Sharmin Kabir

Sharmin Kabir was in eighth grade when her first period came, and no one had told her what was happening. That silence shaped her teenage years. It also shaped her life's work.

In 2016 she founded Wreetu, and over 11 years she has turned a taboo into a national conversation: through Bangladesh's first puberty comic books for girls and boys, South Asia's first period guide for fathers, the country's first certified washable sanitary napkin, and 7teen, Bangladesh's first teen SRHR platform.

Sharmin has trained more than 600 educators, advised the Government of Bangladesh, UNICEF and WaterAid Bangladesh on menstrual health programming, and is invited as an expert reviewer of MHM research. She has carried the voices of Bangladeshi girls and women to global platforms including the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Beijing+30, APFSD and Women Deliver. She is currently pursuing a PhD.

A social entrepreneur who started with a small grant and her own savings, Sharmin built Wreetu into a social enterprise that creates jobs for marginalised women, reaches climate-vulnerable communities and engages boys and men as allies. Her goal now is to take Wreetu's proven models to girls far beyond Bangladesh.

• SOS Social Champion Award2022
• Joy Bangla Youth Award2023
• Best Adolescent Experiences Business Leader, CEO Monthly2024
• Young Connectors of the Future, Swedish Institute2018