We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trisha/Neha/Sarah Rastogi/Katakamshetty/Ye a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Trisha/Neha/Sarah, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
We started the Flow Forward Foundation in July of 2023. We had all been previously inspired to give back to our community, and we founded the Flow Forward Foundation to do so. We acknowledge that we are lucky enough to have had the resources to support our menstrual health throughout our lives, but there are so many who do not. The three of us discovered the issue of period poverty in our own ways, and we decided we wanted to do something to mitigate its detrimental effects in our own community. When we were recommended to watch the documentary, “Period. End of Sentence” by a mentor, we realized we could make a tangible change. We just had to take the first step.
Across the U.S., 1 in 4 teenagers struggle to afford period products (State of Period, 2023). As teenagers, it hurts us to see that girls our age and younger have to miss school because they cannot access these basic medical necessities.
We dedicate ourselves to the fight for menstrual equity.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Our journey started from a shared Google Document. There, we poured out our ideas and aspirations for what this organization could become. We set out to plan our first drive.
It was an ambitious feat; we meticulously designed trifolds about our organization, drove all over the community to find product donation locations, and endlessly strove to advertise it to our school and broader community, among other things. We hoped that our voices could be heard. Our community expressed their care for the issue, donating thousands of products. We were so grateful for the support Flow Forward Foundation had received. Knowing that the products donated could help many through their next cycle brought us joy. We are so glad that the donations from our drive have been able to support menstruators.
From there, we worked to expand our presence, joining PERIOD., a national nonprofit organization that had a mission aligning with ours. We were able to get involved in advocacy work, testifying for two Kansas Senate bills. Recently, we held our first educational seminar on period poverty, meant to increase awareness of this issue, especially among the younger generation. We realize that stigma is such a prevalent barrier preventing struggling menstruators from seeking help. To us, open conversation regarding the topic of menstruation is one way to open up discussion and destigmatize this topic.
We have come far, but we have a beautiful journey ahead of us. We cannot wait to do so much more to alleviate this issue.
Soon, we will be having a period product drive. If you’d like to support, you can do so by purchasing from our Amazon Wishlist. All products received will be directly donated to KCMO-area beneficiaries: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/31BTIIDYHSCSN
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
We believe persistence, passion, and teamwork were the most impactful qualities. We advise those who are beginning their journey to seize the opportunities that come their way. We took advantage of the opportunities that we could access, even when we felt hesitant; we believe that is what allowed our organization to grow and eventually flourish.
Even if you encounter failure, don’t let it discourage you. Use it as a learning experience; it can inform your future approach to your endeavors.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We would love to collaborate with organizations with parallel mission to ours. We believe there is strength in numbers; combining our resources and efforts can synergistically increase our impact. If possible, we would further like to work with menstrual product companies to increase donation efforts.
We can be contacted at [email protected] or at our website theflowforward.org
We look forward to collaborating!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theflowforward.org
- Instagram: @flow_forward_foundation
- Facebook: Flow Forward
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flow-forward-foundation?trk=ppro_cprof
Image Credits
N/A
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
