You are not the problem.
The stigma around appearance is.
The Appearance Positive (TAP) is a social enterprise addressing the psychosocial and structural harm caused by appearance-based stigma, for people living with visible differences and appearance-related distress.
This is not about fixing how people look.
It’s about dignity, belonging, and full participation in life.
What is The Appearance Positive (TAP)?
The Appearance Positive (TAP) is a hybrid HealthTech social enterprise working to transform how society understands appearance, identity, and psychosocial well-being.
We support people living with visible differences, including skin conditions, scars, alopecia, disfigurement, and appearance-related distress, not by changing how we look, but by challenging the stigma, systems, and narratives that limit our lives.
TAP operates at the intersection of psychosocial health, research, digital care, community engagement, and cultural storytelling.
The problem we address
Appearance-based stigma is a quiet but powerful driver of psychosocial distress, exclusion, and inequality.
Across communities, people with visible differences experience social isolation, discrimination, emotional harm, and reduced opportunity, yet these realities are often dismissed as cosmetic or personal concerns.
TAP exists to name appearance stigma for what it is:
a psychosocial, cultural, and justice issue.
Our ecosystem of change
Appear+
Digital Psychosocial Companion
A 24/7 friendly and caring companion for your emotional, social, and mental well-being.
Reflection, resilience, and building appearance confidence, whenever you need it.
APi
e-Learning, Research & Professional Training
The world’s first research and education hub dedicated to Appearance Positivity. We pioneer Appearance Epidemiology, develop professional training, and create courses that translate evidence into dignity.
TAP Community & Culture
Collective resilience, healing, and public presence
ACE Woman (Appearance Confidence and Exceptional Woman)
Women-centred community, leadership, and identity spaces.
ASWALK Festival (Appearance and Skin Walk Festival)
A public cultural platform advancing appearance dignity, visibility, and collective joy.
The Appearance Network
Media & impact Storytelling
Narratives, films, and digital content reshaping how appearance and difference are seen and understood.
Why this work is different
- Appearance is treated as a psychosocial and justice issue, not a beauty concern
- We build systems and ecosystems, not isolated programs
- Our work is Africa-rooted, culturally grounded, and globally relevant
- Lived experience informs every layer of our design and delivery
Coming Soon
Our full website is launching soon.
Join us as we build Africa’s architecture for Appearance Positivity, Justice, and Well-being.
Founder
Founded in Lived Experience. Built for Systemic Change.
Ogo Maduewesi is the founder of The Appearance Positive (TAP). She founded TAP to build the digital, educational, communal, and cultural infrastructure she needed herself — but never had.
She is a psychosocial advocate and systems thinker who has transformed personal truth into a blueprint for dignity. An Ashoka Fellow, she has over 15 years of experience building appearance-focused infrastructure and community initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ogo is the founder of the Vitiligo Support and Awareness Foundation (VITSAF), the first vitiligo patient-led organisation in Africa. She is also a pioneer of the World Vitiligo Day movement and a founding former director of the International Alliance of Dermatology Patient Organisation (IADPO), also known as Globalskin, the global dermatology patient advocacy ecosystem.
Living with visible differences herself, including vitiligo, scars, and long-standing appearance anxieties, her work is rooted in lived experience, dignity, and long-term systems change.
We are building something meaningful.
Our full platform is unfolding.
Join us as we build Africa’s home for appearance dignity, justice, and psychosocial well-being.