The Kwek Society
End period poverty
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Many Indigenous students, particularly those living in the rural US, do not have access to a sufficient number of pads and tampons when they have their periods. As a result they may skip school altogether, suffer embarrassment or ridicule during the school day, or impact their health by using supplies for longer than intended or by making do with makeshift supplies like wadded up toilet paper or cotton rags. To protect their dignity and health, The Kwek Society provides pads, tampons, moon time bags, puberty/period education materials, and underwear to Indigenous students through our school and community partners. As our funds have increased, we have expanded our work by providing these supplies to Indigenous communities and nonprofit organizations beyond the schools. Kwe'k means "women" in the Potawatomi language.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Distribution of pads, tampons and other period supplies to schools serving Indigenous students
The Kwek Society supplies period products to schools and students across North America so that students can stay in school and maintain their dignity, health, and confidence while on their moon times.
In 2019 our program became international when we added a school of Anishnabe students and their peers in Ontario, Canada. At the end of 2020 we welcomed a First Nations board member living in Ontario province and expect to grow our presence among First Nations schools and communities in 2021. We have continued to grow exponentially, pandemic notwithstanding. At the end of 2022 we had 99 school partners and community organization partners, including Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, across 14 states and several Canadian provinces. As of September 2023 this number climbed to 121 partners.
We restock partner schools as needed throughout the year. We are committed to serving as many indigenous students and their peers with period-supply-access issues as we possibly can.
Distribution of pads, tampons and other period supplies to underserved Indigenous communities
Our work with Indigenous students has introduced us to others doing vital work outside the school context to support Indigenous youth, families and communities. We have seized the opportunity to partner with some of these persons and programs to help ensure that those they serve do not have to miss activities of daily life when they are on their periods, or the indignity of stained clothing, or use period supplies for longer than intended and risk their health due to insufficient supplies. At year-end 2022 our partners included First Nations-run community health organizations in Ontario, the Native Village of Marshall in Alaska, a Lakota youth project operated on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota, community-renewing friendship houses operated in Oklahoma, a research group working with Dine (Navajo) families in New Mexico, a street medicine program that also serves Navajo relatives in New Mexico, and a Dine youth office operating across Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
Educating the public
Through personal contact and outreach, as well as through our website, social media and journalists publishing in print and online, we draw attention to the inequities facing Indigenous youth and communities, including menstrual inequity, and also highlight the successes of Indigenous people across North America. In May 2022, for example, Global Citizen published "'Moon Time Bags' Fight Period Poverty While Honoring Sacred Native Traditions," after interviewing our founder. See https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/period-poverty-native-americans-kwek-society/. The rich traditional teachings about puberty that we highlight on our website now are linked -- and accordingly much more widely available -- on Suffolk University' Our Bodies Ourselves Today website, here: https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/native-american-stories-and-ceremonies-about-menstruation/. Our work was highlighted in June 2023 in Harvard Public Health's newsletter, https://harvardpublichealth.org.
Where we work
Awards
Power, Together 2019
Women Political Leaders
Wyoming's Period Hero 2022
Walmart & Always Brand
Affiliations & memberships
Alliance for Period Supplies 2020
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of moon time bags and puberty/period education books distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Distribution of pads, tampons and other period supplies to schools serving Indigenous students
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our supporters sew moon time bags which we stuff with pads and liners and a celebration message. We get libraries and clinics puberty education books for both sexes.
Number of tampons, pads, liners, and undergarments distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Indigenous peoples
Related Program
Distribution of pads, tampons and other period supplies to schools serving Indigenous students
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the heart of our mission. The number spiked in 2020, and spiked again in 2021. As of year-end 2022 we distributed almost 1.3 mil. supplies in total. We are at over 1.6 mil. as of June 2023.
Number of schools and Indigenous programs whose students and members we serve
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Distribution of pads, tampons and other period supplies to schools serving Indigenous students
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We continue to grow -- we are committed to addressing the need for period supplies across Native North America. At September 2023 we have 121 partners across the United States and Canada.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Near-term goals: grow exponentially the number of period products we donate and extend our reach to at least 90 school and program partners in North America (US and Canada) through 2021. Note: At the close of 2021 we had 72 partners in 8 states. We want to grow our partner numbers and operate throughout North America, while continuing to serve in a robust way all of our existing partners. As of year-end 2022 we have 99 partners in 14 states and in the Ontario province of Canada.
2. Ultimate goal: eliminate period poverty in Indigenous communities.
3. Operate with respect for those we serve.
4. Strive to lift up those we serve. Through social media, press coverage and personal engagement, educate all North Americans about the accomplishments of Indigenous youth, families and community members while shining light on the inequities experienced by those we help.
