The Days for Girls Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In the mission for menstrual equity, Days for Girls, The Policy Project, Share the Dignity, Population Services International Europe, The Pad Project, The International Sanitary Supply Association, and The Toilet Board Coalition partnered to create the Period Positive Workplace initiative to help organizations around the world build menstrual equity.

Visit https://www.periodpositiveworkplace.org/ to learn more. 

Period Positive Workplaces support gender equality by providing period products at work.

Your organization can become a certified by doing these three things:

1. Provide period products in bathrooms
2. Meet WASH facility standards
3. Inform employees via a formal notice (e.g., sending an email, announcing it at a staff meeting, updating your employee benefits or HR handbook, etc.) that period products are and will continue to be provided.

Period positive workplaces can increase employee productivity and reduce absenteeism for people who menstruate. Organizations become stronger and more inclusive by providing for menstrual needs.

Join over 100 organizations around the world to become a Period Positive Workplace and receive complimentary certification by applying here.

In this episode of The Days for Girls Podcast, Diana Nelson, DfG Global Advocacy Director and Jess Strait, DfG Data Systems Manager & Advocacy Specialist join us to talk about the Period Positive Workplace.

We discuss:

• In depth details on the Period Positive Workplace initiative and how it came about. 
• How does having period products at work impact employees and why does it matter for businesses?
• What the data says about this issue.
• The growth of the initiative and organizations already certified. 
• How you can encourage your employer to become Period Positive Workplace certified. 
• What it takes to be come certified. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Episode 025: Fighting Period Poverty at Penn State with Jess Straight & Emma Cihanowyz

Bios:

Diana Nelson
Diana Nelson is the Global Advocacy Director at Days for Girls International where she focuses on developing policy environments that support women, girls, and people who menstruate with the knowledge and products they need to manage their periods, including the establishment of washables standards and comprehensive menstrual health education.  A leader in menstrual health coalition building, she serves on the leadership team for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health (ACMHM), on the Advocacy and Policy Task Committee for the Global Menstrual Collective, and represents DfG on several other coalitions. She helped launch the South Africa Menstrual Health and Hygiene Coalition and advocated to the Cambodian government to pilot menstrual health education in their national curriculum.

Jess Strait
In her dual role, Jess oversees IT operations and Days for Girls advocacy programming in high-income countries. Jess became involved with Days for Girls in 2018 as a founder and president of the Penn State club. Her work there included a campus-wide menstrual cup distribution, co-instructing a course on menstrual equity, conducting a menstrual health needs assessment, and running sewing operations for

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Jeanne Charbit is a Project Manager at Hystra Consulting which she joined in 2019. In her first years, Jeanne mainly worked in the nutrition sector, notably on a multi-year partnership between an FMCG and a donor in Nigeria, and on MERIEM project, for which she spent a year in Burkina Faso, working with local companies to develop fortified food products for children and women.

More recently she has been working on menstrual health issues and is the author of Hystra’s report "Scaling up access to menstrual health in the Global South: Improving product quality and access to reusable options"

Links:

https://www.hystra.com/our-insights/a2mh

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanne-charbit/

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Souphalak (Peckie) Inthaphatha is a recent PhD graduate from Nagoya University in Healthcare Administration. Eiko Yamamoto is a professor from the Department of Healthcare Administration at Nagoya University. She also responsible for the Young Leaders' Program for the Ministry of Health in Asia.

In this episode Peckie and Eiko talk about their recent studies on menstrual health and factors associated with school absence among student girls in Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR, and factors associated with postpartum depression among women in Vientiane Capital in Lao PDR.

Connect with Peckie and Eiko to learn more about their work at the following links:

Visit Eiko's Profile on the Nagoya University Website

Connect withe Peckie on Facebook 

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Severina Lemachokoti is an outspoken advocate for gender equity and reducing FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). She is a sought-after women’s leader who has spoken at the UN, Africa Regional Conference on Women, and speaks and facilitates convenings to bolster the rights of indigenous peoples, human rights activism, and trauma and conflict resolution.

In this episode, Severina talks about her experience with FGM and how she became an outspoken advocate for gender equality around the world. 

Highlights:

• The inspiration behind Severina's commitment to gender equity
• How to respect cultural traditions while also advocating for a change in behavior when it comes to FGM
• Severina's personal experience with FGM and her work advocating for change

Connect: 

Contact Severina via email at severinalem@gmail.com

Watch Tradition by Severina on YouTube

Bio:

Severina Lemachokoti is an outspoken advocate for gender equity and reducing FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). She is a sought-after women’s leader who has spoken at the UN, Africa Regional Conference on Women and girls. Severina speaks and facilitates convenings to bolster the rights of indigenous peoples, human rights activism, trauma and conflict resolution.

