When I first learned that thousands of girls miss school every year because they don’t have access to menstrual products, I was shocked. I was only a freshman in high school at the time, but something about it made me question why a completely natural part of being human has to become a barrier to education and the confidence of girls all around the world.
I wanted to fight back and do something to change this problem. Me and mMy friend and I worked together to hold a small pad drive and made countless visits to our administrator’s office in our school to install free menstrual dispensers. These small steps we took consistently eventually became Cycles for Change, the youth-led nonprofit I now co-run to fight period poverty and break the stigma around menstruation.
Over the last few years, our impact has grown so much, and even in ways I would’ve never imagined. We’ve distributed 2,000+ menstrual products, built 200+ wellness kits, and reached over 600,000 people through social media campaigns focused on education and stigma-breaking conversations. We host workshops and speak atand different clubs to break the stigma and in doing so we have impacted over 2000 students. We worked with other people to grow our cause additionally we launched a blog, podcast, and newsletter that helps us spread our mission. Recently we were even able to receive a mayoral certificate from the city of San Antonio.
One of my favorite parts of our journey is building our national Ambassador Program, where we have gathered teens from New Jersey and North Carolina to help write stories, create podcasts, and lead their own service events. We are actively working to expand and push out our service to others and mobilize students along the way to fight with us. What started as a small step is now becoming a movement led by many young leaders. 
Beyond our impact, when we see students actually affected and our pad dispensers being empty after a restock makes us feel as if we were a little part in someone’s journey.
Noticing how many teens engage with our posts because they were never taught this information or watching our team members speak openly about menstruation and seeing the shift from the initial stigma surrounding the topic many have a passion to make a difference.
These moments remind me that kindness isn’t always loud, and sometimes it can be giving people a feeling of comfort and belonging.
As a teen founder, I’ve had plenty of moments of doubt! I’ve constantly wondered if my voice mattered or if people would take me seriously. But this work has taught me that to make a kinder world I don’t need permission.
