ABOUT THE FLOW INITIATIVE

OVERVIEW

The Flow Initiative is a local organization committed to eradicating period poverty and accelerating access to menstrual health products in Hudson County, New Jersey, and nationwide. Founded by Eiko La Boria, The Flow Initiative has distributed more than 750,000 products for women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

To strengthen the organization’s mission, The Flow Initiative partnered with Sabrina Browne, period poverty and menstrual equity advocate to spearhead organizational partnerships and increase consumer awareness nationwide. Together, Eiko and Sabrina have worked with a variety of local and national partners to address menstrual health issues.

MISSION

The Flow Initiative's mission is to achieve menstrual equity for girls, women, and people who menstruate. Through programs, partnerships and policy, the mission comes to life and reinforces The Flow Initiative as a national leader in period poverty.

VISION

The Flow Initiative envisions a world where menstrual equity for all is possible. A world where we can protect girls, women and menstruators from a lack of access to period products. Finally, a world where we have eradicated the stgima, shame and humiliation associated with period poverty. This is the vision we are working towards each day and we encourage all to join our efforts.

FOCUS AREAS

While there are many aspects to period poverty and menstrual equity, The Flow Initiative is focused on the below areas of advancement to make a measurable impact in New Jersey and across the country:

• Obtain menstrual equity by ensuring that all bathrooms are equipped with the needs of the female biology; including all private, public, municipal, and  government bathrooms.
• Develop a period product access plan for all students by ensuring schools have period product dispensaries and open emergency period product distribution centers throughout the Garden State.
• Enact grassroots programs to teach about menstruation and promote self care, self love, emotional intelligence, and confidence building for girls of all ages. 
• Develop new technologies to ensure that that the most vulnerable have access to period products, including the homeless, low-income girls and women, artists, veterans, sex workers, and at-risk youth. 

Eiko La Boria is Founder & CEO of The Flow Initiative, a national organization dedicated to addressing period poverty and accelerating access to menstrual health products in Hudson County, New Jersey, and across the US. Eiko’s passion for women’s advocacy stems back to her personal experience as a BIPOC woman, as well as her professional experiences as a writer. Over a decade ago while in Los Angeles, Eiko wrote about sexual harassment and assaults, now commonly seen in news media under #MeToo and #TimesUp; when the topic was still considered taboo and untouchable.

She created The Flow Initiative after discovering that period poverty isn’t solely a problem in developing countries, but a growing issue impacting communities across the United States.  She believes that ending period poverty must work in collaboration with menstrual equity in all restrooms and education in all classrooms in New Jersey. To date, The Flow Initiative has distributed more than 750,000 products for women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Since 2019, the organization has worked with a variety of local organizations such as Project Local Access, and national partners including Alliance For Period Supplies, Mujeres and Menstruators United, and The United State of Women. 

When Eiko is not running The Flow Initiative, she serves as an industry speaker and panelist for the organization Our Bodies Ourselves, where she develops articles and content on menstruation and period poverty. In 2022, Eiko was named Chair of the Menstrual Equity Sub-Committee at Thrive New Jersey. 

Sabrina Natasha Browne is an award-winning PR Executive, menstrual equity advocate, and DEI champion. Currently, she is a partner at The Flow Initiative, where she spearheads organizational partnerships and increases consumer awareness of period poverty nationwide. Her efforts have resulted in Sabrina being recognized as a “Top 100 Women Leader of New Jersey” by Women We Admire.

Outside of The Flow Initiative, Sabrina is a Vice President, Corporate Affairs at BCW, the third-largest communications firm in the world. In this role, she counsels Fortune 500 clients on integrated communications, media relations, executive thought leadership, and DEI. 

Prior to BCW, Sabrina led public relations for Emerge New Jersey, the state’s premier organization that recruits, trains, and builds a network of Democratic women to run for office. In this role, she executed PR tactics that empowered 40 multicultural women to run for elected office in the Garden State. 

Sabrina’s advocacy is fueled by her personal adversity and passion, as well as the relationships she’s cultivated through her various board roles. To date, Sabrina has received several national and international recognitions including PRWeek’s Women to Watch Business Insider's 20 Rising Stars in Public Relations, Yahoo and EMpower's Global Ethnic Minority Executive Role Models, and Diversity Action Alliance’s Distinguished Communicators of Color.