Who will walk the runway during New York Fashion Week and win $20,000? You decide.
Victoria Bwire-Kettnitz
Must finish first to be the Grand Prize winner.
Voting for this round ends on September 9, 2026 at 10:00 PM EDT
About Victoria Bwire-Kettnitz
At 57 years old, people still ask me if I am a model. So maybe it’s never too late to walk the runway! Here I come! And while at it, most importantly, use the platform to create more awareness about mental health.
Learn More About Victoria Bwire-Kettnitz
What makes you the Next Runway Star?
HOPE - in-spite of the odds against me. I firmly believe that beauty lies in the essence of who we are as people. It is everything that we feel and how we make others feel. It is the energy that transforms a room and makes children smile and wave at you on the supermarket isle. It is what makes strangers speak to you as though you shared a previous life. It is the unfiltered laughter that spills out tears of joy. Beauty lives at the core of each one of us and we all exude it. I am as beautiful as you are. And as deserving as you are to be the next Runway Star because nothing can bind true essence. Not even age. It truly is this brief - I don’t need 1000 characters to describe beauty.
What would this once in a lifetime experience mean to you and why?
The Epstein Files make me angry - very angry. I wish to channel the anger into positive change. If all I did was encourage a few of my friends to purchase charity votes in support of RISE, my participation in this project will be noteworthy. And secondly, I don’t believe in coincidences and maybe there’s a reason why this project showed up on my Facebook feed at 6.00 am this morning. I have been approached on a few occasions by people who see in me what I, obviously, fail to see in myself. “Are you a model?” they ask. “No - I am not a model, but thank you for the compliment!” Then I find ways to explain it “It must be my bald head attracting all the attention!” But what if it was simply ME? So here I am. At 57 years old. Silencing the voices in my head and jumping aboard. Refusing to be bound.
What are you most proud of about yourself or what have you overcome and why?
I am proud of the relationship I had with my late father. He defined love for me without ever speaking the word. I am proud of the daughter that I became. My father died peacefully in his sleep (7 months after I lost my husband). I flew back home to Kenya for his funeral and slept in the bed that he died in - like a baby. And I have been in total peace with his parting ever since. Deep down, I know that is because we had done all there was to be done and said all we couldn’t put into words - with our actions. I never truly knew my mother because she passed away when I was barely five years old. I have to look at photos to remind me of her because I cannot picture her in my mind’s eye. But I remember my father. I am who I am because he loved me unconditionally. I believe deeply in LOVE as the emotion that grounds and binds all of us. Love truly can conquer anything!
What would you do with the $20,000 cash prize?
You would be hard pressed to believe me if I named all the members of my immediate and extended family who suffer (or have suffered) from mental illness. We have lost a family member to suicide as a result of this scourge and we have also grappled with sexual abuse on loved ones. As a child growing up in Kenya, I was made to believe that my family was cursed. I have since, learnt that mental illness can be generic. I have accepted the fact that any meaningful existence for me, must embrace contributing all I can to alleviate the suffering caused by mental illness (for both the affected and their families). The mental health facilities in my country, Kenya, are inadequate (to say the least). The cash prize from this project will go towards providing care for the mentally ill. I have already identified a mental health facility in Kiambu, Kenya, that could use our help. Thank you for participating and being the difference maker!
Content from Victoria Bwire-Kettnitz
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Rise is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit that helps sexual assault survivors across the country and around the world. They’ve created the most successful legislative reform movement in U.S. history: 120 laws passed, 1 UN Resolution and 112 million people’s lives impacted by their efforts.
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