Nadya Okamoto

Nadya Okamoto is a social entrepreneur and activist, known for her leadership as the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization PERIOD.^[1] She is also the Co-Founder, Spokesperson, and Director of National Outreach for the post-partisan media platform, E Pluribus^[2].In 2017, she announced she is running for Cambridge City Council. ^[3]

Early Life

Nadya Okamoto was born and raised in New York City. Her mother and sisters continue to reside in Northwest Portland, while she now resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ^[4]

Writing

In the Fall of 2016, Nadya Okamoto signed with Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency, under the guidance of Lindsay Edgecombe, to write a book about the movement towards menstrual equity and shed light into her personal experiences that led to her involvement in it.^[5]

PERIOD.

In December of 2014, Okamoto founded PERIOD. with Vincent Forand, a classmate from Caitlin Gabel High School and current undergraduate student at Cornell University. The organization distributes period products (tampons, pads, menstrual cups, reusable pads, etc.), attempts to engage youth leaders through a global network of campus chapters at universities and high schools around the United States, and works toward social and systemic change around menstrual equity. ^[6]

Civic Engagement and Politics

On the night of the 2016 Presidential Election, Okamoto launched the #ElectionReaction series through her platform on Huffington Post and social media. After seeing the success of that campaign, she engaged a few other Harvard students and together they launched what would become the current nonprofit and post-partisan media platform, E Pluribus. The media platform aims to engage young people in sharing their thoughts and taking action on issues that they truly care about. ^[7][8]

In 2017, Okamoto announced her candidacy for Cambridge City Council, running on a progressive platform with a youth-led campaign staff. She is the youngest candidate in the race, and is focusing her campaign on issues of affordable housing, education equity, sustainable living, climate change, worker’s rights, civil liberties, government accountability, and human rights. While this may seem like an unfocused laundry list of issues, it most certainly is not. ^[9][10][11]

Education

In her senior year of high school at Catlin Gabel High School, Nadya was awarded numerous scholarships. She is a 2016 Coca-Cola Scholar, Gates Millennium Scholar, PEO Star Scholarship, and Most Valuable Student Scholar of the Elks National Foundation.^[12][13]

Okamoto is currently an undergraduate student at Harvard College. ^[14]

Awards and Honors

• 2014 and 2015 ANNpower Fellow and Grantee (Global-Washington, D.C.) ^[15]
• 2015 President’s Volunteer Service Award (National-Washington, D.C.)^[16]
• 2015 Hasbro Community Action Hero Award (National-Los Angeles, CA)^[17]
• 2015 National Youth Leadership Council: Lead Activist (National-Minneapolis, MN)^[18]
• 2015 TedxYouth Portland Keynote Speaker (Statewide-Portland, OR) ^[19]
• 2016 Impact Entrepreneurs Pitch Fest Winner, Camions of Care (Statewide)^[20]
• 2016 President’s Volunteer Service Award (National-Washington, D.C.) ^[21]
• 2016 TedxPortland Keynote Speaker (National-Portland, OR)^[22]
• 2016 NW Examiner Community Award Recipient (Local-Portland,OR) ^[23]
• 2016 L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth National Finalist (National)^[24]
• 2016 Her Campus: 22 Under 22 Most Inspiring College Women (National)^[25]
• 2016 Oregon Entrepreneurs Network: Game Changer Award for Camions of Care (Statewide)^[26]
• 2017 HerLead: ANNpower Ambassador Fellowship (Global) ^[27]
• 2017 Three Dot Dash: Global Teen Leader (Global)^[28]
• 2017 Pond’s Fellowship, Vital Voices (Global)^[29]

References

External links

• PERIOD.
• E Pluribus