María de Guadalupe "Lupita" Jones Garay (, ; born 6 September 1967) is a Mexican television producer, model, actress, and beauty queen who was crowned

Miss Universe 1991 Miss Universe 1991, the 40th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 17, 1991 at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Lupita Jones of Mexico crowned by Mona Grudt of Norway. Seventy-t ...

. She was the first Mexican contestant to win the crown. Since 1994, Jones has been the national director of the Mexican division of the

Mexicana Universal Mexicana Universal is a national beauty pageant in Mexico held annually since 2018, replacing the former pageant, Nuestra Belleza México, held since 1994. Currently, the pageant is responsible for selecting the country’s delegates to Miss U ...

franchise. To date, she has produced two

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

titleholders,

Ximena Navarrete Jimena "Ximena" Navarrete Rosete (born February 22, 1988) is a Mexican actress, TV host, model and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 2010. She was previously named as Nuestra Belleza México 2009. She is the second Miss Universe from Mexico. ...

(2010) and

Andrea Meza Alma Andrea Meza Carmona (born 13 August 1994) is a Mexican model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2020. Since winning the title, she became the third Mexican woman to be crowned Miss Universe. Meza holds the record ...

(2020). Jones was a candidate for the

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

in the

2021 Mexican gubernatorial elections Local elections are scheduled to be held in Mexico on June 6, 2021. Local elections will be held for thirty state congresses, 1,900 town halls (''ayuntamientos'' or municipalities), Mexico City borough mayors, municipal boards and municipal pre ...

Education

Lupita Jones got her business administration degree before becoming Miss Universe and also did postgraduate studies in industrial administration at the

Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS) is a private Institution of Higher Education founded in 1961, located in the state of Baja California. CETYS is a three-campus university system in Engineering, Business and the Social Sciences. ...

at her native city of

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

Pageantry

Señorita Mexico

In September 1990, Jones won the title of

Señorita México Señorita México was the name of a national beauty pageant in Mexico, celebrated since 1952. After 2005, the pageant changed its name to "Miss Mexico". From 1952 to 1994, was the official pageant responsible for sending the country's representa ...

representing the state of Baja California.

Miss Universe

On 17 May 1991, Jones competed against 72 contestants for the title of

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

representing Mexico. She advanced to the semifinals of the event as

first place ''First Place'' is an album by the J. J. Johnson Quartet which was released on the Columbia label.1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, she started the company Promocertamen in 1994 with

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

to produce

Nuestra Belleza México Mexicana Universal is a national beauty pageant in Mexico held annually since 2018, replacing the former pageant, Nuestra Belleza México, held since 1994. Currently, the pageant is responsible for selecting the country’s delegates to Miss U ...

, the Mexico's official pageant responsible to choose Mexico's delegates for

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...

and

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

. This new pageant was created when Señorita México was moved to another TV network,

TV Azteca TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as some local operators. It owns two national ...

. In 1997, she attempted to launch the first male-only beauty contest, ''

El Modelo México Mr World Mexico refers to the pageant title given to the Mexican men chosen to represent Mexico at the international male beauty pageant Mister World. The nation has taken part in every edition of Mister World ever since its establishment in 1996, ...

'', but the show got little attention from the public. In 2001, for the ''Nuestra Belleza México'' show, Lupita Jones launched the ''report her'' campaign which invited the public to report beautiful women in their state. Critics attacked the campaign on discrimination charges. She produced a winner at one of the 3 most well-known beauty pageants in the planet since 1960:

Priscila Perales Priscila Perales (born Silvia Priscila Perales Elizondo; February 24, 1983 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) is a Mexican actress, spokesperson, beauty queen, author and former model. She was crowned Nuestra Belleza México 2005 (Miss Mexico). ...

Miss International 2007 Miss International 2007, the 47th Miss International pageant, was held on October 15, 2007 at The Prince Park Tower in Tokyo, Japan. 61 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Miss International 2006, Daniela Di Giacomo ...

and another one in 2009 with

Anagabriela Espinoza Anagabriela Espinoza Marroquín (born April 18, 1988) is a Mexican model and beauty queen who won Miss International 2009 on November 28, 2009, in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. At the age of nineteen, Anagabriela Espinoza competed against thirty-th ...

Miss International 2009 Miss International 2009, the 49th Miss International pageant, was held on November 28, 2009, at the Sichuan International Tennis Center in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The pageant was originally scheduled to be held on November 7, 2009, at The Ven ...

. In 2010, a Mexican woman was crowned as

Miss Universe 2010 Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...

. Accordingly, Jones promised she would vacate the direction of ''Nuestra Belleza México'' once a new Mexican Miss Universe would be entitled, but did not follow through after Navarrete won the title. From 2008 to 2014, Lupita Jones and longtime pageant director-rival

Osmel Sousa Osmel Ricardo Souza Mancilla (born 26 September 1946) is a Cuban-Venezuelan beauty pageant entrepreneur, and the former president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. Prominently known for his excellence in both pageantry and advertising, Sousa ...

were brought together to judge Nuestra Belleza Latina, a beauty pageant-related reality television series created by the US Hispanic network

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

, which searches for young women of Latin American descent across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2015, in response to negative comments on Mexicans by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, part-owner of the Miss Universe organization, as head of Nuestra Belleza México, Jones endorsed withdrawal of the 2015 contestant from Mexico and urged a boycott of products associated with the 2015 pageant.

Humanitarian causes

In 1999, Lupita Jones decided that the contest would support an important program for ill-treated girls in the country through the Integral Family Development project. In 2000, Jones accepted an appointment as

UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador __NOTOC__ UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNFPA goodwill a ...

and Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson for Mexico.

Filmography

;Telenovelas

Books

* * * *

References

External links

*
Miss Universe Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lupita 21st-century Mexican actresses Actresses from Baja California Living people 1967 births Mexican beauty pageant winners Mexican female models Mexican people of English descent Mexican telenovela actresses 21st-century Mexican businesswomen 21st-century Mexican businesspeople Miss Universe 1991 contestants Miss Universe winners Models from Baja California People from Mexicali Beauty queen-politicians 20th-century Mexican businesswomen 20th-century Mexican businesspeople