4. Thrive as a respected and well-run non-profit performing with transparency and excellence.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Obtain donations of menstrual supplies and related items, through local, volunteer-led product drives and manufacturer, supplier, and allied nonprofit organizations' donations. Secure cash donations to purchase and mail supplies to meet the monthly menstrual supply needs of the Indigenous students and communities we serve, including from the Native Nation sovereign governments. In February 2020 we were invited to become an Allied Program of the Alliance for Period Supplies, which is providing us with technical assistance and offers us free or reduced cost product from time to time.
2. Interact with leaders of schools and governments and community-based organizations in Indigenous communities in the US and Canada to meet the specific period product needs of each community. Our objective is to support the dignity of each person we serve and to meet individual preferences for period supplies whenever possible.
3. Engage others with respect to the strength, resilience and accomplishments of Indigenouspeople through personal and public interactions, through our website, www.kweksociety.org, Facebook and LinkedIn pages and Instagram account (thekweksociety) and Twitter feed, @KwekSociety, and through coverage by interested journalists.
4. Through these same avenues, raise awareness of the issue of "period poverty" -- that (1) needed period supplies are expensive, especially in rural areas without discount stores; (2) budgets often cannot be stretched to purchase sufficient monthly supplies, and (3) menstruators' health and dignity suffer as a result. Work to contribute to solutions that put an end to this scourge.
5. Share our performance and financial data through this platform and others.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
1. We are all volunteers (except that we pay an intern who performs data entry and pay an accountant and a web designer for their expertise), with a passion for this important work.
2. Eighty percent of our board is indigenous. We believe that our respect for Indigenous traditions and our commitment to supporting the dignity of each person we serve has been integral to our growth to date. Many of our newer partners have been introduced to us by partners to whom we made early commitments to provide support.
3. In late 2020 we added an indigenous board member living in Ontario, Canada. She has strong connections among First Nations communities. As anticipated, she has brought us additional First Nations partnerships.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
1. At the start of 2018 we were providing supplies to students in one school, Wounded Knee District School in Manderson, SD. By the end of 2019 we were serving students and communities in 4 states -- New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming -- and Ontario, Canada: a total of 37 schools and school programs. In 2020 we expanded our reach beyond schools to team with programs serving Indigenous persons and communities. We now count community health centers, youth groups and a street medicine program and a research program among our partners. By the end of 2021, we had expanded to both US coasts.
Our partner count at year end 2022: Alaska -3, Arizona-5, Colorado-3, Iowa-3, Kansas-1,Maine-6, Nevada-1, New Mexico-27, Oklahoma-22, Oregon-2, South Dakota-7, Utah-1, Vermont-1,Wyoming-5, Canada (Ont.)-11, a total of 99 partners. As of September 2023 we had 121.
2. Through social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and press interest we have educated the public to the need to take action in response to the national disgrace that Indigenous people are skipping school and work when they have their periods because they cannot afford menstrual supplies. Our supporters are becoming active contributors to our work: during 2019, supporters held seven community pad drives and 4 Native American women and a dozen other supporters sewed moon time bags for those we support. During the 2020 pandemic the need for COVID masks became acute and a dozen supporters helped us supply more than 10,500 masks to schools and communities across the United States. During 2022, 15 donors sewed moon time bags for us.
We were recognized for our work to end period poverty in Native communities by a Brussels-based group, Women Political Leaders, when we accepted the 2019 POWER, TOGETHER Award, along with other period poverty-focused organizations working around the globe, at the Women Leaders Global Forum in November 2019. We received our first public grant in December 2019 from MissionBox, which financed our supplying students in 17 of the schools and programs we serve period supplies (pads, liners, underwear) over during Winter Break. During spring 2020 we secured our first commitment of monthly support from a foundation; during summer 2020 we were awarded another sizeable grant and in December 2020 we received our first sizeable grant from a family foundation. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development wrote about us in mid-June 2020 as one of a number of indigenous women-run groups doing “critical and courageous work” to assist Native communities and Native nations during the pandemic. Our partnership with Bras for Girls raised our profile in mid-2022 and garnered almost 3000 bras for those we support. Later in 2022, we were recognized as Wyoming's Period Hero by Always/Walmart.
In October 2020 we launched a quarterly newsletter and debuted a new brand, logo and website. We are energized and plan to push ahead as far as funds and time permit!
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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The Kwek Society
Board of directorsas of 09/17/2023
Ms. Barbara Hannigan
Kimberly Pratt
Lisa K. Witt
Kathy M. Webb
Tesia Zientek
Winona Elliott
Susannah Howard
Paige Willett
Pam Vrooman
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: