Who we are

Meet the people who make the Pachamama world go round

Our story

The Pachamama Project was set up by then 20 year-old student Ella Lambert who, having suffered from debilitating period pain growing up, knew what it was like to miss out on days of education and important events because of her period.

Pachamama is founded on the principle that no girl should miss out on the same opportunities as her brothers simply because she has a period.

Mid lockdown, Ella decided to harness the power of the pandemic ‘mask sewers’ to tackle another global issue - period poverty.

She borrowed a sewing machine, learnt to sew on YouTube and galvanised thousands of volunteers to make reusable period pads for refugees and vulnerable people around the world.

5 years and nearly 200,000 pads later, The Pachamama Project has the vision to end period poverty.

Our team

Ella Lambert

CEO and Founder

Ella founded The Pachamama Project in 2020 whilst studying at university. After hearing about period poverty she spent her lockdown learning to sew and galvanising thousands of volunteers to make pads with her.
Mariam Al Jabaly

Menstrual Health Management Coordinator Lebanon

Mariam is a pharmacy student at the Lebanese International University. She has also dedicated the last six years to educating on menstrual health and reproductive rights. She has represented Lebanon on an international stage presenting on women’s health and family planning and joined us to coordinate our Lebanon program.
Heidi Lambert

Chair

Witnessing Ella’s project take off, and her house fill up with pads, Heidi joined forces to manage logistics and the growing network of volunteers whilst continuing her day job as an EU media relations consultant.
Alice Corrigan

Trustee

Alice is co-founder and chair of The Free Shop Lebanon, one of our first ever partners. She is an experienced fundraiser passionate about assisting vulnerable populations through sustainable funding, strategic fundraising and the community-based approach.
Joy Coisnard

Trustee

Joy is an experienced operations coordinator who acts as our US ambassador. Joy is half Lebanese and speaks Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Italian making her a valuable asset for our global project.
Ruth Smith

Trustee

Ruth joined as a volunteer in 2021 and found the experience of making pads so rewarding she joined our team. Ruth manages our club for asylum seekers in Essex and is a key ambassador for Pachamama on and offline. She also continues to volunteer making tens of thousands of pads a year.
Helen Heard

Trustee

Helen is a retired psychiatric nurse and an absolute force of nature. As Ruth’s partner in crime, she co-runs our club for asylum seekers in Essex and consults on our patterns and instructions. She also volunteers herself, making tens of thousands of pads a year.
Hannah Royce

Trustee

Hannah is a former parliamentary researcher at the House of Commons and supports us on advocacy and public affairs to raise the profile of period poverty and Pachamama with UK policy makers.