EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Fresh off being crowned 2026 Miss Earth USA, El Paso native Gia Solei Espinoza is preparing to take the national title to the international stage while continuing advocacy work at home, including an upcoming event honoring a friend she said was killed last year.

Espinoza, who was born and raised in El Paso, said she is “extremely proud” to represent the United States — and to bring the title back to her hometown.

I’ve been competing for four years. I’ve being competing in El Paso. I’m with Bazaar Model Management. So they’ve been training me and prepping me,” Espinoza said. “So being able to bring this home to El Pasos truly an honor and to be able to not just represent the USA, but El Paso and the diversity and Mexico as well is honestly such an amazing opportunity.

Espinoza said she started competing after graduating high school, describing it as a way to push herself beyond what she called “extreme social anxiety.”

“I can never be on a stage. I could not be doing this without being so scared of being judged all the time,” she said. “Once I graduated high school, I realized I needed to start putting myself out there more because everything’s about networking and opportunity.”

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She said she entered her first pageant with limited experience and saw early success, then continued competing and building skills through training and appearances. Espinoza also said she took part in a reality show last year, “Pretty Done Earth,” with the Miss Earth USA class of 2025 top 11.

Her next major competition will take her overseas. Espinoza said she will be leaving Oct. 24, 25 to represent the USA in the Philippines for three weeks, with official competition on Nov. 14, “I believe.”

In the lead-up, she said she has been traveling and volunteering as part of her preparation, along with continued work on pageant fundamentals.

“Especially representing the USA, I’m trying to start going to different cities, learn from other people and volunteer with other people. That’s mainly what my prep has been,” Espinoza said. “So just going and volunteering, meeting new people, being able to talk about what I do. And you know also the walk prep, interview prep, just. Building my skills as a person.”

Espinoza is also promoting an upcoming Cars and Canines event tied to the first anniversary of the death of her friend Mia Molina.

“My friend Mia Molina, she was our co-founder for Cars and Canines. She was tragically taken from us on September 24th last year,” Espinoza said.

She said the group will host Cars and Canines on Sept. 26 in Molina’s honor.

Gia Solei Espinoza Miss Earth USA

“We will be hosting our Cars and Canines on September 26th in honor of her one-year passing. But to not just honor that, but honor her as a person, her kindness, her joy,” Espinoza said. “She wasn’t just a number statistic. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, an advocate. Magic Queen.”

Espinoza said her title has given her a platform to speak about Molina and to advocate on issues including domestic violence and gun violence.

“Being able to now do all this and have this title, it’s to honor her as well and to advocate for people in her circumstances as well,” she said. “So being able to talk about her, honestly, is such a, like, so grateful for that because it makes sure that people in her circumstances are not alone. It gives people a voice and a safe space to talk their stories as well.”

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