Our mission
Monthly Dignity strives to tackle the causes and consequences of period poverty and work towards menstrual equity in Montreal.
Access
Providing free menstrual products to community-based organizations that serve women, girls, and people who menstruate living in precarious situations.
Education
Destigmatizing menstruation and raising awareness about period poverty and menstrual health through educational workshops and materials.
Advocacy
Advocating for equitable access to menstrual products for all to be considered a right rather than a privilege.
We envision a world where menstruation is no longer a barrier to social, educational and professional fulfillment.
Values
Empowerment
We believe in empowering people with the tools, resources, and confidence that they need to address their menstrual health needs in the ways that are best suited for them.
Responsiveness
We work closely with our community partners to understand and respond to the unique needs, experiences, and preferences of the diverse communities they serve.
Intersectionality
We recognize that experiences of period poverty are tied to interconnected systems of power and privilege, including gender injustice, poverty, food insecurity, racism, and colonialism, and we strive to find solutions that are both equitable and inclusive.
Comprehensiveness
We take a holistic approach to our fight for menstrual equity by addressing immediate experiences of period poverty through the distribution of menstrual products while destigmatizing menstruation through education and advocating for systemic change to address upstream causes of period poverty.
Team
Hayley Newman-Petryshen (she/her)
Co-Director
Hayley is a national menstrual equity advocate, championing the provision of free menstrual products across institutions while spearheading initiatives to raise awareness about period poverty in Canada. As a McCall MacBain Scholar, she earned her MA in Political Science and International Development (2023) at McGill, focusing her thesis on the dynamic Canadian menstrual equity movement. Hayley still actively contributes to research projects addressing menstrual equity programs and reproductive justice activism on both local and global fronts. Hayley additionally serves as the Project Coordinator for Free Periods Canada and volunteers with numerous grassroots organizations in Montréal.
Clara Bolster-Foucault (she/her)
Co-Director
Clara is a health equity researcher and advocate. She is interested in understanding how systems and policies impact the health and well-being of under-served populations. Clara is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at McGill University, where her doctoral work explores how social dimensions shape inequity in aging in place in Quebec using an intersectional lens and evaluates how access to primary healthcare and social support shapes these inequities. She is also leading a qualitative research project seeking to understand the experiences and impacts of period poverty in the Montreal community.
Estelle Beauclair (she/her)
Educational Programs & Grants Coordinator
Estelle, who holds a Master’s degree in International Studies from Université Laval in 2021, quickly dedicated herself to feminist causes. Immediately after completing her studies, she actively engaged in the community. As a passionate activist, Estelle directed her professional career towards the fight for gender equality. She has notably worked to raise awareness among youth in schools and provided support at a women’s centre. Today, she continues to diversify and refine her expertise. Additionally, Estelle is actively involved in numerous volunteer missions in Montreal, tirelessly advocating for human rights.
Solenne Trequesser (she/her)
Educational Programs & Grants Coordinator
Solenne is a passionate advocate for sexual and reproductive rights. With a recently earned BA in International Development, Gender Studies, and Social Entrepreneurship from McGill University, she is dedicated to leveraging her expertise in feminist work to address period poverty. Solenne’s background includes work in girls’ rights, menstrual equity, sex education, and access to contraception. Currently, as an Educational Programs Coordinator at Monthly Dignity, she hopes to continue advocating for menstrual equity in Montreal and contribute to a lasting impact in the community.
Rosalie Quinn (she/her)
Online Content Coordinator
Rosalie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science and Gender, Feminist and Sexuality Studies from McGill University. She has experience contributing to neuroscience research examining pathways underlying chronic stress and supporting various feminist initiatives through editing and event planning. Since graduating, Rosalie has been involved in nonprofit organizations and is passionate about community-based research, especially applying an interdisciplinary approach to health advocacy. She hopes to empower people and eliminate stigma through education, which led her to join Monthly Dignity.
Georgia LaPierre (she/her)
Communications Coordinator
Georgia holds a BA in Honours, Sociology with a Concentration in Gender, Diversity and Equity and a minor in Indigenous Studies from Bishop’s University where she advocated for the improvement of university prevention and response of gender-based violence through rewriting policies and trainings, organizing protests and co-chairing two committees. At university she held the executive role of Director of Communications and Marketing of her student government and ran social media pages for student-run organizations. In her post-graduate life, Georgia now works for YWCA Canada ahead s project coordinator continuing to work towards eradicating violence in her communities.
Brett Manzer (she/her)
Grant Writer
Brett has an MA in Political Science from McGill University (2018) and is currently a PhD candidate in Political Science at Université Laval, where she specializes in sub-state diplomacy and international relations. A Canada Graduate Scholarship recipient, Brett has received research, international fieldwork, and visiting fellowship funding from federal, provincial, foreign, and public sector sources. Since 2023, she has leveraged her decade of academic grant writing, teaching, research, and editing experience to volunteer with Monthly Dignity.
Our work is also supported by a wonderful community of volunteers who help with delivering products to our community partners, delivering educational workshops, and hosting events. We are so grateful for their passion and commitment to menstrual equity!
Board of Directors
Sophia Harman-Heath (she/they)
President
Sophia is a funding professional and grant writer working at Head & Hands in NDG. Growing up in Montreal, Sophia enjoyed volunteering and getting involved in her community. Throughout her education, she worked as Co-President of Monthly Dignity. In July of 2021 she began working at Head & Hands as the Director of Funding and Development, which consists of negotiating and managing funding opportunities to promote harm-reduction and inclusive service delivery. In their personal time, Sophia loves to spend time with her adopted cat Henri as well as writing in cafes around Montreal.
Kariane St-Denis (she/her)
Treasurer
Kariane works in program support, research and monitoring and evaluation in the areas of global reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) and family planning. She is passionate about the self-care movement – promoting user-controlled, rights-based reproductive health interventions among adolescents and young women to empower the end user. She holds an MSc in Public Health from McGill University and has worked with the UN and grassroots organizations in Uganda, Peru, the DRC, South Sudan, Tanzania and Malawi to expand coverage and quality of sexual & reproductive health services. In Canada, she is collaborating on a study aiming to assess the impacts of period poverty in the Montreal area.
Chloé Pronovost-Morgan (she/her)
Secretary & Co-Founder
Chloé is pursuing a path as a clinician-scientist in psychiatry, having recently graduated cum laude with an MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience from Maastricht University, and currently pursuing a medical degree at McGill University. She is interested in providing holistic care that integrates both mind and body, and her research explores the extra-pharmacological determinants of healing. During her undergraduate studies in Honours Psychology, she co-founded Monthly Dignity, alongside her classmate Julia Coste, in an effort to tackle period poverty in her hometown of Montreal.
Annual reports
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Together we can create a world where menstruation is no longer a barrier to well-being or social, educational, and professional opportunity.
