Top model, humanitarian and activist, long-time partner to documentary filmmaker and director Damani Baker, and new mom to their first child Asa Baker Russell, Cameron Russell poses with Asa on the cover of Harper's Bazaar UK's September 2018 issue.

Miranda Almond styles Cameron in 'Facing The Future', lensed by Will Davidson at Hasbrouck House in Stone Ridge, NY./ Hair by Jenny Kim; makeup by Ozzy Salvatierra

Russell is interviewed by Lydia Slater about her political activism around the environment and social justice, her leadership around #MeToo in the fashion industry, embracing motherhood and using compassion to bring about change.

In 2012, she gave a TED talk, entitled ‘Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.’ It went viral and has become one of the 10 most-watched TED Talks ever. In 2015, Cameron led her model friends on a climate change march. Last October, Russell brought the #MeToo campaign to the fashion industry, asking her fellow models to share their own stories of exploitation, which she published anonymously, under the hashtag My Job Should Not Include Abuse.

Cameron's interview is meaty and worth the read. We learn that modeling was never her goal because she intended to become president of the United States. Now THAT is the power of positive thinking. In wonderful shares about her activist mother who set high goals for her daughter and didn't fawn over her for a minute, we learn that Russell's mother, Robin Chase, co-founded the car-sharing company Zipcar when Russell was just 12.

"She worked throughout my childhood, but at that point she worked around the clock. It was amazing to see." Russell describes her astonishment at finding her mother preparing for a meeting with potential investors by shaving her legs and removing the hair from her upper lip. "I’d never seen her do that before. She said,'Well, you have to pick your battles.'"

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