Severina’s educational background includes Counseling Psychology and Sociology, with a minor in Women’s Studies and a Masters Degree Liberal Arts. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Education in Leadership and Administration at Wichita State University.

Severina serves on the Board of Samburu Women Trust as chair person, Days for Girls International Board and is a member of the Indigenous Women Council of Kenya. She has been volunteering with Days for Girls since 2016 and is a champion for menstrual equity around the globe.

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Karen Austrian is a director at the Population Council, where she leads the Council's Girl Innovation, Research and Learning Center: a global research hub that generates, synthesizes and translates evidence on adolescents to support investments that transform their lives, especially for girls. She specializes in developing, implementing and evaluating research-driven programs that build protective assets for girls.

In this episode, Karen dives into her journey in policy-driven research and programming for girls; unpacks the nuanced issue of gendered school absenteeism; shares key findings on the relationship between MHH/SRH education and body confidence; and explains why she always “lets the evidence (of the lived experiences of youth) shape the response.”

Highlights:

• How Population Council drives impact through policy-relevant research to improve the lives of vulnerable populations.
• All about the Nia Project: a study of more than 3,000 adolescent girls in 140 primary schools in Kilifi, Kenya, that rigorously evaluated the impact of menstrual health education and period products on school attendance rates. 
• Study findings on the positive impacts of MHH interventions – including equitability of gender norms; improved menstrual, sexual and reproductive health knowledge; reduced menstrual stigma and shame; and improved confidence/self-efficacy.
• The complex issue of gendered school attendance rates – and why we shouldn’t view period product distribution as a silver bullet for keeping girls in school.
• Other factors driving school drop-outs, including lack of disposable income for school fees, domestic/familial duties taking priority.
• How MHH education can serve as an access point into broader discussions about sexual and reproductive health with teen girls.
• How Girl Roster improves data collection and program outcomes through demographic tracking assistance.
• The importance of taking an integrated approach to research 

Connect:

Website: https://www.popcouncil.org/research/expert/karen-austrian

Email: kaustrian@popcouncil.org

Bio:

Karen Austrian is the director of the Population Council, where she leads the Council's Girl Innovation, Research and Learning Center: a global research hub that generates, synthesizes and translates evidence on adolescents to support investments that transform their lives, especially for girls. Prior to stepping into this role, Austrian led a portfolio of projects designed to empower girls in East and Southern Africa. She develops, implements and evaluates programs that build girls protective assets, such as financial literacy, social safety nets and access to education.

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Clint Borgen is the Founder and President of The Borgen Project, an organization working to bring U.S. political attention to global poverty. Borgen works with Congressional leaders to build support for legislation that improves conditions for people in developing nations. He is widely regarded as one of the leading poverty-reduction campaigners in the United States.

In this episode, Clint talks about The Borgen Project’s mission to fight extreme poverty. The Borgen Project believes that leaders of the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global poverty. 

Highlights:

• Clint’s personal journey to becoming the Founder of The Borgen Project
• How The Borgen Project engages political leaders in the United States to address poverty around the world
• What you can do to participate in the political process and advocate for issues you care about 

Connect:

Website: www.borgenproject.org

Twitter: @borgenproject

Facebook: www.facebook.com/borgenproject

Bio:

Clint Borgen is the Founder and President of The Borgen Project, an organization working to bring U.S. political attention to global poverty. Borgen works with Congressional leaders to build support for legislation that improves conditions for people in developing nations. He is widely regarded as one of the leading poverty-reduction campaigners in the United States.

Background: In 1999, while working as a young volunteer in refugee camps during the Kosovo War and genocide, Clint Borgen recognized the need for an organization that could bring U.S. political attention to issues of severe poverty.

In 2003, after graduating from Washington State University and interning at the United Nations, Borgen began developing his project. In need of startup funding, Borgen took a job living on a fishing vessel docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska (the same location as The Deadliest Catch). From humble beginnings in one of Earth’s most remote locations, The Borgen Project was born.

Now headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, The Borgen Project has become an influential campaign aimed at reducing global poverty through public mobilization and political advocacy, and serves as a testament that one man and a laptop can change the world.

