As an MCH trainee and 2025 MCHSO officer, I, Catherine, had the opportunity to become connected with Mary Kenny of UMN’s MCHSIG and an MCH trainee, who is one of the co-creators of the Menstrual Products in Schools Toolkit for Minnesota K-12 Schools. We first met back in the fall of 2025 and immediately wanted to host an educational event for all students that were interested in learning about this pressing MCH topic and to see what it is like to be a student advocate.

Over the months, we began working with Erika Lattimore, the online student representative for MCHSIG, to plan an exciting and engaging event that would be open to all MCH students. Through this planning period, we were able to strengthen our collaboration skills and learn from each other on what would be most important and impactful for this event, which are all key skills of being a public health professional.

The event was an online webinar for MCH students across the country to come learn from Mary Kenny and Kara Cowell, who created the Menstrual Products in Schools Toolkit for Minnesota K-12 Schools, as an MPH project designed to supplement the Minnesota statute 121A.212 that was passed in 2023 and mandated that all Minnesota schools provide free menstrual products for all students.

This event featured Mary and Kara as speakers to discuss their experiences as student advocates and provided current MCH students with the tools to help create change in their own communities. Erika and I co-moderated the event and I had the opportunity to run the question panel, where I explored with Mary and Kara what it was like to balance being a student while being involved in this important project and what partnerships were the most meaningful to them throughout this whole experience.

When talking about the toolkit’s formation, Mary Kenny emphasized the “unique positionality” that both her and Kara Cowell were in as MPH students, compared to the other members of the coalition who had full-time jobs and other responsibilities. She spoke about how after learning about their required Master’s project, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to “make it happen” and to draw on the insights of the coalition members and community organizations for the project.

As an MPH student, it can sometimes feel hard to recognize that we have the opportunity to make meaningful changes and impact outside the classroom. This webinar showed MCH students across the country that if you have passion and dedication, you can make a difference.

Watch the webinar: Navigating Menstrual Equity: Insights from the Student Creators of Minnesota's Menstrual Products in Schools Toolkit

To learn more about MCHSO or get involved, students can follow the group on Instagram @Drexel_mchso or request to join MCHSO on Dragonlink.

Learn more about upcoming MCH news and events.

Dornsife's Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.