From Alabama to the National Stage: Elizabeth Perry Crowned Ms. Black USA 2025
45-Year-Old Alabama Doctoral Student wins Ms. Black USA National Crown in Nation’s Capital
Washington, D.C. – August 2, 2025 — Elizabeth Perry isn’t just wearing a crown, she’s rewriting the narrative of leadership, service, and power as the newly crowned Ms. Black USA 2025.
At 45, Perry is a doctoral student in Family Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is advancing research and advocacy in healthcare equity. A former Albert Schweitzer Fellow, she created a fall prevention program that served more than 200 seniors, an initiative that continues to impact her community today.
Her platform, With Kynd Regards… because the “Y” matters more than “I,” focuses on bridging healthcare disparities in underserved populations. From maternal health and fibroid research to mental wellness and suicide prevention, Perry is committed to ensuring that women of color are heard, seen, and served in a healthcare system that has historically overlooked them.
Perry’s advocacy has taken her to Capitol Hill, where she has championed programs like the National Health Service Corps, ensuring healthcare professionals return to underserved communities. Having personally experienced years of fibroid-related health challenges, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her mission of transforming care.
Beyond her academic and advocacy work, Perry is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, carrying forward a legacy of sisterhood, service, and social action.
Her guiding motto reflects the spirit of her reign:
“Rooted in legacy, I rise with grace, lead with power, and shine unapologetically, because every step I take honors those who came before me and clears the path for those yet to come.”
Elizabeth Perry resides in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband Trevor and their dog Bishop.
About Miss Black USA
Founded in 1986, Miss Black USA Pageant and Scholarship Foundation, Inc. is the nation’s premier pageant and empowerment program for women of color. More than a competition, it is a movement that celebrates scholarship, service, and sisterhood while awarding over $500,000 in scholarships to date. The program provides a platform for Black women to amplify their voices, embrace their heritage, and lead with confidence.
From the Crown to the Continent: Ms. Black USA 2024 Launches Ghana Girls Legacy Initiative™
Dignity kits, empowerment talks, and legacy in motion. Dedra bauer, Ms. Black USA 2024, brings purpose and power to Ghana this June.
April 14, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) – This summer, the Miss Black USA crown crosses continents, not for photos, but for purpose.
From June 19–24, 2025, Dedra Bauer, Ms. Black USA 2024-25, will travel to the central region of Ghana, West Africa, to launch the Ghana Girls Legacy Initiative™, a powerful effort to provide dignity kits to schoolgirls and speak to their power, potential, and possibility.
In many areas of Ghana, young girls miss weeks of school each year due to a lack of menstrual products, an injustice that limits their education, confidence, and futures. Ms. Black USA’s initiative steps in where others often overlook: directly addressing this barrier to equity through grassroots service and global partnership.
“This is not charity. This is infrastructure,” said Karen Arrington, NAACP Image Award-winning author and CEO & Founder of Miss Black USA, Inc. “This is what happens when Black women stop waiting for permission to build bridges to the continent, we build our own.”
During her visit, Dedra will:
Distribute dignity kits filled with essential menstrual hygiene products
Speak at local schools to encourage girls to stay in school and pursue their dreams
Meet with government officials and local businesswomen
Participate in cultural exchanges that celebrate Black womanhood across borders
Arrington, who is also a Goodwill Ambassador to Ghana, has been featured in Travel Noire and Travel + Leisure for her work reconnecting African American women with their roots through purpose-driven travel.
The Ghana Girls Legacy Initiative™ is an annual extension of Miss Black USA’s commitment to global service, education access, and the empowerment of girls worldwide. The organization has awarded over $750,000 in scholarships and sends its national titleholders on global service trips as a continuation of that mission.
“This is what the crown was always meant to do,” said Dedra Bauer. “To serve, to elevate, and to reach across oceans to remind girls they are not forgotten.”
Media Opportunities:
For interview requests with Ms. Black USA or to support the Ghana Girls Legacy Initiative™ through sponsorship, donation, or product partnerships, contact: Email: press@missblackusa.org
ABOUT THE GHANA GIRLS LEGACY INITIATIVE™
Founded by Miss Black USA, Inc. and championed by its reigning queens, the Ghana Girls Legacy Initiative™ provides menstrual products, mentorship, and education access to girls in West Africa. It builds a bridge between African American women and the continent—through service, sisterhood, and sustained impact.
About Miss Black USA, Inc.
Miss Black USA Pageant and Scholarship Foundation, Inc. is the nation’s premier pageant for women of color, celebrating beauty, brilliance, and leadership since 1987. With over $750K awarded in scholarships and titleholders who go on to become lawyers, physicians, engineers, and cultural icons, the organization is not just a pageant, it’s a movement.
California’s Dedra Tufon Crowned Ms. Black USA 2024
First Cameroonian-American to Win National Title, Championing Healing, Heritage, and Hope
August 3, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) – History was made as Dedra Tufon, a former international news reporter and 5th-grade teacher from California’s Bay Area, was crowned Ms. Black USA 2024, becoming the first Cameroonian-American and only the second woman from California to win the national title across all divisions.
Dedra’s story is one of powerful transformation, from battling an eating disorder to becoming a published author, global journalist, and cultural ambassador. Her platform, Feeding Hope, is a collaboration with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and centers on body neutrality, healing, and recovery. She is also the author of Beauty in Body Diversity, a powerful call to reimagine the way we define beauty and self-worth.
Fluent in five languages, including Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew, and two Cameroonian dialects, Dedra previously broke barriers as the first African American reporter at TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System). Now, as Miss Black USA, she is using her voice and platform to promote tourism, education, and cross-cultural connection on a global scale.
A newlywed, educator, and part-time musical theater actress, Dedra will star in Berkeley Playhouse’s upcoming production of The Prom. When she’s not teaching or performing, she brings joy to young audiences as a birthday party princess, performing as Ariel, President Barbie, and Princess Tiana.
“Dedra represents a new era of global beauty and purpose-driven pageantry,” said Karen Arrington, CEO & Founder of Miss Black USA. “She is a living example of resilience, representation, and what it means to reign with purpose.”
As she begins her reign, Dedra plans to continue her advocacy work, promote Ghanaian and African tourism through international travel, and elevate conversations around body image, mental health, and representation—at home and abroad.
For media interviews, speaking engagements, or brand collaborations with Miss Black USA, please contact:
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About Miss Black USA
The Ms. Black USA Division exists to celebrate the modern matriarchs of our culture—women whose lives, leadership, and lived experience set the standard. This is a platform for those who have mastered the art of becoming, navigating boardrooms, motherhood, business, and advocacy with intention and impact.
These are not rising stars—they are already blazing. This division honors women in their prime: powerful, purposeful, and positioned to shift conversations around beauty, brilliance, and legacy.
As a division of Miss Black USA, the nation’s most established and influential pageant for Black women, founded in 1987, this platform elevates not just a titleholder, but a torchbearer.