Stewart CohenDirector/DP/Photographer, Stewart Cohen Pictures · Director/DP/Photographer @ Stewart Cohen Pictures | Film Production

SC Pictures | Girl Powered - Nadya :30 | Director Stewart Cohen

23 Jun 2021 · 1 min

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1:16

In this brief spoken piece, 21‑year‑old Harvard student Nadya Okamoto, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Period, shares her personal drive, the mission of her organization, and recent achievements. She explains how confronting discouragement fuels her determination, and describes Period’s work to end period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy, emphasizing that menstrual health is linked to global development and gender equality. She highlights the severe consequences for girls in some countries—school dropout, forced marriage, and social isolation—when they first menstruate, and argues that community‑based leaders are essential for systemic change. Okamoto notes that in the past few months her organization helped pass about twelve policy measures and plans to focus on further systemic reforms over the next year. She concludes with a direct call to young people: if they have an idea to change the world or start a business, they should act immediately, gather friends, and take the leap.

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I think every single time someone told me I couldn't do something, I looked at it as more of a reason I should do that thing. I'm Nadia Okamoto. I'm 21 years old. I'm a student here at Harvard, and I'm the founder and executive director of Period. Period fights to end period poverty and period stigma through service, education, and advocacy. We are doing this work and fighting for this menstrual movement because we truly believe that addressing period poverty is a key to global development and achieving gender equality. In some countries, when a girl gets her first period, It's like she drops out of school, she gets married, like forced into social isolation. And those practices are so culturally embedded that the only people who can really fight those systemically are the people who live in that community. In the last few months, we've passed about 12 pieces of policy, and we're excited to keep that going. And I think this fight for systemic change is going to be a really big focus for us over the next year. My biggest piece of advice to young people is if they have an idea to change the world or they want to start a business, is to just go for it. Just close your eyes, gather some friends as your team, and just take the leap.