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

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, 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 ...

. On June 5, 2016, she was crowned

Miss USA 2016 Miss USA 2016 was the 65th Miss USA pageant, held at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, 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 and ...

by the outgoing titleholder

Olivia Jordan Olivia Jordan Thomas (born September 28, 1988) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2015. Jordan later represented the United States at Miss Universe 2015, where she was finished as the second runner-up ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. She represented the United States at the

Miss Universe 2016 Miss Universe 2016 was the 65th Miss Universe pageant, held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 30, 2017. This was the second time that the pageant skipped a year, after Miss Universe 2014 was held i ...

pageant and finished as a Top 9 finalist.

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 (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, 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'', Revise ...

, 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 Berets of the United States Army, headgear, is a branch of the United States Army United States Army Special Operations Comm ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Barber joined the

at age 17. She attended

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black land-grant university, land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia, United States. Founded on , Vi ...

and graduated with a degree in business management. She is a member of the

Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on November 12, 1922. The organization was formed as a sorority in 1922, by seven African American women in Indianapolis, Indiana. At its i ...

sorority. Prior to becoming Miss USA, Barber was commissioned in 2011 and was assigned as a quartermaster officer. She became a

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

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 (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

. 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) is a public university in College Park, Maryland, and the largest institution in the University System of Maryland. Established in 1947 as the College of Special and Continuation Studies of the U ...

. In May 2022, she was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of Leadership from

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

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, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. 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 ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and second runner-up Emanii Davis from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. She was crowned by outgoing Miss USA,

. 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 known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to win the Miss USA title since

Crystle Stewart Crystle Stewart Sebrechts ( Stewart) (born September 20, 1981) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Stewart began her acting career in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/ TBS comedy-drama televisi ...

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, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

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

Miss USA 2017 Miss USA 2017 was the 66th edition of the Miss USA pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada, on May 14, 2017. Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia crowned her successor Kára McCullough, also of the District ...

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 is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. 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.

Personal life

In October 2020, Barber began dating Marvin Echols III. The couple became engaged in December 2022, and later married in December 2023.

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 American 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