With great appreciation and respect for the community of Spudnik Press Cooperative, I am announcing my resignation as Executive Director. 

Engaging with our community and working to restore organizational trust has been a top priority since I began in this role. In a time when our membership would be understandably wary, I was surprised by the speed and willingness of our members to share their experiences, both joyous and painful, at the Press. I quickly understood this to be indicative of a larger need to be heard by organizational leadership, and worked to make myself readily available to our community, both current and past. 

Spudnik has experienced a challenging few years and, while many of these challenges predate my arrival, the impact on the community continues to reverberate through how we operate and function as an organization today. Through my conversations with members and as I came to understand our operational infrastructure, the true nature of Spudnik’s organizational status became apparent. I urge our community to read the recent statement from the Board of Directors, detailing some of the structural concerns we share for the organization, as well as the hope of working towards a truly cooperative organizational model. 

While the challenges ahead are daunting, I am confident in the collective abilities of our current Board of Directors to move forward in close collaboration with our membership. I firmly believe that each Board member holds the humility, compassion, and commitment that is needed to support our community through this next phase. 

As outlined in the Board of Directors statement, the Board will be holding a community meeting on Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:30pm. I implore you all to attend, whether you are a current member, former staff, or studio user of years past. This is a critical moment for the Spudnik community to determine how to move forward together. To allow the Board to best prepare for this meeting, RSVPs are required. 

Though the duration of my leadership at Spudnik is coming to a close far sooner than I ever expected or hoped, the generosity of our community has left a significant impression. I’m thankful to so many of you, not only for your support and the impactful conversations we’ve shared, but for the laughs and print-nerdiness we’ve indulged in together. 

With deep gratitude and appreciation, 

Sara Emerson
Executive Director