Longest-running Asian American beauty pageant crowns Kylie Chang, Erin Kwon as winners

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The Miss Asian Global and Miss Asian America Pageant — the United States' longest-running Asian American beauty pageant — has crowned Kylie Chang and Erin Kwon as this year's winners.

Miss Asian Global: Chang, 18, was crowned the 38th Miss Asian Global at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Saturday.

“All the hard work has paid off. It was a very exciting moment for me,” Chang told KRON4.

Chang advocates and promotes the arts through dance in her community, especially with underserved youth. She currently volunteers as a dance teacher at Friends of Children with Special Needs to help children build confidence.

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Chang is also an ambassador for Catwalk for Charitable Causes, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that creates fashion events for charitable causes.

Miss Asian America: Kwon, who won this year's Miss Asian America title, is a 24-year-old medical student from Irvine, California. She advocates for better healthcare education in the Asian American elderly community. Kwon combines her love for elderly people and the medical field through hospice volunteering.

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“I didn’t even expect to place. I just wanted to have an experience where I meet other women and just do something outside of my comfort zone, but I got way more than I ever expected so I’m very, very pleased,” Kwon told KRON4.

About the pageant: The Miss Asian Global and Miss Asian America Pageant was founded in 1985 by Rose Chung at the Asian Arts Festival in Santa Clara, California.

According to its official website, the pageant is “committed to the personal and professional growth of young Asian women” and “empower[s] them to break into leadership.”