Evelyn Abena Akuaba Appiah, 27, is the reigning Miss Grand International 2020. Her journey to an international beauty pageant crown was not a short one.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Appiah was one of the eight Miss Ghana 2012 finalists. She did not win the title but she won the Miss Talent award with her singing performance.

From 2013 to 2016, Appiah studied fashion at Radford University College in Accra. She won Top Model Ghana in 2013.

Representing Ghana, Appiah competed in the 20th edition of Top Model of the World in El Gouna, Red Sea, Egypt on March 29, 2013. She competed against 47 other candidates and finished in the Top 15.

On August 29, 2014, Appiah was crowned Miss Universe Ghana 2014 at La Palm Hotel in Accra, besting nine other candidates. She was unplaced when she represented Ghana in Miss Universe 2014 in Miami, Florida, United States on January 25, 2015.

On September 30, 2016, Appiah became the first Ghanaian woman to win an international beauty pageant by defeating 19 other candidates in Queen Beauty Universe 2016 at Holiday Polynesia Hotel in Malaga, Spain. She was a mass communication student at The State University of New York in Albany, New York, USA at that time.

Representing New York, Appiah competed against 27 other Miss World America 2017 candidates at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on August 13, 2017. She finished in the Top 16.

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In August 2019, Appiah was appointed as Miss Earth Ghana 2019. Competing against 84 other Miss Earth 2019 candidates, she finished in the Top 20 at Okada Manila in Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 26, 2019.

While living in New York, Appiah was appointed as Miss Grand United States 2020 in July 2020. Representing the U.S., she was won the eighth edition of Miss Grand International at the SHOW DC in Bangkok, Thailand on March 27, 2021 besting 62 other candidates.

Appiah is the first African-American woman to win Miss Grand International. Before her coronation, she released a song titled “No More Hate.”

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On November 29, 2020, Roxanne Allison Baeyens, 23, of Baguio City, Philippines competed against 83 other candidates at Miss Earth 2020 and ranked third, winning the Miss Earth-Water 2020 title. She lost to Miss Earth 2020 Lindsey Coffey, 29, of the United States and the runner-up Miss Earth-Air 2020 Stephany Zreik, 25, of Venezuela.

Representing Baguio City, Baeyens was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2020 on July 26, 2020. She was born in Baguio City to her Belgian father Walter Baeyens and her Filipino mother Julia Agnaonao-Baeyens, who is from Catengan, Besao, Mountain Province, Philippines.