Asya Danielle Branch is a beauty queen and a prison reform advocate who works with a prison ministry program called Day1. A talented vocalist, she started singing in church performances when she was a little girl.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Branch has four older siblings and two younger sisters. Before becoming a beauty queen, she was a nanny for a special needs child.

In 2016, Branch graduated from Booneville High School in Booneville, Mississippi, USA as a scholar and honor graduate on the Hall of Fame and National Honor Society. From 2016 to 2020, she studied integrated marketing communication at The University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Branch is 5’5″ tall and she is the 69th Miss USA. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 2003, she and her family relocated from Michigan to Booneville, Mississippi.
2. When she joined her first beauty pageant in 2005, her father tried to talk her out of it.
3. In 2010, her father was incarcerated. In the same year, she forgot the lyrics of her song during a recital. She did not sing again until 2012.
4. When she competed at Miss Mississippi 2016, she was unplaced but she won the lifestyle and fitness preliminary awards.
5. She is Miss All-American City 2017 and Miss Mississippi 2017 fourth runner-up.
6. On June 23, 2018, she represented Tupelo at Miss Mississippi 2018 at the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She is the first black woman to win the title. On October 2, 2018, she sang the national anthem at a Make America Great Again rally in Southaven, Mississippi.
7. On December 23, 2018, she represented Mississippi at Miss America 2019 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. She was unplaced but she was second runner-up in the Quality of Life awards of the competition. In the talent portion, she sang “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha.”
8. On October 26, 2019, she represented Northeast Mississippi at Miss Mississippi USA 2020 at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel Tunica in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi and won the title.
9. On November 9, 2020, she represented Mississippi at Miss USA 2020 and competed against 50 other candidates at the Exhibition Center and the Soundstage in Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She became the competition’s first winner from Mississippi. On November 10, 2020, she was interviewed by Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst on “Extra”.
10. On May 16, 2021, she represented the U.S. at Miss Universe 2020 and competed against 73 other candidates at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA. She finished in the Top 21.
11. On November 29, 2021, she crowned her successor Miss USA 2021 Elle Smith at the Paradise Cove Theater of the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
12. On October 3, 2022, she attended the coronation of Miss USA 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, USA.
13. She was 24 years old when she served as a judge at Miss Kentucky USA 2023 and Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2023 on February 25, 2023 at The Center for Rural Development, Somerset, Pulaski County in Kentucky, USA.