CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Award-winning actress Halle Berry is in Charleston today, on her birthday, to help empower the next generation of leaders and to advocate for women’s health.

Berry’s first stop this morning was at Piedmont Elementary School in the Capital City. She accompanied U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on a school visit to promote the senator’s West Virginia Girls Rise Up program.

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The purpose of the Girls Rise Up initiative is to empower young women through education, physical fitness and self-confidence.

“Hopefully we did a good job convincing them they can do whatever they want, but also that we’re just regular people,” Capito said. “We have children and grandchildren. We have things that we were afraid of when we were young girls. And, so for them to say, ‘Well, you know, maybe I can do that.'”

Berry and Capito also visited the Kanawha County Public Library for a round table discussion on menopause and their efforts at the US Capitol to end the stigma and to win funding. 13 News Anchor Amanda Barren sat down with both Capito and Berry to talk about their initiatives.

“Women, it’s our responsibility to not beat up our doctors, to make it okay to talk about the subject. Right, but it starts with us to be able to say we demand more information, we demand more dollars in research and we demand conversations about it,” Berry said.

For an extended version of our interview with Berry and Capito, tune in to Inside West Virginia Politics this weekend on WOWK-TV at 5:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18, and at 1 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 19.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOWK 13 News.