E X T E N D E D B I O
At the intersection of
language, cultural identity
& the menstrual cycle.
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​Cross-Cultural Foundations
Kate's decade in menstrual health draws on a formative decade of international conservation work with local and Indigenous communities, alongside sustainability communications and cross-cultural climate campaigns. As Editor of Green Europe (Sawday’s/Penguin, 2009) and a former Protected Landscape consultant, she worked across Africa, Scandinavia, South America and Central Europe, where she learned from female-led community micro-enterprises, sat in circle with women and girls, and witnessed rites of passage. These formative experiences shape her culturally sensitive, justice-oriented and systems-wide approach to menstrual equity. She brings further academic depth as a graduate of Dr Lara Owen’s Masters-level programme in Contemporary Menstrual Studies.
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Roots, Linguistics & Early Influences
Kate is of the Celtic Nations: raised in Wales, with grandmothers from Scotland and from Ireland, she is now based in Cornwall. ​She speaks fluent Italian (BA Italian, University of Bristol) and studied Philosophy, Ethics and Semiotics in the department of Umberto Eco at the University of Bologna. Italian-rooted feminism, activism and social theory continue to inform her worldview.
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Lived Experience & Menstrualism
She first used the word “menstrualist” playfully in 2000. Over time and following recognition of her PMDD, it evolved into a creative lens for exploring the role of the menstrual cycle in society. Today, the term sits at the heart of her performance and writing, inviting audiences to reflect, participate and contribute to a growing co-created artwork.
R E S P E C T I N G L I N E A G E
With gratitude the teachers, thinkers and communities whose work has shaped and informed my path in the field of menstruality:
T E A C H E R S
Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer of Red School, whose pioneering work in Menstrual Cycle Awareness opened the first doorway and continues to expand my sense of menstrual cycle potential. Alexandra is in the lineage of post-Jungian, dreamwork & process-oriented psychoanalyst Arnold Mindell.
Dr Lara Owen, whose scholarship in Contemporary Menstrual Studies has deepened the intellectual and cultural roots of my understanding.
Jane Hardwicke Collings, who has illuminated the spiritual dimensions of menstruation with clarity and integrity. Jane was a student of Janine Parvati Baker, one of the pioneers of the early menstrual movement.
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Vanessa Tiegs, mentor and visionary menstrual-blood artist, whose creative practice has broadened my sense of menstrual expression.
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The Menstrual Cycle Support Team & Advisory Board, whose interdisciplinary guidance — spanning clinical practice, research, technology and organisational leadership — has strengthened the rigour of this work.
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Justin Francis OBE, UK Government Advisor on Nature — whose mentorship shaped my understanding of whole-system responsibility. Justin was mentored by social justice activist, Dame Anita Roddick.
C E L T I C
F O L K
W I S D O M
As a Welsh woman living in Cornwall, I recognise the imprint of a cyclical worldview — a reverence for natural rhythms, the turning of the seasons, and the interconnectedness of all life.​
The Celtic Wheel of the Year has been a quiet and steady teacher in my work in menstrual education — a framework through which I understand cyclical time, renewal and return. I celebrate the ways its rhythms meet and resonate with other wheels, other cosmologies, and other systems of knowing.
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C R O S S -
C U L T U R A L
I N F LU E N C E S
I acknowledge the influence of Indigenous ways of being, which have emphasised the significance of relationality, reciprocity and deep listening to land, body and community.
I offer respect to the many cultural traditions and lineages whose teachings intersect with, and enrich, our collective understanding of the menstrual cycle experience.
I remain committed to intercultural dialogue grounded in humility, care and ethical engagement
W O R K
W I T H
I N T E N T I O N
May I continue these lineages with the compassion, steadiness and kindness that I have received, and which have transformed my relationship with the menstrual cycle.
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May I meet menstrual injustice with the strength drawn from my lineage and our community.
M E N S T R U A L I S T S
To all the menstrualists who have come before me, and to every person who has shared their menstrual story in interviews, workshops, circles and one-to-ones — thank you.
Your courage is the ground on which this work stands.