Omisade Burney-Scott
Omisade Burney-Scott
Creator/Curator of Black Girls Guide to Surviving MenopauseOmisade Burney-Scott, she/her (Oh-me-Shah-Day) Omisade Burney-Scott (she/her) is a seventh-generation North Carolinian, Black Southern feminist, storyteller, and reproductive justice advocate. She is also the Founder and Chief Menopause Steward of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM), a multidisciplinary narrative and culture-shift Reproductive Justice project focused on normalizing menopause by centering the stories of Black women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, formerly incarcerated/system-impacted people, and other marginalized groups within the Global Majority.
Founded in 2019, BGG2SM is rooted in the principles of Black feminism, Reproductive Justice, and Healing Justice. Its core program offerings include intergenerational community programs, peer learning and menopause training, leadership and advocacy focused on menopause, a digital zine titled "Messages from the Menopausal Multiverse," and a podcast that offers guidance and support for marginalized communities navigating the various stages of menopause. Over the past 30 years, Omisade has been deeply involved in social justice movements seeking to liberate marginalized communities, beginning with her own.
Currently, she serves on the advisory boards of Elektra Health and the Honey Pot Company Pulse Panel. In 2023, Omisade was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship from Open Society Foundation. This fellowship supported her efforts to expand the narrative shift work of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause by including the stories and experiences of formerly incarcerated and system-impacted individuals. She has been featured in prominent media outlets, such as NPR, Katie Couric Media, VOGUE, WebMD, The Washington Post, Callaloo Literary Journal, and The New York Times. Additionally, she has written articles and essays for Ms. Magazine, Yes! Magazine, Blavity, and Scalawag, and the anthology “Bloody Hell! Adventures in Menopause From Around the World,” edited by feminist author and journalist Mona Eltahawy. Additionally, Omisade's work has been featured in the documentaries “The M Factor: Shedding the Silence of Menopause” and “Periodical”.
In 2025, the Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause hosted Iranti Eje: Remembering Blood, the first-ever intergenerational menopause conference catering to the Global Majority, the queer community, and current and formerly incarcerated individuals.
In 2026, BGG2SM launched a research project advancing intersectional research, led by our team in partnership with NYU's School of Nursing. This project will be informed by the lives of Black women, queer individuals, trans and gender-expansive people, as well as those who are currently or formerly incarcerated, and anyone else marginalized in terms of care.
Omisade is a 1989 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. She resides in Durham, North Carolina, and is the proud mother of two beautiful sons.
