Menopause is an opportunity for our leaders, organizations and movements.

Given that over 60% of nonprofit staff are women and the median age of all staff is 44 (again, recognizing that’s only part of the picture), the fact is that the majority of nonprofit leaders are likely being affected by menopause. And we’re navigating those experiences at the same time that we’re navigating staff and board issues, donor relationships and organizational strategy. Let’s face it: it makes the work harder. While there is a growing call for workplaces to instill menopause-friendly cultures and policies by normalizing talk about it and offering various supports, it’s impossible not to recognize how all too risky it is to walk into the patriarchal trap of owning up to our hormones only to be equated with (or effectively reduced to) them. Not wanting to appear weak, we may mask our needs and avoid asking for help.

This is why it’s important to de-pathologize menopause. It’s not just a disadvantage or vulnerability. Menopause can be a time of claiming a different kind of embodiment and authority. From the relief of slipping out from under cultural expectations of what it means to be a “woman” (i.e., the value tied to the accessibility of our vaginas and productivity of our uteri), to owning one’s life experiences as an elder-in-the-making, menopause can be a time when we feel we are coming into our power in a new way. We get bolder as we grow older and lose interest in making ourselves smaller for others’ sense of comfort.

Still, it’s a challenge to step into our power when we’ve not slept the night before, feel like hell, and are dealing with midlife crises of confidence. So how do we capitalize on our menopausal power without depleting ourselves?

What if we could learn, in balancing our newfound badassery with the symptoms that make us want to stay in bed, to support others who are navigating nonprofit work with deep trauma and exhaustion because of their experiences and identities? We are all tired, and not just because of menopause. BIPOC leaders are exhausted. LGBTQ+ leaders, too, are under siege. Joined by young professionals who are not attached to “the way we have always led,” and still sorting out the paradigm shifts brought on by the COVID pandemic, many of us are seeking more healthful and humane ways of working.

What if we could discover together, and model with and for one another, what it looks like to be both vulnerable and strong? To create more sustainable organizations and movements fighting for equity — fighting for us all?