Miss Mexico won the title of Miss Universe 2020 on Sunday, May 16, 2021, beating out Miss Brazil for the top spot. Software Engineer, Andrea Meza, 26, proudly represented her hometown of Chihuahua during the pageant's 69th competition, which was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. TV personality Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo hosted the pageant, which marked its return after not running in 2020 due to the global health crisis.
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The Mexican beauty is an all-around Renaissance woman. Not only does she work as a software engineer, but she also owns her own fitness apparel company, actively works against gender violence, and serves as tourism ambassador for Chihuahua. Not only that, but she does it all with grace, confidence, and kindness. Here's everything we know about Miss Universe 2020, Andrea Meza.
She was born in the '90s.
Andrea was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, on August 13, 1994, to parents Alma Carmona and Santiago Meza. She is the oldest of three girls, whom she grew up with in Chihuahua City, where she still lives.
She even got her degree in Chihuahua.
Andrea studied at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, where she earned a degree in software engineering, a field that is largely dominated by men. Since graduating, she has worked in her field of study while also working as a model.
She's a women's rights activist.
Andrea is passionate about women's rights and ending gender-based violence. She works with the Municipal Institute for Women, an organization focused on ending gender violence. She has also volunteered to raise funds for the underprivileged in Indonesia, China, and India.
Andrea wears many hats.
In addition to all of her other skills and abilities, Andrea is also a certified makeup artist and loves to sing. Those are definitely great skills to have in the pageant world, which she started competing in in 2016.
She's into fitness and extreme sports.
Andrea is an incredibly active person. She enjoys CrossFit workouts and extreme sports including rappeling, and sand boarding. She's so fit that she can actually hold a plank for three minutes.
Andrea comes from a big family.
Andrea comes from a large Mexican family. Not only does she have two younger sisters, she also has a whopping 40 cousins. We can imagine exactly how their family get-togethers go down. Sounds like a fun childhood.
Miss Universe is also an entrepreneur.
Andrea has also been busy channeling her passion for sports and fitness into her own business. She's currently working on her own line of activewear that will be entirely made and produced in Mexico.
She supports the LGBTQ community.
Andrea has used social media to express her support for the LGBTQ community. "I join this cause because I firmly believe that we are all deserving of the same respect, love and tolerance," she wrote on Instagram (translated from Spanish).
Andrea loves Chihuahua.
Andrea loves her hometown of Chihuahua, Mexico, so much that she has been serving as a tourism ambassador for the city and surrounding areas for some time. She uses her platform to promote the many things there are to do in see in and around Chihuahua.
She beat out Miss Brazil and Miss Peru.
Andrea beat out two others Latinas for the Miss Universe 2020 title. The pageant's first runner up was Miss Brazil, Julia Gama, and the second runner up was Miss Peru, Janick Maceta.
Andrea knows beauty is more than skin deep.
When asked about changing beauty standards during the Miss Universe pageant, Andrea said: "Nowadays, beauty is not only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirits, but in our hearts and the way we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you are not valuable."
She has a strong opinion about the handling of the health crisis.
"I believe there is not a perfect way to handle this hard situation such as COVID-19," Andrea said when asked how she would have handled the pandemic. "However, I believe that what I would have done, was create the lockdown even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that. We have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them since the beginning."
She was crowned by Miss Universe 2019.
When the winner of Miss Universe 2020 was announced, Andrea was crowned by the winner of the last Miss Universe pageant, South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi, whom she had met just a few days prior at a dinner hosted by the pageant.
She's moving to New York.
Like many of the 68 Miss Universe winners before her, Andrea will move from Mexico where she's lived her entire life to New York City for the next year. New York will serve as her base for carrying out her duties as Miss Universe.
She's in good company.
Andrea is the third Miss Universe from Mexico. Before her, Lupita Jones won the pageant in 1991 and Ximena Navarrete won in 2010. It's been over a decade since Mexico's last win, so we're positive the country and her community are incredibly proud of her.
