Menopause is astonishingly intersectional.

It’s a women’s issue, a racial justice issue, an LGBTQ+ issue, a disability issue, and an aging issue. It’s not simply a fact of shared biology or the same package of symptoms experienced in the same ways. Rather, it is a mosaic of social, cultural and economic diversity and individual journeys of bodily, mental and spiritual transformation. It is also an emerging focus of consumer health technology innovation that has the potential to mitigate or replicate existing inequities.

Race, gender identity, income and more all pose barriers to healthcare for menopausal people, and these are issues nonprofits have a huge role in addressing through direct services, education and advocacy. This includes the emerging field of FemTech (digital health products and services tailored towards women's health), how it is developed, to what purposes, and how it is equitably accessed and implemented.

But innovation isn’t just about new tools or technologies, it’s about new ideas, mindsets, narratives and practices. The stories we tell ourselves about menopause matter, and there’s great innovative potential in exploring how we can tell more inclusive stories. There is also power to be built in bringing our whole selves as menopausal beings to our nonprofit work and leadership and drawing from our different experiences to bridge together and build solidarity toward more equitable health outcomes for more people.