Meritorious Service Cross
- Awarded on: May 3, 2021
- Invested on: March 21, 2024
Paul Grinvalds, M.S.C.
Sophia Grinvalds, M.S.C.
Beamsville, Ontario
Paul and Sophia Grinvalds founded AFRIpads in Uganda in 2010. Their innovative, for-profit social enterprise manufactures reusable sanitary pads as a cost-effective menstrual product solution. Begun in a region where the topic of menstrual health was seldom broached, AFRIpads has led the way in removing the stigma, creating much-needed jobs for women, and disrupting a cycle of poverty, lack of education, and poor health and hygiene among millions of women and girls.