A Brownsville native has become the first U.S. resident to win the international Miss Earth pageant.
Lindsey Coffey said she has had a connection and love for nature at a young age growing up in Brownsville.
While attending Washington & Jefferson college, Coffey took up modeling part time and then became a full-time model during the day and a full-time student at night, graduating with a political science degree.
As a full-time professional model for the past decade, Coffey said she’s had the privilege of being able to visit different parts of the world and fell in love with the planet’s beauty.
Coffey said the worlds of modeling and pageantry rarely overlap, but she took an interest in both and found the right agency. She competed for the title of Miss Pennsylvania USA 2020 and was the second runner-up.
However, that exposure caused her to receive many messages on social media about the idea of her competing in the Miss Earth pageant. Coffey said she’d never heard of the pageant, but it struck a chord with her.
“Miss Earth stood for a cause I’ve been passionate about since a young age,” Coffey said. “I looked into it and thought this is what I should have done in the first place. It just made sense.”
The Miss Earth Pageant was launched in 2001. Its contestants actively promote and get involved in the preservation of the environment and the protection of the Earth as well as showcasing and promoting various tourist destinations the world over.
“Their mission has always been the same with climate change and other actions,” Coffey said. “I resonated with that.”
Coffey started as a contestant for the preliminary Miss Atlantic Ocean USA and after winning that title, she went on to represent the region and was then crowned Miss Earth USA 2020, advancing to represent the United States in the international pageant.
Coffey said she didn’t expect to win – at 28, she was in the last year for age eligibility, and no U.S. resident had won before and she had limited pageant experience.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the competition was virtual as Coffey said they had to film the portions of the pageant early on and then take part in multiple interviews.
“This was the only international pageant that did not stop for COVID,” Coffey said.
Coffey said each contestant had a cause, and hers was the water crisis and how it’s an issue that holds the most immediate risk to humanity and stability of the planet.
“I came up with a statement of being more than your country,” Coffey said, adding that people need to start viewing themselves as citizens of the world. “One country alone cannot do it.”
Out of the about 80 contestants worldwide, Coffey found herself in the top eight. She was convinced she’d answered poorly during a question segment and her run for the crown was done.
However, when the host asked her if she liked surprises, she said yes, and he revealed that she was going to be the new Miss Earth 2020. Coffey said she didn’t believe him, thinking the host was pre-recording contestants’ reactions with the winner yet to be revealed.
“It’s very funny how it happened,” Coffey said. “I asked him, ‘Are we kidding?’ and when he said no, I pretended like I won again.”
Coffey again asked the host if they were just filming the reaction footage.
The host said the news was absolutely real as it could get.
“You see the moment on my face when it changes,” she said. “It was crazy how it all went down. The host had to tell me twice.”
From that point, she had to wait a few days until the video aired on Saturday to let others know of her achievement.
“I can’t comprehend that it happened,” Coffey said, adding that she truly feels that the stars aligned and it was meant to be, especially with the odds that she faced going into the competition.
Miss Earth will serve as the ambassador to environmental protection campaigns worldwide, and while Coffey hadn’t yet sat down with the organization’s team about her exact duties, she said she will use the opportunity to spread word of her chosen cause.
“It’s not just being a truth seeker, but being a truth teller,” she said.
From there, the sky’s the limit.
While she still sees herself working in the fashion industry, she would also like to do a docu-series about what different countries do to harm the environment as well as promoting the hidden beauties those countries have and illustrate whatever sustainable alternatives may be available.
Coffey said she would like to go back to school and earn her law degree to eventually practice some kind of environmental law or represent a renewable energy company.
“I just want to be the advocate I grew up thinking I could be,” she said.
A video of the entire pageant can be viewed by visiting the Miss Earth Pageant site at
http://www.missearth.tv.