Sophia Julieta Dominguez-Heithoff (born March 13, 2000) is a Mexican-American model and beauty queen who was crowned

Miss Teen USA 2017 Miss Teen USA 2017 was the 35th Miss Teen USA pageant held at the Phoenix Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona on July 29, 2017. Karlie Hay of Texas crowned her successor, Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff of Missouri at the end of the event. The pagea ...

. She is the second entrant from Missouri to win the title after Marissa Whitley won Miss Teen USA 2001.

Life and career

Early life and education

Dominguez-Heithoff was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

to a military family, with her mother serving in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. On her maternal side she is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent, while on her paternal side she is

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

. She graduated from

Park Hill South High School Park Hill South High School is the second established high school in the Park Hill School District, located on the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri in Riverside, Missouri, United States. In addition to Riverside, the school's attendance bou ...

a year early in 2017, and attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, where she studied political science and international studies and was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

(ΦΒΚ) honor society. She is now a law student at the

University of Southern California Gould School of Law The University of Southern California Gould School of Law located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 18 ...

. She is a member of

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867, as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret c ...

(ΠΒΦ) sorority. Dominguez-Heithoff has created Community and Scholars Cooperatively, an organization dedicated to inspiring teenagers to take part in community service projects. Dominguez-Heithoff has lobbied with members of the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

and

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

to pass a law to assist adults with developmental disabilities in the state of Missouri.

Pageantry

Dominguez-Heithoff was crowned Miss Missouri Teen USA 2017 on September 25, 2016, along with Miss Missouri USA 2017 Bayleigh Dayton. She later competed at

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

on July 29, 2017. Dominguez-Heithoff went on to win the competition, beating out first runner-up Vanessa Matheson of Oregon. She is the third Hispanic person to win the title of Miss Teen USA after Charlotte Lopez in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, and

Hilary Cruz Hilary Carol Cruz (born December 4, 1988) is an American former actress, model and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 2007. Biography Cruz is a former actress and model. She is also involved in producing television shows. Miss Colorado Teen USA ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominguez-Heithoff, Sophia 2000 births Activists from Missouri American beauty pageant winners American people of German descent American people of Mexican descent American disability rights activists Female models from Missouri Hispanic and Latino American female models Living people Miss Teen USA winners People from Kansas City, Missouri University of Kansas alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni 21st-century American women