This event will be at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
Join JWI’s National Young Women’s Impact Network and The Pad Project for a panel discussion on Period. End of Sentence. On October 28th, Melissa Berton and Sorelle Cohen of The Pad Project will discuss the film, how menstrual equity intersects with Judaism, and what The Pad Project is working on now. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, and in keeping with The Pad Project’s mission, funds raised from this event will be used to purchase menstrual products for JWI’s National Library Initiative, which builds brand new children’s libraries in domestic violence shelters around the country.
You can watch Period. End of Sentence. on Netflix and Youtube!
We’re asking for a $10 donation to attend the event.
Event Moderator: Paige Bookoff
Paige Bookoff grew up in Baltimore, Md. and attended Boston University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She currently works as a pediatric occupational therapist at a private clinic in Santa Monica. Paige’s day-to-day work consistently warms her heart as it affords her the opportunity to watch children progress and be happy! For the past few years, she has been involved in JDC Entwine, which has included traveling to Georgia and Azerbaijan in July 2017, and co-chairing the Inside Israel trip in June 2018. She currently serves as one of the L.A. community representatives. Paige enjoys being active, traveling, spending time with family and friends, cooking/baking, and reading. She authored and published a children’s book to raise awareness about children with disabilities.
Melissa Berton:
An Academy Award-winning producer for Best Documentary Short (2019), Melissa Berton is a Los Angeles-based teacher and writer. She is the Founder & Executive Director of The Pad Project, a non- profit organization dedicated to the idea that “a period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.” Berton has been a lifelong advocate for girls and women, serving as the faculty sponsor for Girls Learn International, a program of The Feminist Majority Foundation that advocates for equal access to education for all genders.
For the past decade, she has taught English at Oakwood Secondary School, where she inspired her students to make the film Period. End of Sentence. to raise awareness about the importance of menstrual health and education worldwide. A poet and screenwriter, Melissa has had her work published in The Southern Review, The Southwest Review, The Colorado Review, and The Washington Square Press, among other journals. She served as the Assistant Editor at the Antioch Review for many years Her screenplay Do Not Go Gentle, about the poet Dylan Thomas, had a live reading at the Geffen Theater in 2016, with Jack Black playing the role of Dylan Thomas. Berton took her BA from UCLA and her MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. She is the recipient of the 2019 Eleanor Roosevelt Global Women’s Rights Award.
Sorelle Cohen:
Sorelle Cohen was born and raised in Los Angeles, and she is passionate about fighting for social justice and advocating for universal human rights. She graduated from the University of Southern California where she received a B.S. in Public Policy Development with an emphasis in non-profit and social innovation. She is the Director of Development, Marketing & Communications for The Pad Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending period stigma and empowering women worldwide. Since joining The Pad Project in 2019 she has been inspired by the global conversation about menstruation sparked by the film.
JWI welcomes, embraces, affirms, and invests in women of every race, culture, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
