While Naomi Osaka has been honing her tennis skills — racking up trophies and accolades since turning pro at age 15, including the title of highest-paid female athlete ever in 2020 — the Japan-born phenom has also been coming into her own as an activist and role model.

The 23-year-old tennis star and one of PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World this year says she feels a responsibility to use her platform to speak up and out for causes she believes in, like at the 2020 U.S. Open, where she wore a different face mask each day to honor the memories of Breonna Taylor, Treyvon Martin, George Floyd and other victims of police brutality and racial profiling. Read More