Illinois won Miss International

Deepa Dhillon was crowned Miss International 2021 at the end of the pageant, held on July 31 at the MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center, Kingsport, TN, USA.

The representative of Illinois is currently an undergraduate pre-med student at the University of Illinois (UIC) at Chicago and plans to specialize as an orthopedic surgeon.  She is the recipient of numerous academic awards, and enjoys baking (especially banana bread)  and reading historical fiction and books on modern day medicine.

A first generation Indian-American, the 20-year-old beauty queen has experienced first-hand the devastation that unclean water can have on society, with members of her family suffering horrific illnesses in India due to unclean drinking water.  She is now dedicated to working with Matt Damon’s Water.org as an official ambassador and her own organization, World for Water, to help bring an end to the global water crisis.

“I am so grateful to be crowned Miss International 2021, because it gives me the opportunity to expand my national and international reach by educating people on the need to bring clean water to all people in all nations,” said Dhillon.  “Through my new role, I will travel around the world to help communities in need get access to clean water and sanitation.”

The International Pageants’ system is the platform-based competition, emphasizing each contestant’s community service work, with 40 percent of the competition score based on knowledge of and work with her platform. The contestants from around the world compet in four categories, including interview, fitness-wear, fun fashion, and evening gown.