Members of the Apiary community will be notified when they are ready.

And lastly, a huge thank you to the community of organizations providing practical support across this country and beyond. Thank you for joining us in this journey, for sharing your wisdom and aspirations, and for being our inspiration. And thank you to the staff, volunteers, former board members, consultants and donors who contributed to Apiary’s visioning and impact. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with you all in new and different ways. 

With gratitude,

Odile Schalit (Interim Executive Director) and the Apiary Board of Directors (Diana Parker-Kafka, Erin Case and Brooke Weber)