Miss 2024 North America Revolutionary's Message

Anna Willtrout, Miss North America Revolutionary 2024, hopes to speak across the globe about breaking the glass ceiling in the disabled community.

"Revolutionary focuses primarily on inclusion," Willtrout said, "and that's inclusion for disability, for our LGBTQ+ community, for our ethnic communities; anybody that doesn't stand at an equal height with others in our country," Willtrout explained that Revolutionary is different than the Miss America pageant, as it focuses less on physical appearance and career performance and more on leadership in disability, LGBTQ+, and ethnicity.

She hopes to spread awareness and support for disability rights, not only for people with disabilities but also largely for people who do not have disabilities. "I call it 'Breaking the Glass Ceiling.' As a person with a disability, it really bothers me that I can't get a job even though I ... speak a foreign language ... and I'm entering my master's program. ... [It] ... is because I have a service dog and the other part of that is just because I can't do everything that everyone else does.

"When compared to someone else who might have all the qualifications and be able to do things without assistance, I'm usually passed over for a job. ... So, in that, I am focusing my platform on closing that gap, providing transitional programs and buffering what we have to help bridge that gap into employment so that employers not only have the education they need in order to make appropriate accommodations but that people with disabilities know their rights as an individual in what they can have in the workplace." 

Willtrout feels that no one should feel embarrassed or ashamed for having a disability. In regard to her own, she said "I own it! I'm proud that I'm disabled because then I look back at what I have accomplished as a person, and I say 'You know, I've done that AND I have a disability. How cool is that?' I love it. I don't think of disability as a limitation. ... It's just another way to describe who you are." 

Willtrout's motto in life is "Disability rights are important. Why? Because everybody will experience disability at least once in their life." If you are interested in learning more about the pageant, visit the Miss Revolutionary webpage and consider donating to Willtrout's GoFundMe page.