Annette Addo-Yobo of North Texas has been crowned Miss Texas 2024. The beauty pageant commenced Saturday night at the Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.
Here's what we know about the new Miss Texas.
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Making history in more ways than one
Over the weekend, Annette Addo-Yobo became the first immigrant-born and the first Ghanaian to win the title of Miss Texas.
Addo-Yobo was born in Ghana but was raised in Canada and the U.S. She studied at the University of Texas at Dallas and in 2020 earned her bachelor's degree in psychology. In a "Miss Southlake" account post, she describes how she "lost out on many opportunities as a teenager and college student" due to her citizenship status. It wasn't until 2022 that she received U.S. citizenship.
In an Instagram post, Addo-Yobo says she is "humbled, honored, and grateful" to be the 87th Miss Texas and hopes to "continue making history with the Texas community and the Miss Texas class."
By winning the Miss Texas 2024 competition, Addo-Yobo will receive $20,000 in scholarship money and will represent Texas in the Miss America contest.
Addo-Yobo competed as Miss Southlake this year but previously held the title of Miss Dallas in 2023.
'SPARK'-ing autism awareness
Annette Addo-Yobo used the pageant's talent contest to shed light on a cause near and dear to her. Her spoken word performance was just the latest show of her commitment to promoting autism awareness — a cause which first touched her heart as a child.
“I want to bring autism safety, awareness and education to the frontlines of our programming and our legislation. My younger brother Andrew was diagnosed on the spectrum when he was age four. And as an immigrant to this country, he had a large learning curve to overcome,” said Addo-Yobo.
It seems winning the pageant has only boosted Addo-Yobo's motivation to use her platform, The SPARK Project, which addresses the structural inequities she has witnessed her brother Andrew face in various spaces.
"As a sibling to someone on the spectrum, I noticed the systemic inequities and lack of education and training very early," Addo-Yobo continued in her Instagram post. "It is my mission to amplify the voices of the autistic community and ensure that legislators, decision makers, and community members see us and fight for us."
Her Miss Southlake social media account documents some of her previous work, including bringing autism awareness to Capitol Hill in March as the only volunteer advocate for Autism Speaks.
Miss Texas 2024 finalists
The final winners of the 2024 Miss Texas competition are as follows:
- Miss Texas: Miss Southlake, Annette Addo-Yobo
- 1st Runner-Up: Miss Space City, Chloe Burke
- 2nd Runner-Up: Miss Southeast Texas, Anyssa Mujica
- 3rd Runner-Up: Miss Plano, Sadie Schiermeyer
- 4th Runner-Up: Miss Burleson, Nicole Wingard
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