Celeste Mergens, The Power of Days

Location: Village Books and Paper Dreams

Address: 1200 11th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225

Date: 24 Jun

The Power of Days tells the story of Celeste's quest to rally a global response to elevate menstrual health, increase universal access to menstrual supplies, shatter stigma through education, and advocate for global policy change.

Every month, millions of girls and women around the world miss school and work during their periods because they don't have access to menstrual products such as pads or tampons.

In 2008, Celeste Mergens was working with an overcrowded orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, when she learned that menstruating girls there sat on cardboard in their rooms for several days each month. This set into motion a seemingly simple idea--combining a washable, long-lasting pad with taboo-breaking health education--that became a catalyst for an unlikely global movement for equity. By creating opportunities and inclusive invitations for others to join, that movement grew to become the award-winning nonprofit Days for Girls.

In this book, Mergens offers insight into what allowed her to face every obstacle with a positive mindset, determination, and humility. The challenges Mergens faced and the lessons she learned, personally and professionally, and the triumphs and resourcefulness of leaders all over the globe are illuminating to all who wish to make a difference and create a more equitable world.

The Power of Days is a story of a social shift and a legacy for future generations--one that highlights the powerful impact we can have when we come together.

Celeste Mergens is the founder of the global, award-winning nonprofit, Days for Girls International. Since 2008, Days for Girls has restored days of education and opportunity to more than 2.6 million women and girls in 144 countries by providing a perhaps surprising key to increased equity in communities—access to sustainable menstrual care products and vital conversations and education. Days for Girls is a two-time Girl Effect Champion, won the SEED Award for Gender Equity and Entrepreneurship, and was named by the Huffington Post as a 'Next Ten' Organization poised to change the world in the next decade. Celeste has been featured in Oprah's O, The Oprah Magazine, Forbes, and Stanford Social Impact Review. She was awarded the AARP Purpose Prize and named Washington State's Mother of the Year, Company Global Impact Entrepreneur Top Ten Women, 2019 Global Washington Global Hero, and Women Economic Forum's Woman of the Decade. She typically gives over fifty keynotes a year,speaking for groups that have included Apple, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Intel, Columbia Apparel, and the United Nations, and consistently garners standing ovations.