Annette Addo-Yobo of North Texas has made history by being crowned Miss Texas 2024. The prestigious beauty pageant took place on Saturday night at the Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

Addo-Yobo’s victory is noteworthy as she becomes the first immigrant-born and the first Ghanaian to win the title of Miss Texas. Running as Miss Southlake, she overcame strong competition to earn this honour.

Born in Ghana and raised in Canada and the U.S., Addo-Yobo pursued her education at the University of Texas at Dallas, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2020. In a heartfelt post on the “Miss Southlake” account, she recounted the challenges she faced due to her citizenship status, which hindered her from seizing many opportunities as a teenager and college student. It was only in 2022 that she received her U.S. citizenship.

Expressing her gratitude in an Instagram post, Addo-Yobo said she is “humbled, honored, and grateful” to be the 87th Miss Texas and looks forward to “continuing to make history with the Texas community and the Miss Texas class.” Her victory in the Miss Texas 2024 competition comes with a $20,000 scholarship and the opportunity to represent Texas in the Miss America contest.

Addo-Yobo, who previously held the title of Miss Dallas in 2023, used the pageant’s talent contest to highlight a cause close to her heart: autism awareness. Her spoken word performance underscored her dedication to this issue, which has been a significant part of her life since her younger brother Andrew was diagnosed on the autism spectrum at age four.

“I want to bring autism safety, awareness, and education to the frontlines of our programming and our legislation. My younger brother Andrew had a large learning curve to overcome as an immigrant to this country,” Addo-Yobo said.

Winning the pageant has only strengthened Addo-Yobo’s resolve to use her platform, The SPARK Project, to address the structural inequities faced by individuals with autism. “As a sibling to someone on the spectrum, I noticed the systemic inequities and lack of education and training very early. 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,” she added in her Instagram post.

Her Miss Southlake social media account highlights some of her previous work, including her efforts to bring autism awareness to Capitol Hill in March as the only volunteer advocate for Autism Speaks.

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