Nadya Okamoto: Menstrual equity for all

At just twenty-three years old, Nadya Okamoto has already made waves in combating the stigma of periods for fellow menstruators. The former IGNITE Boston Fellow fought against the Tampon Tax, which taxes these items as luxury goods, and has used her position to lift stereotypes against people with periods. 

Okamoto was born in New York City but moved to Portland, OR, where she grew up. In 2014, when she was 16, she founded “Period Inc.” with a peer with the goal of making menstrual products more accessible to high school and college students, abolishing the luxury tax on tampons, and combating mental health. She helped to establish a coalition of chapters across the country, and has created over 800 chapters, spanning all states and even 40 countries. She served as the executive director through the conclusion of 2020.

In 2016, the year she began studying at Harvard University, Okamoto also ran for Cambridge City Council. She focused on addressing the needs of climate change, education reform and providing affordable housing for all. Although she lost the election, her platform inspired others to act.

In 2018, she published her first book titled “Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement.” This text focuses on both youth activism and the importance of destigmatizing a natural process that people experience for a large part of their lives. 

More recently in 2020, Okamoto co-founded another platform to combat the connotation of periods called “August.” This online community facilitates conversations surrounding different menstruation products and experiences from various menstruators. 

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