Meet the team

The Operations Team:

Tina

Founder, Trustee, Operations manager, Kenya Project lead

Mum of 3 and grandma of 1, Tina works in Public Health and as a fitness Instructor.

She founded Freedom4Girls after spending time in Kenya, volunteering for other charities and working on a mother & baby project; this work inspired her to start a project of her own. After supporting a local Kenyan Gym and raising money to renovate a football field and supply football kits to local children, Tina was horrified to discover that 60% of girls and women in Kenya had no access to safe menstrual protection. It took her back to her experience of starting her period when she was 11 years old, almost 40 years previously. She was on a French exchange trip and couldn’t access any menstrual products, so had to manage with toilet paper and sleeping on the floor for a week, worried that she would soil the sheets. We all have stories to tell about how we have had accidents when we have been caught short on our periods. That is why Tina is so passionate about helping to create a world in which everyone is educated about their bodies and has safe, hygienic access to menstrual products. No one who menstruates should have to suffer!

Sheona

Operations manager, sustainability coordinator, tech support

Sheona is an operational manager for Freedom4Girls, runs cloth pad sewing workshops and helps out with tech support.

Sheona first met Tina Leslie when she was leading a team of sewing volunteers in Leeds, making re-usable cloth pads to distribute to girls and women in developing countries. They began to collaborate, and Sheona's involvement with Freedom4Girls gradually increased. Today, she leads projects related to washable, reusable period products, as well as dealing with day-to-day operational tasks. Sheona's inspiration to become involved in the fight against period poverty stems from her feelings about the importance of educational opportunities for all, regardless of their social, economic or religious background. Something as simple as access to safe and hygienic menstrual products really is life-changing, and Freedom4Girls provides a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference to the lives of those who menstruate and to interact directly with people who benefit from the charity's work.

Tora

Business development and Uganda Project lead

Tora has worked in various roles with Freedom4Girls since 2017, including as a trustee, operational manager and for the charity's business development.

She does this alongside her work as a Prison Law and Social Impact Consultant for various organisations. Her awareness of period poverty and the impacts it has on gender inequality originated when she was representing a female prison law client; a woman with severe learning difficulties who was disciplined for refusing a strip search when she was menstruating. The differences between how men and women are treated at all levels of society led Tora to turn her career focus into gender-specific work in the women's sector. As her family are from Apartheid South Africa, Tora also commits her professional and personal activism to working towards racial equality. And as someone with endometriosis and M.E, Tora is passionate about women with multiple and complex healthcare needs and disabilities. Tora is currently running the Uganda projects, our Black Women's Menstrual Health project and the Period Positive Spaces scheme.

Amy

Social media coordinator

Amy joined Freedom4Girls as a student intern and now acts as one of our amazing volunteers.

Amy is passionate about the work Freedom4Girls is doing because as an organisation, we focus on a varity of factors that influence period poverty. From education and awareness raising, to providing period products to those who need them. Amy thinks that multi-level approaches like this are the most effective in bringing about change and she's proud to be a part of it!

Lesley

Admin support

Lesley is the organisation’s administrative support assisting with all the fundamental ‘behind the scenes’ work that keep us up and running.

Mum of 3 and passionate business woman, Lesley studies part time alongside her work for Freedom4Girls. Lesley enjoys working at Freedom4Girls as she is a women’s and girl’s rights enthusiast and advocate of gender specific support within the women’s sector.

Lucy

Menstrual health education programme developer and educator

Lucy works alongside Chloe on developing and delivering our UK-based menstrual health education programme.

She is a youth worker specialising in sexual health. She is also a qualified massage therapist and yoga instructor. Lucy's drive for taking on Freedom4Girls' education programme stems from her determination that women should not be embarrassed or ashamed by menstruation. She says: "i think it's important to talk about menstruation, period poverty, women's health issues and safe menstrual protection, and for that engagement to be accross all sectors with individuals, those who have periods and those who don't. By normalising conversations around periods, we inevitably make them less taboo, reduce shame, stigma and empower women, girls and everyone who gets periods in a safe way, making menstruation a positive experience."

Chloe

Menstrual health education programme developer and educator

Chloe works alongside Lucy on developing and delivering our UK-based menstrual health education programme.

She is passionate about women's rights, equal educational opportunities for all & ending FGM. While researching for her dissertation, Chloe was shocked to discover how far reaching period poverty is; reading about many women’s struggles motivated her to become involved with Freedom4girls. Period education is important to Chloe as she has struggled medically with her own periods over the years and like many women, hasn’t received much needed support for this in school and work settings. Education is vital in addressing the stigma and shame surrounding periods- menstruation is a completely natural occurrence yet girls are made to feel that it’s something to be embarrassed about and this has to change! If women felt able to discuss periods freely and there was a space in which all stigma was removed, this would transform the experiences of young people’s periods.

