Philomena Kwao

Growing up, I had body confidence issues, not really so much because of size but my skin color. I had trouble recognizing that the depth of my skin tone is really beautiful because whenever people referred to a beautiful black-skinned woman, you'd see Beyonce and Rihanna.

Women are hit especially hard in regions of ongoing conflict. Before, during, and after conflict, women bear the brunt of the consequences of war. They are left as the providers and guardians, responsible for rebuilding their country one family at a time.

War and armed conflict disproportionately affect women and can turn what is supposed to be a joyous and beautiful experience - childbirth - into a horrific or even fatal one.

Health management is my passion, and I hope to further my career in that area in the future.

My goal is always to help other women with programs that help them live better lives, especially is areas where health care is missing. Both of my parents are from Ghana, where there is a need for health care in the smaller villages.

Fat is fat. This goes back to the word 'plus.' We describe things. We are humans, and we need to describe things.

It's refreshing when plus-size styling is exciting and pushes boundaries rather than safe and boring.

Sports Illustrated' has set the standard for what a swimsuit model should be. For a magazine that has that much influence to include models of different body types on their pages shows that they're breaking down old beauty ideals while opening the doors of diversity and inclusivity.

Much noise has been about size diversity but not enough about skin tone diversity. It's time for this to change.

I think that the plus-size industry has been great with size diversity, but it hasn't really been great for skin tone diversity.

Torrid has given me an amazing opportunity. I can reach out to different girls and help them realize that they are beautiful, too.

I hope to show people everywhere that you can be unapologetically you and still succeed. I also hope that by using more diverse models, brands can see that there is power in diversity, and not shy away from doing something new for fear of failure. The effects are bigger than just the fashion industry.