Active Voice
Nadya Okamoto on Erasing Stigma and Finding Balance
The full-time Harvard student, founder, and published author had to learn things the hard way while working to uproot the taboos around women discussing their periods
Nadya Okamoto has no problem talking about her period. Growing up in a household with a single mom and two sisters kept the floor open for all things menstruation. At age 16, during morning commutes to school, she would chat with homeless women who first introduced her to period poverty, a global issue affecting women and girls who don’t have access to sanitary products.
After researching the crisis more, Okamoto realized she had yet to hear about the issue because of the stigma surrounding menstrual cycles. It’s not widely known that 40 U.S. states tax tampon sales. Recognizing her privilege as a woman with access to hygienic and safe period products, Okamoto launched PERIOD, an organization fighting to end period poverty and stigma. But her advocacy didn’t end there. In 2018, she released her debut book, Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement, and two years later co-founded August, a community-centered lifestyle brand working to reimagine periods.