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Inga Winkler a university professor and researcher who specializes in the intersection of menstruation, gender justice and human rights. She is a co-contributor to the Palgrave Handbook on Menstruation Studies: a field-defining resource that examines

In this episode, Inga walks us through concepts from the Palgrave Handbook; unpacks the relationship between power dynamics and menstruation; shares menstrual health policy insights from around the world; dives into the importance of intersectionality in conversations about menstruation; and so much more.

Highlights:

• All about the Palgrave Handbook on Critical Menstruation Studies, including its purpose and Inga’s personal contribution to the literature
• The impact of menstrual inequity on human rights and power relations (it’s “about so much more than just the just the biological process, just the bleeding”)
• What Inga means by, “menstruation unites the personal and the political, the intimate and the public, and the physiological and the socio-cultural”
• Why we must prioritize the intersectional, context-dependent, lived experiences of menstruators when talking about menstruation
• Why bringing the personal/intimate elements of menstruation into the public/political space is key to shattering the stigma
• How the singular narrative of menstrual oppression can erase the agency of women and girls in cultures around the world – and why it’s essential to consider sociocultural/religious nuance in conversations about menstruation 
• How menstrual policies and media representation have evolved over the past decade
• Insights from analysis of menstrual policies in Kenya, India, Senegal and the U.S.
• Why policymakers need to transcend their narrow scope of understanding about menstrual health education (and their own ingrained stigma) to truly eliminate menstrual inequity for all
• What the Palgrave Handbook can offer you, the listener

Connect:

Handbook: PDF link here

Website: www.ingawinkler.com

Twitter: @Inga_Winkler

Bio:

Inga Winkler is an Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law at the Central European University in Vienna, Austria. She is also the director of The Working Group on Menstrual Health and Gender Justice at Columbia University. Her research focuses on socioeconomic rights and gender justice with a particular interest in the intersection of menstruation, culture and representation. Her research builds on her extensive experience in the UN system, and she seeks to engage with policymakers on menstrual health. In today's episode, we'll be talking about her contributions to the Palgrave Handbook on Critical Menstruation Studies.

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Jasmine Burton is a social inclusion and design specialist who is passionate about building a more inclusive world through sanitation innovation. She is the founder and CEO of Wish for WASH, a social impact organization that addresses equity gaps in the WASH sector through human-centered design thinking and research.

In this episode, Jasmine shares her journey as a toilet design specialist striving to improve outcomes for the 4.2 billion people who lack access to safely managed sanitation. Join us as we dive into the challenges of global toilet inequity; exciting innovations in the WASH sector today; and the relationship between sanitation innovation, menstrual health and the empowerment of women and girls. 

Highlights

• What it means to be a social inclusion and design specialist
• How Jasmine utilizes the concept of empathy in an iterative framework to drive innovation, sustainability and impact
• What inspired her to go into toilet innovation at a young age
• The founding story of Wish for Wash, which she started as an undergrad at Georgia Tech to improve global sanitation infrastructure through human-centered design 
• “Flying toilets,” and other hazards prompted by widespread lack of access to safely managed sanitation 
• Notable innovations in the sanitation space today, including:
  • Development of toilet systems that can easily be tailored to different sets of needs 
  • The “circular sanitation economy” turning human waste into a renewable resource
  • The “smart sanitation economy” using wastewater technology as a preventative public health tool
  • How the COVID-19 has impacted Wish for Wash, and what the future holds
• Jasmine’s future endeavors in impact investing and sustainable financing 

Connect

Website: jasminekburton.com | wishforwash.org  | periodfutures.org | toiletboard.org

IG/FB/Twitter: @jasminekburton | @wishforwash | @periodfutures 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminekburton/

Bio

Jasmine (Jaz) is a social inclusion and design specialist with a focus on gender equity, meaningful youth engagement, and innovation in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and global health sectors. She is trained in product design and public health, and is passionate about social justice and human rights. She has led iterative toilet innovation pilots and research across Sub-Saharan Africa with a design thinking lens and in resettled refugee communities as the founder of Wish for WASH, a social impact organization that seeks to bring innovation to sanitation. 

Jasmine has served as the Toilet Accelerator Manager and Innovation Lab Lead at the Toilet Board Coalition, Technical Advisor for the gender equity startup Equilo, on the Board of Directors for Planet Indonesia in order to help lead their WASH and gender strategies, a Design/Communications Associate for Women in Global Health, and a former consultant for gender and women's health research organizations Atethemis and International Planned Parenthood Federation. 

As a 2018-2019 Women Deliver Young Leader, she spoke at the 2019 WD conference about her work and vision for gender equity in the WASH sector. Jasmine identifies as a social impact designer who seeks to utilize design thinking, evidence-based research, and business acumen to build a more inclusive world. 

