Hey Black Girl is a Black-led, women-led feminist non-profit founded in December 2018 by Tanaka Chitanda, Angela Ouma, and Martina Mbadinga. Focused on empowering Black women and non-binary individuals, the organization provides educational programs, menstrual equity initiatives, and community outreach across Canada and internationally. Through workshops, mentorship, and community-building, Hey Black Girl has grown from a small three-person team to a digital community of over 10,000, offering skill-building programs, menstrual product distribution, and support for Black youth in areas like financial literacy, mental wellness, and professional development.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
We are a Black-led, women-led, feminist non-profit focused on the advancement of Black women and Black non-binary individuals. We have three main focus areas: education; menstrual equity and community outreach. In terms of education, we have two main incubator programs – The Fellowship and Project Up – that focus on providing skill-building focused workshops to Black youth. The themes of the workshops include financial literacy; consent; mental wellness; LinkedIn branding. In terms of Menstrual Equity, we are focused on the eradication of period poverty through education, advocacy and distribution of reusable menstrual products. We have launched initiatives to support these efforts in Canada and Zimbabwe. Community Outreach is our final focus. It is centred around adapting our initiatives based on the needs of our community. In the past, we have donated grocery cards, done giveaways and launched microgrants.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our mission is empowerment through representation. This outlines what we are aiming to solve – a lack of affordable spaces where Black women can seek mentorship and community to grow in both a personal and professional capacity. We provide in-person and digital opportunities for Black women to receive mentorship and ultimately grow from individuals who look like them.
When did you start/join it?
We began working on this initiative in December 2018.
What made you want to get involved?
We were looking for a space where we could grow professionally and personally from mentors and educators who had shared lived experiences. There weren’t many organisations in the GTA that met those criteria; a space for Black women by Black women. So we created the space we needed.
What was the situation like when you started?
When we first began, we had no experience in running an organization. We did not know how to attain funding or how to effectively develop and implement programming. We were lucky enough to have a few people in the non-profit space who guided us through certain processes. But, we mainly -and still rely heavily on each other to run all aspects of the organization. At the time, we each wore multiple hats – social media, partnerships, outreach, programming, administration and revenue generation. Although it was challenging it prepared us for what was to come as we all now have a deep understanding of all aspects of our operations.
How has it changed since?
Since its inception, our organization has evolved. We started with a small team of just three people, and over time, we’ve been fortunate to garner strong support from our community. There was only so much the three of us could handle, and bringing on board additional team members whose vision aligned with ours has been a blessing. Today, we have an incredible group of full-time staff, volunteers, and a board. Our programs are now recurring, our operations are more structured, and we have built an incredible community. To date, we’ve grown our digital community to over 10,000 people and have successfully distributed thousands of reusable, multi-use menstrual products in both Canada and Zimbabwe. Additionally, we’ve launched and implemented over 50 workshops, further expanding our impact.
What more needs to be done?
Our main goal is expansion in all aspects. We would like to become an organization that caters to a global community as the need expands beyond Canada. All three of the co-founders are from different countries (Congo Brazzaville, Kenya and Zimbabwe) and we are aiming to implement consistent programming in each of these countries first and then we want to expand on a larger scale. In addition to developing programming that is more geographically expansive, we want to be in a position to create job opportunities and serve our community in a manner where we can offer consistent resources – menstrual product bank; digital educational resources and weekly initiatives.
How can our readers help?
People can support us by sharing our programs with friends and family, joining our mailing list, volunteering their time, donating to our programs, or becoming a member.
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
Black Women In Motion.
