Topaz Page-Green is a

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

and the founder and president of the non-profit corporation

The Lunchbox Fund The Lunchbox Fund is a non-profit organization providing a daily meal for orphaned and vulnerable school children in township and rural areas of South Africa. The organization was founded by South African model Topaz Page-Green. The Board of Dir ...

Early life and education

Topaz Page-Green was born in 1979 and raised near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. Her father and mother were

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s. She attended

Kingsmead College Kingsmead College is a private girls' elementary and high school situated in Melrose, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. The school is located next to the Gautrain Rosebank Station. Kingsmead College caters for girls from Grade 000 to Grade 1 ...

, an all-girls private school in Johannesburg.

Career

After graduating high school, Page-Green began her career in modelling after moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. While travelling on London's Underground she was noticed by a model scout and signed soon after with a talent agency. On a trip home to South Africa in 2003 she was confronted with the extreme poverty of her country, and decided to do something about it. In 2005, she launched The Lunchbox Fund as her response to this poverty. The fund raises money to provide one meal a day to poor and at-risk students in township high schools in South Africa. She studied

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

at the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

The Lunchbox Fund

Page-Green founded The Lunchbox Fund in 2005. The fund provides one meal each day to 22,000 underprivileged high school students, totaling more than 2.6 million meals a year. The Lunchbox Fund began in the historically at-risk

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...

district of Johannesburg.

Feedie

Page-Green created Feedie, an app which is credited as being the “first philanthropic food app.” Designed to be used by ‘foodies’ and others, the Feedie application uses

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

to transform people's passion for sharing their photos of food into the sharing of actual food with school children in need via The Lunchbox Fund.

Recognition

In September 2015

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashio ...

Kenneth Cole included Page-Green in his “Courageous Class” ad campaign re-affirming his brand's motto, “Look Good, For Good.” ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' included Topaz Page-Green in their list of the “World’s Most Powerful Business Women” in 2015.

Personal life and style

Page-Green lives in an apartment in New York City's East Village. She has lived in New York since 2001. Page-Green is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

, and eats “mostly

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

” food. She was in a relationship with actor

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

from 2001 to 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page-Green, Topaz Living people 1979 births South African female models People from Johannesburg South African philanthropists New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study alumni People from the East Village, Manhattan