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Rob and Debbie Young are an impact-driven couple changing the world through their leadership efforts with doTERRA and Days for Girls. Rob is a doTERRA co-founder who plays an active role in the company’s global charity initiatives, while Debbie leads DfG’s 30,000-strong Utah Chapter.

In this episode, Rob and Debbie dive into their journey(s) in social impact work; their passion for lifting up women, girls and communities on a global scale; memorable moments from their efforts around the world; and why doTERRA’s unique, sustainable approach to giving back makes them the perfect DfG partner.

Highlights:

• All about doTERRA’s ‘co-impact sourcing’ charity model, which allows them to invest in the wellbeing of communities where they operate 
• How doTERRA is changing the world through co-impact sourcing, their Healing Hands Foundation and more
• How Debbie first became involved with Days for Girls 
• The moment when Debbie first fully realized the difference she was making for women and girls (hint: it happened in a Mayan village in Guatemala) 
• The story behind the doTERRA – Days for Girls partnership and what makes us an ideal fit
• The importance of sustainability in global impact work
• The inspiring changes they’ve seen over time in communities where doTERRA and Days for Girls are active

Connect:

Website: www.doterra.com & doterrahealinghands.com

Bio:

Debbie serves as the Days for Girls Coordinator for Utah, organizing 30,000 local volunteers, as well as coordinating efforts to enact doTERRA Wellness Advocates to distribute Days for Girls kits around the globe. She has personally taught over 3,000 girls in 6 countries and has enjoyed her time working with women to establish various DfG Enterprises while in-country. Her husband, Rob, is one of the co-founders of doTERRA. From the very beginning, Rob helped establish doTERRA as an integrative health and wellness company and the world leader in the global aroma therapy and essential oils market. Rob is often seeking ways to support others in need through doTERRA, his co-impact sourcing initiatives and the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation.

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Laura Peña is a Dominican-American filmmaker, storyteller and passionate champion of every girl. She is the founder of She is the Universe: a storytelling, mentorship and community building platform that supports girls around the world to stand in their power and pursue their dreams. For the past few years, Laura has traveled across the world interviewing girls about their hopes, dreams, passions and struggles – and sharing their unique stories through film.

In this inspiring episode, Laura talks about her current and upcoming projects with She is the Universe, the impact of her work on women and girls around the globe, her favorite stories from interviews on six continents, and her steadfast belief in the ability of girls to change the world (when given the right tools and support). Let’s dive in!

Highlights:

• What inspired Laura to dedicate her life to empowering girls through She is The Universe
• How Laura’s in-progress video series explores the question of what it means to be a girl today, by spotlighting the stories of 111 teenaged girls across six continents 
• How an interview experience in Columbia prompted She is the Universe to start a scholarship fund that now sponsors education for five girls in the Philippines and Columbia
• How Laura measures impact as a storyteller – and how she’s seen her work affect the confidence and ambition of girls (and women!).
• The role of diversity, equity and inclusion in her projects
• Laura’s efforts to expand the scope of She Is the Universe to include leadership/mentorship programming, community building through girls’ support networks, and more school sponsorships – plus the funding challenges she faces on this journey
• How She Is the Universe has changed Laura’s personal life and is helping her heal her own inner child
• How you, the listener, can get involved with She is the Universe as a supporter, volunteer or by sharing the stories of girls with your network!

Connect:

Website: www.sheistheuniverse.org

Instagram: @sheistheuniverseproject

Youtube: She is the Universe

Bio:

Laura Peña is a Dominican-American filmmaker, creative producer, motion designer, speaker, traveler, proud Latina and supporter of girls. As the founder of She is the Universe, a Global Movement for Girl’s Empowerment, Laura looks to inspire, and offer girls from around the world the support they need to stand in their own stories and to pursue their dreams, through storytelling, mentorship and community. 

For the past few years, Laura has been traveling the world collecting stories of teenage girls on film. They share their dreams and struggles for a video series with stories of girls, told by girls. Laura encourages and supports girls to use their voice and change the world, using their own unique gifts. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she moved to the U.S. to attend Parsons School of Design in New York City in 2005. In 2014 she founded JelloMonsters, a creative Design Lab where she works with leading brands to create motion graphics. Her work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, and books globally. 

Laura is also an international workshop leader and speaker who has shared her story at TEDx and Creative Mornings. She has been a digital nomad for about 6 years. Currently Laura spends most her time in the beach town of Cabarete, Dominican Republic, keeping the nomad lifestyle alive while building her dreams and weathering a global pandemic with patience.

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