Charlotte

Business Development Coordinator

Charlotte is the Business Development Coordinator for Freedom4Girls, developing partnerships, as well as applying for funding and resources.

Charlotte has been passionately involved in the menstrual health, education and research sector for over five years. Having grown up in Ireland where she received no period education at school, she is committed to the need for education and access to period products for everyone, regardless of age or gender. Charlotte brings to Freedom4Girls her experience founding a period education project in Ireland, as well as researching menstrual activism in academia and coordinating a donation programme for a menstrual cup company. She is delighted to be working with this passionate team who are dedicated to eradicating period poverty. She strongly believes in the effectiveness of community and grass-root approaches to tackling period poverty, providing period education to all and smashing menstrual taboos!

Petchara Newson

Make the Switch project coordinator

Working alongside Sheona, Petchara works on the Make The Switch project to provide free reusable menstrual products to menstruators across the UK.

Petchara began her work with period poverty at Imperial College London where she started up her own menstrual cup campaign whilst being the Environmental Society President, and then interned with Freedom4Girls in 2020. She now works with Sheona on a project to distribute free reusable menstrual products across the country. She is also a Miss Universe Great Britain 2021 finalist, and will be representing Freedom4Girls. She is now a masters student at UEA with a passion for sustainable agriculture.

Roopen Kalirai

Chair

Roopen is a family law solicitor who joined as a Trustee and was appointed Chair in 2019, having previously volunteered with the charity since 2017.

Roopen is a fierce advocate for promoting a diverse and equal society in which all people are treated with the same respect and provided with equal opportunities. Her passion for this brought her to the role with Freedom4Girls as she believes strongly that all people that menstruate should be able to do so with the same respect, education and access to basic provisions. Roopen’s work with Freedom4Girls has seen her represent the rights of those who menstruate on a national scale. She has attended steering groups with the Department of Education to provide knowledge and assistance in implementing their ground-breaking decision to provide period products at schools, and also as part of the Government’s Task Force who work to address period poverty more holistically across the country. Roopen’s aim and passion is to ensure that period poverty is no longer a conversation that needs to be had and that society as a whole becomes more open to conversations about periods resulting in negative stigmas falling away.

Megan Thomas

Trustee

Megan is a qualified accountant and has previously been a trustee of Girlguiding. She joined the Board of Freedom4Girls in 2020.

She is passionate about ending period poverty, the stigma around periods and is known among colleagues and friends for talking openly about periods and encouraging others to do the same. The work of Freedom4Girls is important to her because as well as providing period products to those who need them in the UK and abroad, there is also a focus on sustainability through the production of reusable pads. In her spare time, Megan enjoys cycling, learning languages and baking (and eating) cakes.

Sonia Kumari

Trustee

Sonia currently works at a women and girl’s voluntary organisation and joined as a trustee in 2019.

Sonia works and volunteers for different women's charities in Leeds and has a background in Education and Equality & Inclusion work. She is excited to work alongside F4G as they begin their journey of growth, impacting and empowering people who menstruate from all backgrounds.

Danielle Perro

Trustee

Danielle is a third year DPhil student at the University of Oxford, whose work aims to better understand endometriosis-associated pain. She joined the Board of Freedom4Girls in 2020.

She is a dedicated advocate for gender equality, menstrual wellbeing and education, and raising awareness about long neglected and poorly understood gynaecological conditions, such as endometriosis. Danielle joined Freedom4Girls to support their goals of tackling period poverty in both their Leeds and global projects. This work is incredibly important to her, as she believes that through their educational outreach and sustainable product tutorials, Freedom4Girls will be able to make real long-lasting impacts on those who menstruate, as well as the environment. She loves baking and trying new things, such as Trapeze, and ss a Canadian, loves taking advantage of the few millimeters of snow we get each year in the UK.

Sophie Rowan

Trustee

Sophie joined F4G as a trustee at the end of 2019.

She used to work at Brook delivering health and wellbeing workshops for young people, including sex and relationships education and period education, so she is excited to be involved with Freedom4Girls, as it is right up her street! She previously volunteered for Abortion Support Network, which provides information and financial support to women who are forced to travel to access safe and legal abortion services. Sophie is also a qualified Independent Sexual Violence Advocate and has worked at Rape Crisis centres and Victim Support.

Meet the team

The Operations Team:

Our Brilliant Board of Trustees: