Empowering Women

dōTERRA® was founded in 2008, and, along with the founding, came the mission to change the world one drop, one person, one community at a time. During that same year, Celeste Mergens was working with a family foundation in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, where the orphanages were over capacity because of historic familial violence in the area.

Just before returning from Nairobi, Celeste found that girls were sitting on cardboard boxes for several days each month—often going without food—during menstruation. With her eyes opened to situations like this worldwide, Celeste created Days for Girls International, seeking to empower women and girls by providing access to and education about feminine hygiene supplies.

In 2015, the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation®, a U.S. Foundation, partnered with Days for Girls in the hopes of furthering their mission of empowering women in communities throughout the world. Today, Days for Girls, with support from The Foundation, has changed the status quo for more than 1.8 million girls and women in 144 countries through menstrual care solutions, health education, and income-generating opportunities.

In early 2020 when COVID-19 began affecting communities throughout the world, the combined efforts of our global networks focused on protecting the health, safety, and dignity of women and girls globally. The Foundation participated in the Days for Girls Masks4Millions campaign and contributed to the Rapid Response Fund to ensure menstrual kits, face masks, and basic food supplies continued to sustain important needs during the pandemic.

But perhaps most amazingly, Days for Girls, supported by The Foundation, found new ways to impact the growing dōTERRA communities, even during the COVID-19 crisis. Most Lemongrass essential oil farmers and harvesters in Odisha, India, are women, as are many harvesters at the Lunga Lunga farm in Kenya. In both communities, Days for Girls trainings and resources have empowered farmers and growers to blossom into strong and impactful leaders in their communities.

For the last 10 years, Days for Girls International and The Foundation have been working toward ending menstrual shame and debilitation for every girl, everywhere, period.