Annette Addo-Yobo, a native of Ghana, was recently crowned Miss Texas 2024. The esteemed beauty pageant took place on Saturday night at the Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, USA.
Addo-Yobo has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first immigrant-born individual and the first Ghanaian to claim the prestigious title of Miss Texas.Born in Ghana, Addo-Yobo was brought up in both Canada and the United States.
She pursued her education at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2020.She is set to receive a scholarship award of $20,000 and will serve as the representative of Texas in the forthcoming Miss America competition.
In a post shared on Instagram to commemorate her achievement, Addo-Yobo expressed feeling “humbled, honored, and grateful”for being crowned as the 87th Miss Texas. She aspires to “forge ahead in shaping history alongside the Texas community and her fellow Miss Texas contestants.”
Having previously held the title of Miss Dallas in 2023, she also participated as Miss Southlake in the current year.
In a post on her “Miss Southlake”account, she recounted how her lack of U.S. citizenship hindered her from seizing numerous opportunities during her teenage and college years. It was not until 2022 that she finally obtained U.S. citizenship.
Annette Addo-Yobo utilized the platform provided by the pageant to advocate for a cause that held great significance to her. Her performance in spoken word served as a testament to her unwavering commitment to raising awareness about autism, a cause that deeply resonated with her since childhood.
“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.
Winning the pageant has evidently heightened Addo-Yobo’s drive to further the mission of her platform, The SPARK Project, aimed at tackling the structural inequities that her brother, Andrew, has encountered in different environments.
“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.”
