Meet Andrea Meza — the activist, and software engineer who won the 69th Miss Universe pageant

Andrea Meza was one of the early favorites to win the 69th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on Sunday, May 16 (May 17, Philippine time). Even before contestants arrived in Florida, pageant pundits and enthusiasts were already seeing her as the one to beat in the competition.

And while the buzz around her slightly faded during the start of the competition earlier this month—with the arrival of strong competitors like Adline Castelino of India, Khanh Van Nguyen of Vietnam, and even Rabiya Mateo of the Philippines, the 26-year-old beauty queen proved she has the beauty and the intelligence worthy of the Mouawad Miss Universe Power of Unity crown.

In her video profile for Miss Universe, Andrea shared that she was born in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, where she works as the city’s official tourism ambassador.

“I’m so proud in the place I live,” she said.

Andrea is a women’s rights activist as well, working closely with the Municipal Institute for Women in her country.

According to PEOPLE, she is also a certified makeup artist, model, and actress. She studied software engineering at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua as well. After finishing her degree, Andrea worked as a software engineer and a model before entering the world of beauty pageants. 

Andrea is also a pageant veteran—one of the reasons why she was tagged as an early strong competitor for the 69th Miss Universe. She won her local Miss World Mexico pageant in 2016. She competed in the Miss World 2017 in Sanya City, China, where she competed with the Philippines’ Laura Lehmann.

Andrea was named first runner-up at the 2017 Miss World, losing against India’s Manushi Chhillar.

In November 2020, she won the  Mexicana Universal 2020, thus making her Mexico’s representative to the 69th Miss Universe pageant, where Andrea ultimately won the title.

Interestingly, Julia Gama, Andrea’s 69th Miss Universe runner-up, was also a former Miss World contestant, landing in the Top 11 of its 2014  pageant.

Andrea is Mexico’s third Miss Universe winner, after Ximena Navarrete in 2010 and Lupita Jones in 1991.

As the winner of the 69th Miss Universe pageant, Andrea will move to New York City where she will live during her reign and become a spokesperson for various causes alongside The Miss Universe Organization.

Banner photo by Miss Universe Organization/Benjamin Askinas