Photos by Tony Powell
During Women’s History Month, on March 28, 2023, United States Senator Katie Britt from Alabama presented Brooke and Breanna Bennett with the first-ever Engage Woman’s Award for Nonprofit Leadership at Engage’s Remarkable Women Reception and Dinner in Washington, D.C. Brooke and Breanna founded Women in Training, Inc. as their 12th birthday community service project to help end period poverty and develop girls into global leaders. The sisters are now age 15.
“I appreciate this example of leadership, courage, fortitude and grit for my daughter, and for so many other young women across this nation,” exclaimed Sen. Britt. “Girls, you go!”
Sen. Britt is the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, and the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate.
“We couldn’t have chosen a better senator to present the award to us,” Breanna gushed.
Brooke continued: “Sen. Britt represents the aspirations of many young women in Alabama and throughout the United States.”
In introducing Sen. Britt to present the award, Rachel Pearson, Engage founder, complimented the senator and WIT founders: “If you three are Alabama, then it’s a very extraordinary thing!”
Brooke and Breanna have a long-standing partnership with Always, the leader in global menstrual care by Procter & Gamble. Always is on a mission to help #EndPeriodPoverty by raising awareness of the issue, donating period products, tackling period stigma and driving systemic change. Since 2018, Always has donated over 75 million period products to underserved communities in partnership with Feeding America.
Always joined Brooke and Breanna on their three-day trip to Washington, D.C., to receive the Engage leadership award, and to attend the annual State of the Majority Summit. The Always Period Heroes spent their first morning and afternoon in D.C. touring historic sites, such as the National Archives Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Washington National Cathedral.
Engage is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting women's economic security through bipartisan and commonsense solutions. Engage views the journey of a woman’s economic security holistically as “a thread” across her entire life, during which factors within and outside her control determine her ability to achieve economic security. Among these factors are lifelong health, education and workforce, generational caregiving, and financial prosperity. This basket of issues is vast and far-reaching, and Engage seeks to highlight and advance the work of dynamic, collaborative leaders to make progress for American women.
Other Engage Woman Award winners are as follows:
Corporate Leadership: Tammy Sun, Founder and CEO of Carrot; presented by Evan Ryan, White House Cabinet Secretary
Exceptional Congressional Staffer: Emma Zafran; presented by Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan
Public Service: U.S. Small Business Administration's Isabella Guzman; presented by Sen. Joni Ernst
Ms. Pearson presented each awardee with a crystal vase with her name engraved on it.
Several speakers recognized Breanna and Brooke's leadership, including Mrs. Gayle C. Manchin, Federal Co-Chair, Appalachian Regional Commission. Mrs. Manchin gave a shout-out to the WIT founders during her presentation on the Post-Secondary Education, Literacy and Workforce Preparedness panel at the State of the Majority Summit.
Enjoy photos from the awards dinner reception and the Engage State of the Majority Summit.
The Bennett twins, mom and dad are an outstanding force of nature for sure. Young ladies your public presentation of poise, intelligence, beauty, humility and empathy continues to meet your original goal of abating Period Poverty. Stay focused young ladies, there's even more untold achievements awaiting you both.