Nadya Okamoto
Bouncing off my previous article about Amika George, today I will be writing about one of my biggest inspirations in period advocacy, Nadya Okamoto. 26 year old Okamoto self identifies as an author, creator, and entrepreneur. While she has endeavored on many projects throughout her professional tenure and education at Harvard University, one of her most notable endeavors is PERIOD Inc., an organization that nearly all menstrual advocates are aware of and aspire to emulate. As if this wasn’t enough, she then went on to found a Gen Z period company, August, which provides gender-inclusive, sustainable, and comfortable period care.
PERIOD Inc.
PERIOD Inc. has reached a milestone 10 years after its founding in 2024. By 2023, the organization had supported 5 million periods and distributed more than 80 million period products. Additionally, the organization successfully launched a curriculum on period poverty for incarcerated menstruators. The organization supported over 85 pieces of legislation that would mandate free, accessible period products in public spaces. Without a doubt, PERIOD has achieved unparalleled success, with landmark research studies conducted to tackle period stigma and implementing menstrual equity policies for lasting change.
Nadya was only 16 when she started the organization; upon speaking with several homeless women at her bus stop in Portland, she discovered a theme of not having access to period products, which had never come to her mind before.
August:
While Okamoto’s work with PERIOD tackled significant systemic issues with access to period products, the goal of August is to “dismantle period stigma and embrace the diverse experience of all menstruators, regardless of gender or background.” Since the founding of the community in August 2020, August has partnered with 109 educational institutions, donated over 120,000 period products, and helped extract 26, 367 pounds of plastic from the ocean.
Follow along on Instagram:
@nadyaokamoto
@itsaugust
@periodmovement
Logo of PERIOD Inc. Organization, founded by Nadya Okamoto
