A Girl's Period... No Longer the End of Her Potential

Bard CEP Distinguished Alumni Lecture with Dr. Liita-Iyaloo Cairney, BA/MS '08

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Please join us for a lecture by Bard CEP alum Dr. Liita-Iyaloo Cairney, BA/MS '08, at Blithewood Manor.

Lecture: "Koree: Enhancing Individual Capabilities through the Application of Disciplined Entrepreneurship"
The lecture examines the intellectual and entrepreneurial journey that led Liita to invent the Koree menstrual hygiene device and education framework. It also reflects on how Liita's approach to commercializing the Koree product is influenced and guided by the ideas of Amartya Sen and Bill Aulet.

Biography: Liita-Iyaloo Cairney was born in Namibia. She graduated with a BA in natural sciences (with a concentration in biology) and an MS in environmental policy from Bard College. Soon after graduating with her master’s degree from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Cairney was employed by the Population Council in New York City. She worked in the Poverty, Gender, and Youth Division on projects that sought to financially and socially empower adolescent girls worldwide. Cairney’s time at the Population Council convinced her to pursue a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. She founded Kalitasha Ltd. and invented the Koree product in 2013, while earning her PhD in international public health policy. Through the Koree menstrual hygiene device and associated education framework (firstperiod.org), she seeks to empower young women by developing solutions to health problems that limit their individual, social, and political capabilities (Amartya Sen). Cairney lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her husband and son.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Blithewood