A Richmond student, who has led an effort to ensure all girls, no matter their income, have access to menstrual products, has been recognized by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Pooja Mutharaj, a senior at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, has been named one of the four winners of the association’s National Honor Society Service Scholarship, with each receiving $10,625.

A city resident, Pooja and the three other students from across the country were selected from a pool of 10,000 applicants.

“I am so grateful for this recognition and for this opportunity to have a seat at the table with the students and educators currently creating the future,” Pooja stated after being notified of the award.

When she learned in 2019 that some girls lack access to such products, Pooja organized at the school a chapter of Period, an international group that seeks to end the stigma surrounding menstruation and that seeks to ensure availability for poor girls, according to the citation.

The chapter currently has 60 members.

Under her leadership, the school became one of the first to install dispensers with no-charge menstrual products.

In addition, along with leading the chapter in organizing community initiatives to collect and pass out products, Pooja and other chapter members joined adults in successfully lobbying the Virginia General Assembly to pass two bills in 2020 that mandate that public schools provide free menstrual products.

Pooja also co-founded another group, Teen Polytyx, to foster discussions among high school students about policy issues.

“We’re humbled to honor the powerful initiatives these students have organized to help their communities,” Ronn Nozoe, chief executive of the principals’ association. “We need passionate and forward-looking leaders like them who combine their quest for knowledge with service and advocacy for systematic change.”