Deshauna Barber (born December 6, 1989) is an American beauty pageant titleholder, motivational speaker, and captain in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

. On June 5, 2016, she was crowned

Miss USA 2016 Miss USA 2016 was the 65th Miss USA pageant. It was held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 5, 2016. Terrence J and Julianne Hough all hosted for the first time, while Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. All fifty states ...

by outgoing titleholder

Olivia Jordan Olivia Jordan Thomas (born September 28, 1988) is an American actress, model, television host, and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss USA 2015. She represented the United States at Miss Universe 2015, where she placed as a second ...

of Oklahoma. She represented the United States at

Miss Universe 2016 Miss Universe 2016 was the 65th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 30, 2017. This is the second time in the history of the competition that the pageant skipped an entire year, ...

where she placed among the top nine finalists.

Early life and education

Barber was born on December 6, 1989, in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, to Darren Barber and Cordelia Barber, both military veterans. She was a

military brat A military brat ( colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Rev ...

, moving due to her father's 20-year military career in the

Green Berets The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Barber joined the

at age 17. She attended

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of hi ...

and graduated with a degree in business management. She is a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. Prior to becoming Miss USA, Barber was commissioned in 2011 and was assigned as a quartermaster officer. She became a

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

commander in the U.S. Army Reserve as a captain, and worked as an IT analyst for the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

. She earned her master's degree in management information systems and services from

University of Maryland University College The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC, formerly University of Maryland University College) is a public university in Adelphi, Maryland. It is the largest of the University System of Maryland campuses. Established in 1947, UMGC focuses on ...

. Barber is a member of the Pershing Angels.

Pageantry

Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber throws out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium

Barber was crowned Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 on December 19, 2015, by outgoing titleholder Lizzy Olsen. Prior to winning this pageant she had placed in the semi-finalists of the

Miss Virginia USA The Miss Virginia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Virginia in the Miss USA pageant. Virginia has been only moderately successful in terms of number of semi-finalists. They have had two Miss USAs. ...

2010 and Miss District of Columbia USA 2015 pageants and held the Miss Virginia International 2011 title. On June 5, 2016, Barber competed in the

pageant in

Las Vegas 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 ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. She went on to win the competition, beating out first runner-up

Chelsea Hardin Chelsea Keolani Hardin (born September 5, 1991) is an American model, public speaker, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Hawaii USA 2016. She was the first runner-up to Deshauna Barber of District of Columbia at Miss USA 2016. E ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and second runner-up Emanii Davis from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. She was crowned by outgoing Miss USA,

of Oklahoma. She was the third Miss District of Columbia USA to win the Miss USA title and the first in fourteen years and also the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to win the Miss USA title since

Crystle Stewart Crystle Danae Stewart (born September 20, 1981) is an American actress, host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 2008. Stewart later began an acting career, starring as a real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/TBS comedy-d ...

in 2008. She is the ninth African American to win the competition since its founding. Barber was additionally the first member of the military to win the Miss USA title and declared her intentions to promote veterans issues during her reign. Barber represented the US at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

where she placed in the top nine. During the national costume competition, she wore a superhero-inspired metallic silver costume complete with a helmet and an eagle-crested shield, which stood for women's empowerment. However the wings of her costume failed to open when she was onstage, leaving her sheepishly smiling and tugging on the strings for a while. After completing her reign, Barber later crowned

Kára McCullough Kára McCullough Temple (; McCullough, born September 9, 1991) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2017. As Miss USA, McCullough represented the United States at Miss Universe 2017, where she placed in the top ten. ...

, also of the District of Columbia, as her successor at the

Miss USA 2017 Miss USA 2017 was the 66th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 14, 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Terrence J and Julianne Hough served as hosts, while Ashley Graham also returned as backstage host, all for a sec ...

competition on May 14, 2017 held in Las Vegas. As of 2020, she is the CEO of Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), an advocacy NGO on women soldiers and veterans. Barber teaches at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. and is also a motivational speaker, focusing on bullying, sexual abuse, and loss, having presented at Google and the Georgetown University and University of Maryland commencement exercises.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Deshauna 1989 births Living people African-American female military personnel African-American female models American beauty pageant winners American motivational speakers Women motivational speakers Female models from Georgia (U.S. state) Miss Universe 2016 contestants Miss USA 2016 delegates Miss USA winners People from Columbus, Georgia University of Maryland Global Campus alumni Virginia State University alumni Female United States Army officers African-American beauty pageant winners 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American United States Army personnel