Elizabeth H. is passionate about educating women about menstrual hygiene and distributing free samples to combat period poverty in the Pacific Islands.

“Women in the Pacific Islands face many challenges with period poverty and menstruation because of taboos in the community and also basic access to products,” says the Brand Manager for the isles. “This forces many of them to miss school, work, and other activities during their period.”

Scattered over millions of square miles north and east of Australia, the Pacific Islands are a mix of independent states, associated states and nations grouped as Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. One quarter of Pacific Islanders live below the basic needs poverty line, according to the Pacific Islands Forum.

Based at the Kimberly-Clark office in Brisbane, Australia, Elizabeth travels regularly to the islands to meet with indigenous peoples.

“I’m getting out there talking to women, showing them products that they can use, giving them samples to try so they can understand that this is normal,” she says. “They should have a forum to discuss it.”

Teaching them how to better care for themselves is central to her mission.

“Education is so powerful, and I love working for a company that wants to lift up these women and provide them with a better quality of life,” Elizabeth enthuses. “Through our Kotex brand, we can help deconstruct a belief system and rebuild it to ensure that a period doesn’t stand in the way of these women’s progress or dreams.”