SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento has a large Hmong community, and with a new year, comes a newly crowned Miss Hmong California. Now, this year's winner is hoping to make a positive impact in her community.
Being crowned the 2023-2024 Miss Hmong California was the moment that Maiv Lag Xyooj, or Stephanie Xiong, has worked for all year. It all happened during the Hmong New Year celebration.
"We will need to showcase what is the culture, the custom, the clothing, and this event is the biggest event for the new year," said John Thao, pageant coordinator.
The Sacramento Hmong New Year organization has hosted this pageant since 2006, at Cal Expo, to highlight the Hmong culture to the community. Contestants spend weeks competing with performances and showcasing elegance and style.
"We have a unique culture, unique clothing, that we need to showcase every year," Thao said.
Being crowned this year comes with a list of expectations and responsibilities. For Xiong, she already has ideas on how to accomplish her goals.
"My goal is to raise awareness about autism. And with that, I want to build more knowledge in the community and provide advocacy for those who aren't able to voice themselves. With my platform, I want to build the social communication skills for the youth," Xiong said. "I'm actually planning a conference for the Hmong youth and also others who also want to join."
Even though it's still early in the new year, Xiong said she's feeling confident her work will positively impact her community.
"I think that our community has grown so much, so I feel like representation is great for us," she said.
On top of being crowned this year's winner, Xiong was also awarded $10,000 by the Sacramento Hmong New Year Organization. The next pageant will take place at the end of November.
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