Women’s Relief Initiative (WRI) is a nonprofit organization, based in Austin, Texas, United States, working to fight period poverty in under-resourced communities around the globe. We are students, community organizers, advocates, educators, and researchers.
“We aim to provide menstrual aid that empowers women, sustains the environment, and uplifts under-resourced communities.”
Our Research and Development team is in the process of developing a fully biodegradable disposable pad that is made with non-commodity materials.
Alongside that, our global community organizers and partners work to provide menstrual resources and health workshops to women across underserved communities.
Our Vision
“We envision a world in which a young girl’s future is not extinguished due to period poverty, and we recognize that menstrual relief has a lot to do with empowering women.” – Mamadou Balde, Co Founder, Women’s Relief Initiative
To address that, we strive to create spaces within schools, shelters, clinics, and within communities, locally, globally, and virtually through our open conversations surrounding menstruation podcast series, “Code Red Conversations: A Period Podcast”. We speak with community members and journalist on the importance of advocacy. Through these different avenues, we strive to educate communities and raise awareness about period poverty while also encouraging effective discussions and reducing the stigma around menstruation while aiding towards the empowerment of women in these communities.
We have sought and developed strong partnerships with organizations around the world. In addition to our direct contribution through menstrual relief and community-centric curriculum, we are committed to being a resource liaison for our partner organizations, working on the ground in these communities, and working together to relieve period poverty around the world.
Founding Story
The group was founded in 2018 over Sunday dinners by a group of Guinean and Senegalese students who were studying at the University of Texas at Austin. Together, they began thinking of ways to create a home on campus that fosters family and support while working together for community impact.
From these conversations, Women’s Relief Initiative came alive, an organization with the mission of striving to provide access to menstrual resources to women in under-resourced communities, starting in Guinea, West Africa, with the goal of expanding globally.
Today, these friends daring to take action, have developed a global reaching nonprofit that has roots in seven countries and counting. We believe the University of Texas at Austin’s, our organization’s alma mater, motto, “What Starts Here Changes The World” does not depend on age or ability, but instead on the will to take charge and action through uncertainty.