Jamaican takes Mrs Ethnic World title

Daisi Pollard Sepœlveda, the delegate from Jamaica, was crowned Mrs Ethnic World International 2012 during the Ethnic World Pageant 2011, held on Sunday at the Hilton in Los Angeles, California.

Throughout the pageant, Daisi excelled in the six competition categories - personal interview, fashionwear, cultural expression, evening gown, athletic wear and community service.

As Mrs Ethnic World International, Daisi will spend the next year travelling and promoting the Ethnic World system, as well as her platform of 'Live Your Legacy', sharing the importance of knowing where you come from. Having been adopted by her paternal grandmother, Daisi understands the importance of knowing where you come from as she did not learn of her full lineage until adulthood.

With the 'Live Your Legacy' platform, she is establishing the Legacy Project to help prepare children in foster care and orphans who are going to 'age out' of the system for life on their own. She intends that, with the success of this mission, children will not be victims of their circumstances and will be able to take control of their lives and start their own legacy.

Sepœlveda starts with a book tour of the second edition of The Tin Box, a novel of cultural historic value published in 1958 by her great-grandfather Jerome Aredell Williams. The newly crowned beauty queen has added a foreword, preface and introduction, as well as an epilogue, to the novel. Proceeds of the book tour will go to the Legacy Project.

Grateful for the opportunity

"I have always been grateful for how pageantry has blessed me with wonderful opportunities to be the person I am today. If I could do that for someone else, then I feel only then I can really represent what pageantry is all about. I have gone from being a woman in need to helping the needs of others," she said.

The Ethnic World Pageant System was founded in 2008 and is currently based in Los Angeles, California, and organised by president/CEO Aiisha Ferguson. The system is dedicated to its mission of promoting cultural diversity through the medium of pageantry. The purpose of Ethnic World is to give women the opportunity to come together, regardless of their background, to build positive relationships with other women who are inspiring and working diligently to leave a positive impact on their communities.