Koya Bakare is a NY model featured in Essence, Vogue, and InStyle. She’s also an educator, author, and the National Beauty Pageant Winner of the Elite Ms. US United — 2024-25. However, for Koya, pageantry is much more than the crown and the glitz. For her, the discipline of modelling became the avenue that gave her the courage to dig deep within herself, confront a debilitating past, and find her voice. “My crown was always there,” I simply needed to find my voice and to remember to share it with heart and pride.”