By Gabriella Scarpa

Cora is a company that makes menstrual cycle products, with the mission of addressing the stigmas surrounding periods, the negative environmental impacts that these products have, and the inequality and lack of access to these necessities. Founders Molly and Morgen started the company after being exposed to the harsh reality of how women experience menstruation in other regions: girls and women in developing countries were resorting to using rags, plastics, sand, and ash to manage their periods. Along with this, they witnessed many adolescent girls missing school during their period, due to lack of menstrual cycle resources and proper facilities. In fact, “1 in 4 girls in India drops out of school once she reaches puberty.”

What makes Cora distinctive is their buy-one-give-one model, “With every Cora purchase, we provide pads and health education to a girl in need. We use the power of business to fight for gender equality and provide products, education, and jobs to girls and women in need in developing nations and right here at home.” Cora forms local partnerships with organizations in the regions they serve to scale their quest, disperse their products, and spread awareness of the issues.

Though it may seem that inaccessibility to menstrual products is a problem specific to the developing world, it is also very prevalent in the U.S. Due to this, Cora focuses many of their initiatives in the U.S. To this day, “38 states still tax tampons and other menstrual products as non-essentials.” This only extends the barrier to the “25 million women in the U.S. [that] live below the poverty line without consistent access to period products.”

Cora also caters their enterprise to the environmental risks commercial pads and tampons have; their products are made with pure, ethically-sourced, 100% certified organic cotton. This eliminates pesticides and insecticides that harm the environment, and protects workers in the cotton fields.

Through Cora’s pursuits, it has been reported that there is a “90% decrease in dropout rate when girls have access to menstrual supplies.” Cora’s all-encompassing mission has addressed many areas, all attributing to their overall goal of women empowerment.