Period Power

PERIOD founder and Harvard College student Nadya Okamoto offers a manifesto on menstruation and why we can no longer silence those who bleed—and how to engage in youth activism.

Throughout history, periods have been hidden from the public. They’re taboo. They’re embarrassing. They’re gross. And due to a crumbling or nonexistent national sex ed program, they are misunderstood. Because of these stigmas, a status quo has been established to exclude people who menstruate from the seat at the decision-making table, creating discriminations like the tampon tax, medicines that favor male biology, and more.

Period Power aims to explain what menstruation is, shed light on the stigmas and resulting biases, and create a strategy to end the silence and prompt conversation about periods.

Nadya Okamoto grew up in Portland and currently attends Harvard College. She is the founder and executive director of PERIOD (Period.org), an organization she founded at the age of sixteen, which is now the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health, and one of the fastest growing ones here in the United States. She is also the cofounder and spokesperson of Next Fellows (NextFellows.org). In 2017, Nadya ran for office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While she did not win, her campaign team made historic waves in mobilizing young people on the ground and at polls.