AWARD-WINNING humanitarian and entrepreneur, Olivia Wong, was crowned Miss Asian Global 2020 on August 29 at the 35th Annual Miss Asian Global and Miss Asian America pageant. Wong of Vancouver, B.C., is a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter and is determined to “build solidarity between the Asian and Black community” during her reign.
The Miss Asian Global and Miss Asian America pageant, which held its first virtual competition due to COVID-19, was live-streamed on Facebook in a 90-minute live special. Following shelter in place restrictions, the organization announced that the next physical pageant would be postponed until August 2022. The virtual competition was hosted by Kim Huynh with a celebrity lineup of judges, including Star Trek’s Cynthia Gouw, actress Fala Chen, and actor Simon Twu during the broadcast.
The final round of questioning touched on the issue of police brutality, a controversial subject in the United States as Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, was left paralyzed after being shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, days before the pageant. Police brutality has become a defining issue in America this year as protests have ensued across the country after the death of George Floyd in May 2020.
Asked what she thought were solutions to decreasing the rise of police brutality, Wong said: “I believe this starts with anti-racism education. It’s important that we all look at ourselves and really be deep and introspective about what our beliefs are.” Wong is a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter. As Miss Asian Global 2020, she will speak around the world with a focus in North America and Asia during her two years of service. She will use her international platform to advocate for the homeless population in San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada, where she resides. A graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, Olivia majored in International Relations and minored in Global Peace and Security.
Previously, she served as a humanitarian aid worker at Zaatari, a Syrian refugee camp, and in Fukushima, Japan, after the nuclear disaster. Her nonprofit work has been recognized by the Clinton Foundation, United Nations, and the US State Department. Currently, she is the co-founder and senior partner at Prototype Thinking Labs, an innovation consultancy which trains Fortune 500 companies in a revolutionary method born at Google X.
Along with the coveted title of Miss Asian Global 2020, Olivia Wong won a $3,000 scholarship from the Asian America Foundation. Through her social impact campaign, Humanizing Homelessness, she will raise awareness and funds for humane solutions to eradicate homelessness.
