"There is a huge social awakening around the ‘hot’ topic of Menstrual Health. But in the real world, we still have a long way to go. I am extremely dedicated and passionate about this topic and the project’s "reach" potential". Nikki has been working with Mental & physical Wellbeing through her work as a Therapist for the past 20 years. In the past 5 years specifically absorbing everything & anything to do with the Menstrual Cycle. Having co-written the Howami charting book in 2020 she has run numerous workshops with a variety of age groups from 10-12 year olds from menarche (the first Bleed), right through to post-menopause. She recently qualified as a Menstruality Mentor with the “Red School” who have paved the way for psychological and emotional impact of the menstrual cycle. “Having a tween daughter and through our work to date, I have witnessed first hand the effect of social-media in our lives and of attention-seeking technology on the psychology of young GenZ's. I am thoroughly committed to creating this application that, I believe, will have an enormous impact. By supporting the growth of both ‘emotional intelligence’ and the ‘well-being’ of the future generations of menstruating people.”

“The chance to provide a radical, playful, online space for young people to become mindful of themselves in relation to their menstrual cycle fills me with so much joy! I am also super excited to be working within a team of people who want to be in a business with emotional intelligence at the forefront of communication and operations. I Originally teamed with Nikki to develop the Howami book and workshops , but quickly became strongly driven to share the ‘wider view lens’ that is possible with ‘Whole Cycle Awareness’. I have become increasingly passionate about it’s potential for creating both great shifts, and long term positive Social Impact for such a large proportion of the world”. Kate is an Actor, Mindfulness practitioner, Yoga teacher and Menstrual educator and has worked in the wellness field for 14 years. She graduated with a diploma in Acting from ALRA (Academy of Live and Recorded Arts), before completing her yoga training with Dru. In later years, Kate then went on to complete further yoga training for Kids and Gen Z, then her Mindfulness Training with ‘Mindfulness Now’ in Oxford and most recently, she trained with Jane Bennett with Celebration day for Girls. As a Mindfulness specialist she uses all of these disciplines when teaching young people, but also informs every aspect of the App development & the functioning of the Howami Team.

“I am devoting all of my time to this project as I believe our young people need a well designed and enjoyable Apps that function as their ground-point for their uniqueness as menstruating people. I have an almost evangelical belief that tech needs to be beautiful in look and function. Having joined this project from a different creative field, I’m unafraid to look at existing paradigms with confidence that it can be done better!” Dan is a successful Soundtrack composer and Brunel University Business graduate. Whilst watching Nikki and Kate develop the Howami book and workshops, he has recently been moved by the potential of Howami as an Application. As a father of a teenage daughter he has been led by a passion to improve the lives of young people through tech. Dan is used to working creatively on large scale projects and is a fervent believer in the power of positive-use technology that improves lives rather than feeding from its user’s attention.

“In both my personal and professional life, I have come to realise that authentic connection is what gives us meaning and joy and this must start with ourselves. Our modern world is increasingly pulling us in the opposite direction. I’m excited to be part of Howami as its vision is to deepen our connection to ourselves. I believe this is the first step in enabling us to bring our unique gifts to the world. I know that if I was able to access an App like Howami in my teens, I could have started on this path so much earlier and I’m excited to open this door for others.” Loren’s whole career has reflected her passion to create a fairer, more compassionate world. She’s currently the CEO of the Sam and Bella Sebba Charitable Foundation, providing grants to promote social justice and protect human rights. She’s held a range of leadership positions in the charity sector including as CEO of L’Arche and Executive Director of Indigo Trust, supporting the use of digital technologies to achieve social outcomes. Loren’s experience spans across a wide range of sectors and she has a particular interest in social innovation, having supported hundreds of small to medium charities and social enterprises to scale their impact. She has provided strategic consultancy to a wide range of organisations including Comic Relief, World Health Organisation and Oxford Insights. She holds a PhD from Cambridge University, was recognised as one of 2014’s Powerful Women to Watch in the Huffington Post and regularly writes in the international Press. Loren is a solo mother of twin 5-year-old sons and a committed meditator who has run mindfulness and meditation retreats and workshops. She spends most of her weekends travelling in her campervan and her heart sings when she’s in nature.

“Working with the Howami team and project is really invigorating because it brings together multiple strands of my academic and non-academic work. It contributes to the development of a greatly needed step change to whole-cycle awareness in menstruality with young people. Core to this is returning our attention to the importance of cycles and how they can help us remember our relationship with Mother Nature.” From co-producing social science research to writing about reweaving the thread of menstrual blood back into the Earth’s ecology, Terra’s work focuses on the Human-Earth connection. As Language and Research Advisor, Terra supports Howami to draw upon current research in menstruality and wellbeing, serving as liaison between the team and academic research community. Together, Terra and the Howami team are developing ethical practices of participatory inquiry to support the app development, and identifying reciprocal ways in which Howami can inform future academic research.

“Getting to know myself and my body through the lens of my menstrual cycle has been life-changing. Howami has such a different concept from other cycle-tracking apps on the market and I love the approach of looking at the cycle, and the person, as a whole rather than putting the emphasis on just ovulation or menstruation. If Howami can inspire more young people who menstruate to start learning about themselves and their bodies through cycle awareness, I believe we’ll start making a significant dent in the current shame and stigma that surrounds menstruation. The menstrual cycle is a beautiful and powerful thing and I want more people to understand that.” Kate is a UX designer and researcher who believes design can change the world as long as we collaborate with the people we are designing for. Her role as ‘designer’ is primarily as a facilitator, moderator and mediator, though she also enjoys mapping product and service journeys and prototyping solutions. She uses design thinking methodology to bring people together to discover opportunities, define problems, develop solutions and deliver effective products and services. Her 10-year career as a designer has spanned many industries from health-tech to fin-tech. Kate has worked at small scale-ups and global corporations but she’s excited to be getting involved in these very early stages of Howami to make sure good design and design thinking are embedded from the start. Kate trained as a Menstruality Mentor through Red School's Menstruality Leadership Programme in 2022 and is currently doing a Master’s level qualification in Contemporary Menstrual Studies with Dr Lara Owen. It’s safe to say she’s very passionate about menstruation!

