TAMPA, Fla. — For nearly 10 years now, officials say the Miss Latina Tampa nonprofit organization has had a mission to support Hispanic women in the community.

What You Need To Know

  • Miss Latina Tampa was established 10 years ago

  • Organizers say it was done to help connect Hispanic families together

  • Daniela Sanchez was a contestant in the pageant last year and won her age group as Miss

  • Officials say this year's competition has the largest group of participants in the organization's history

President of the organization, Rosario Torres, says with more families migrating to Florida, they want to continue helping girls adjust and blossom into leaders. “It’s no regular pageant like many pageants in this country or in other countries, Miss Latina Tampa is a personal program for personal development for Latin American girls because most of these girls are born in this country.”

Daniela Sanchez, who won her age group in 2022, says stepping into any competition requires confidence.

She says the Miss Latina Tampa competition has helped her with that.

“I felt comfortable because I felt that I didn’t need to live up to a standard to look a certain way," she said.

Daniela has been competing in beauty pageants since she was 8, and says it’s helped her gain confidence in herself and connect with girls of similar backgrounds.

“Here in Tampa, we have a lot of people which come from countries a short time ago, and we get to inspire little girls who have only been a year or two in this country, that they could also go and compete in things like this," she said.

Daniela says it’s not just a competition though — Miss Latina Tampa is an organization that’s helped her achieve her dream of going to college.

“I was able to come here and get accepted to the University of Tampa with a full scholarship,” she said.

The program is based on three fundamental principles: positive self-image, internal beauty and personal abilities.

Participants compete in four categories: misses, teens, preteens and ambassadors.

“It didn’t feel like of we were competing, it felt like we were all just hanging out and learning new talents and abilities,” Daniela  said.

She says her most treasured moments are those she spent in the community, where she helped to create a project known as Hope, to help women understand the signs of domestic violence.

“We let all these women know and it was all thanks to Miss Latina and their connections and it really makes an impact in the community,” Daniela  said.

As Daniela prepares for this year's pageant, she said she cherishes how much Miss Latina Tampa has changed her life. She says it has confirmed her desire to make a symbol, with her crown a symbol of how much good she wants to continue to do.