Oakes says she sees modeling as "a conduit to get into socially responsible causes" such as fair trade and pollution from the textile and garment industry. Since 2009, she has worked to promote the Mezimbite Forest Center conservation project in Mozambique. She spoke about fair trade and the textile industry at the Hong Kong World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005 and attended the 2012 "Rio+20" United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, where she was profiled by the magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme. She teaches others to grow plants in a Brooklyn neighborhood community garden.