How 3 Strategic Partners Help Tampax “Flow It Forward”

Our Brand Tampax is committed to making period conversations as normal as periods, overcoming the barriers to education about period care.

That is why Tampax works with its national network of partners — United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Period Education Project (PEP), and Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) — to Flow It Forward, leading efforts to eliminate misinformation surrounding health and period care and to ensure there is equal representation and access to resources.

Tampax’s Flow It Forward initiatives are rooted in P&G’s commitment to be a Force For Growth and a Force For Good, and they are changing the conversation around periods and period care in three ways:

• Continuing to expand our support of the organizations and individuals who are helping make change happen;
• Investing in education today to help increase the number of Black women physicians and healthcare workers tomorrow;
• Providing the tools to share accurate period and tampon education in underserved communities.

United Negro College Fund

The Flow It Forward Scholarship is a five-year program in partnership with UNCF that provides $200,000 annually in tuition assistance for Black women pursuing health care careers, aimed at closing the racial representation gap in medicine. Angela Van Croft, Vice President of Corporate & Foundation Relations at UNCF says the partnership P&G and Tampax, “helps our HBCU students afford the opportunity to continue their education by attending medical school.”

“Specifically, it lets them know that P&G has an interest not only in their success as future doctors in this country but also in giving them the space to be unapologetic in their efforts to improve the health and wellness of women in their community who look like them,” Van Croft said.

Period Education Project

Through a long-standing partnership with PEP, Tampax is investing in community-focused programs that bring medically accurate reproductive health and period education to young people in disproportionately underserved communities.

“The collaboration between Tampax and The Period Education Project (PEP) has enabled PEP to extend its reach to 25 medical schools and empower a diverse group of over 250 medical students by equipping them with the knowledge and confidence to conduct workshops on menstrual health for young people of all genders in various community settings,” said Dr. Trish Hutchison, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Period Education Project.

In March 2024, PEP reached thousands of young female leaders with a positive period message at the Girls Inc. Annual Leadership Conference “Elevate Her Essence.” The PEP team distributed more than 5,000 tampons and pads to participants and educators at this annual event. They also led hundreds of demonstrations to educate girls and women on how to use Always and Tampax products as part of their period-care regimen.

“PEP's efforts have reached over 3,000 youth and are breaking down barriers to menstrual health education, reducing generational misinformation and stigma, rebuilding trust between historically marginalized communities and healthcare providers, and engaging future doctors in initiatives that foster health equity,” Hutchinson said.

Black Women’s Health Imperative

Sometimes a small action can lead to big impact. Tampax’s partnership with BWHI started with a donation of 120,000 Tampax products to be distributed to the communities that BWHI serves. Now, two years later, Tampax and BWHI have provided 300,000 products to young women on college campuses and in the community through a collaboration of our My Sister’s Keeper and Positive Period programs, expanding across 12 college campuses, mostly HBCUs, according to Zsanai Epps, Senior Director of Reproductive Justice Initiatives at BWHI.

“Through this programming, students have a safe space to talk about their periods, reproductive health issues, and how to advocate for themselves while changing their negative attitudes about their bodies; reducing stigma and menstrual insecurities,” Epps said.

Genz Insights: Survey Reveals Gaps in Period Education

Tampax’s Flow It Forward community impact work is grounded in recent learnings from GenZ girls and women. After connecting with thousands of young women as part of our 2023 Tampax survey*, Tampax found that 68% of Gen Z women and girls say they received little or no period education before their period began. Learn more about this study.

“At Tampax, we know a thing or two about flow,” said Lauren B. Worley, communications director at Tampax. “We are dedicated to supporting organizations and individuals to continue to help flow change forward in a meaningful way.”