Two Alabama Teens Receive National Recognition for Helping Create & Pass Alabama’s First-Ever Period Poverty Law

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) presented the Engage Woman Award for Non-Profit Leadership to Brooke and Breanna Bennett at Engage’s Remarkable Women Reception and Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Brooke and Breanna Bennett, Co-Founders of Women in Training, Inc. (WIT), were recognized on March 28 for their tremendous advocacy work – helping to create and pass Alabama’s “period poverty” law in April 2022, which allocates $200,000 to the Alabama Department of Education to provide grants for menstrual products to students in Title I schools.

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U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) presenting the Engage Woman Award for Non-Profit Leadership to Brooke and Breanna Bennett, Founders of Women in Training, Inc., at Engage’s Remarkable Women Reception and Dinner in Washington, D.C. on March 28 (Photo: Tony Powell)

Engage – a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting women’s economic security through bipartisan and commonsense solutions – honored Brooke and Breanna with the first-ever Engage Woman Award for Non-Profit Leadership – making them the youngest award recipients of the night at Engage’s Remarkable Women Reception and Dinner in Washington, D.C. The award was presented to the Bennett sisters by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who remarked on their demonstration of leadership in their collective home state of Alabama and ongoing commitment to help vulnerable young women unlock the American Dream.

“I was thrilled for Montgomery’s Brooke and Breanna Bennett as they accepted the Engage Woman Award for Non-Profit Leadership recently in Washington, D.C.,” said Senator Britt in a social media post about the event. “The future is bright as long as we have leaders like Breanna and Brooke working to grow opportunity for others so they can reach their full potential.”

1 in 5 girls in the U.S. have missed school due to lack of access to period products¹. The Bennett sisters are helping to alleviate this issue – starting in their home state of Alabama – and encouraging others across the U.S. to enact nation-wide policy change to help #EndPeriodPoverty. To date, only 22 states have passed a law to provide free period products to some capacity.

“It is an incredible honor to be awarded the Engage Woman Award for Non-Profit Leadership and be recognized among all the incredible Engage Woman Award recipients – not to mention speaking about an issue near and dear to our heart in front of change makers in Washington, D.C.,” said Brooke Bennett, Co-Founder of Women in Training, Inc.

“Through Women in Training, Inc., we realize we're doing something greater than providing period products to people in need – we are inspiring change in not just our home state, but across the country. Systemic change to help #EndPeriodPoverty is needed and is possible across the U.S. by supporting legislation like Congresswoman Grace Meng’s Menstrual Equity for All Act. Together, we can all help #EndPeriodPoverty,” said Breanna Bennett, Co-Founder of Women in Training, Inc.

Brooke and Breanna have a long-standing partnership with Always, the leader in global menstrual care. This past year, Always organized the first-ever team of “50 Period Heroes” – WIT being one of them – to help fight period poverty across the country while donating 3.5 million pads to communities in all 50 states. Always Period Heroes represent people and organizations in each of the 50 U.S. states who have already made significant efforts to address period poverty in their local area. Together, they are helping to ensure people across the country have access to the products they need to stay confident while working towards systemic change for the next generation so period protection doesn’t stand in the way of education and confidence ever again.

To find out more, visit always.com/en-us/about-us/end-period-poverty

Footnotes:

¹ 1000 U.S. females, 16-24 y.o., Research Now ‘17

About Always®

Always^®, the world's leader in menstrual protection, offers a wide range of pads, wipes and liners designed to fit different body types, period flows and preferences. For over 35 years, Always has been supporting millions of young people globally through puberty and confidence education, providing products to those in need and tackling societal barriers to girls’ confidence. Together, Always believes we can create a world where neither periods nor gender get in the way of young people reaching their full potential. Please visit www.always.com for more information.

About Engage

Engage is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting women's economic security through bipartisan and commonsense solutions. Engage views the journey of a woman’s economic security holistically as “a thread” across her entire life, during which factors within and outside her control determine her ability to achieve economic security. Among these factors are lifelong health, education and workforce, generational caregiving, and financial prosperity. This basket of issues is vast and far-reaching, and Engage seeks to highlight and advance the work of dynamic, collaborative leaders to make progress for American women. Learn more about Engage at www.engagewomen.org.

About Women in Training, Inc.

One in five American girls and young women skip school or miss work because they cannot afford sanitary pads or tampons to stay healthy and clean during their period. To alleviate period poverty, Women in Training, Inc. (WIT) provides monthly donations of WITKITS – canvas bags full of sanitary pads or tampons – to at-risk girls, young women and gender expansive youth. WIT also provides formal educational programs about menstruation and teen pregnancy prevention, and publishes the brochure, “The WIT Guide to the Menstrual Cycle.” For more information, see www.womenintraining.org

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