Filipina beauty queen Maureen Montagne won first runner-up over the weekend at America’s Miss World 2017 beauty pageant held in Orlando, Florida.

This is the second time for the Filipina to represent her home state of Arizona nationally. She was first crowned Miss Arizona USA in 2015 and landed in the top 15 finalists for the Miss USA crown.

She recently did a commercial ad on TV for Massage Envy, a print ad for Talking Stick Resort, and has graced magazine covers.

“After Miss Arizona, I focused on school. Now that I finished with a degree from Arizona State University, I’ve been focusing on modeling. And I’m looking into getting a job in marketing,” she said.

Every time Montagne competes, she always highlights her Filipino roots. Her advocacy benefits some Fil-Am children in the valley.

Montagne immerses herself as well with the Abaka Foundation, which promotes Filipino culture, language, and arts. In return, she learns to speak a few Tagalog words and becomes an inspiration for young kids.

“Personally, I wasn’t able to engage with my culture until college, until I found a Filipino club at Arizona State University. Having these venues for the kids to learn is amazing,” she said.

Montagne said that this will be her last time to compete in a beauty pageant and will hereon pursue a career in modeling and marketing while continuing her advocacies to help the Fil-Am community.

Meanwhile, Miss World 2017 Miss Clarissa Bowers from Florida will compete at the Miss World competition in China this September.

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