“When I heard Nikki describe the Howami project, I knew she was on to something. An app helping with a need so central to the well-being of so many young people can only benefit from the passion and energy of such a heart-centred team. Seeing them in action confirmed that I needed to help where I could. The team’s drive is palpable, their creativity is phenomenal. It’s a joy to work on the Howami project.” Simon has 20 years experience in tech and software engineering. Having worked with numerous startups and built several teams from scratch, Simon knows what it takes for a team to come together and thrive. Simon’s experience has taught him the necessity of user-centred design and helping creators set ego aside to follow an open-minded Lean approach to product creation. His passion is to harness the dark-arts used to create growth-hacking, attention-mining apps and use them for social good. Simon has a teenage daughter, so has a window into the Howami world. He firmly believes that harnessing creativity and intuition through a beautiful, creative app can lead to enhanced well-being for her and other young people.

“As a woman and mother, I believe that it is so important that we bring what happens to menstruating people out of the shadows. Menstruation impacts everyone from the first bleed until the last, whether you personally or to those around you. Celebrating the power and impact of this process is such a radical shift from the past and is most welcome. I am delighted to be invited as an advisor.” Samantha has worked in mental health for over twenty years after studying psychology as an undergraduate at Cardiff University and staying to undertake a Ph.D. Following a few years as a Research Associate at Bristol University, Samantha trained in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist and has since worked in adult mental health, physical health, and children’s mental health services. During her time as a practising psychologist, Samantha is passionate about sharing her psychological understanding and skills and is delighted to be a mental health advisor for this deeply important programme of work.

“My work centres around bodies and health in the broadest sense. My focus is on creating more space in the field of menstruality for all experiences of people who menstruate to be visible. I have witnessed many times how the intimacy we create in relation to ourselves through acknowledging our cyclical nature is really at the heart of knowing our place in the wider web of relational life. It's a true honour to be part of bringing this beautiful app into the world." Abi’s back ground is as a nutritional Therapist practicing functional medicine, teaching yoga and consent and embodiment work with teenagers and adults. She is a Leadership mentor with Red School and a menstruality coaching professional and we are delighted she has joined the advisory team for such an important aspect of our Work.

A seasoned consulting CFO and finance professional, Conrad leverages his extensive experience to drive financial success. Formerly a CFO in the travel subscription service industry, he possesses an MBA in finance, and his passion for financial excellence is evident through five years of startup consulting. Simultaneously, Conrad has thrived as an e-commerce entrepreneur in the e-gaming sector for the past three years. His diverse background uniquely equips him to empower businesses with sound financial strategies and data-driven decision-making.

“While traveling in New Zealand 4 years ago I attended a workshop about the menstrual cycle and was blown away by how little I really knew! I dream of a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn about the power and beauty within the menstrual cycle, and can live in line with their own unique rhythm.“ We are so excited to have Lauren among our Advisory team. She brings a strong skill set to Howami, including Marketing/Media & Business strategy, Tech proficiency and deep insight into practicing and educating on menstrual cycle awareness in the modern world. Lauren comes from a varied background of Customer service, Administrative & Strategic roles (from a Scottish Gin society to an off-road Lord of the Rings tour company!) She currently works in the core team at Red School who train the future leaders in the field of Menstruality, and whose work underpins much of the emotional/psychological aspects we are drawing inspiration from for the Howami App. She has developed an avid passion for this work and has also trained as a Menstruality Mentor through Red School's Menstruality Leadership Programme in 2021.

“I am thrilled to be part of the Howami team and believe that everybody who owns a uterus deserves to connect with themselves and learn about the incredible ways our bodies work. Education leads to autonomy, which can hopefully pave the way for more powerful, more informed and more joyful ways of living.” We are delighted that Lily has agreed to be our Gen Z Lead advisor. At present she is in her second year studying psychology at the University of Bristol, However, her curiosity in this area began to build its momentum many years before-when she herself was in her early years of Cycling. Her interest became fuelled even more when she discovered the lack of research into women’s mental -health particularly throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period. Since 2019, Lily’s understanding of hormones and their impact has steadily evolved and deepened, alongside her wish for the progression into accessible education for everyone with a menstrual cycle. Her dedication, passion and drive for the awakening of mental and menstrual health and knowledge is utterly inspiring for us.

"While I am excited to be involved in the creation of a great app, there is a definite focus in the industry on addiction forming feedback in the interest of generating profit. Part of my reasoning for joining Howami was the focus on wellness and health above all else. This seems like a truly ethical and impactful development - something in line with my own values as an educator. I felt that this was my opportunity to help push consumer technology towards the improvement of humanity." As a graduate of games design and development at The University of Plymouth, Danny worked in the games industry for 10 years before transitioning to teaching, spearheading the Games, VR & VFX course at boomsatsuma as a programme lead, working with 16-18 year old students to develop their own games and applications. Danny has teamed with Howami to provide guidance and consultation on app development, and to give insight into the multi-disciplinary aspects of application design.