A little over a year after accepting the position of director of the franchise of Miss Universe Puerto Rico (MUPR), Yizette Cifredo exclaims with absolute conviction that she feels proud, happy and satisfied to assume the reins “of a gigantic project, which has great weight and great importance for the country.”
Her statement may have a different perception for those who dismiss beauty pageants as frivolous and irrelevant. Since she took on the challenge in April 2022, the social communicator is aware of it, but she has never been concerned since representing Puerto Rico is an unquestionable role.
“It is very interesting because it is a project that perhaps many people may have different perceptions of, but at the end of the day what is important is representation, the way in which Puerto Rico is known worldwide is important and after all the reflections and evaluations that everyone can do, I think we can all agree on that. Of course, it has been a lesson from day one and we continue to learn on this platform, which is gigantic,” said the presenter of Newscenter at Dawn of Wapa Television.
For her, being part of the training, of the development of women, of being able to structure the local platform that extends to the international one has been phenomenal, since Cifredo has found how to align and implement all the values that have formed him as a human being with the of the girls. She explained that it is a reciprocal relationship where the entire MUPR work team gives and receives for the benefit of the candidates and then the queen.
The first queen of Cifredo, the current Miss Universe Puerto Rico, Ashley Ann Honey, made a brilliant and excellent participation in the Miss Universe 2022 beauty pageant, held in New Orleans. The Puerto Rican queen entered the group of five finalists of the international contest in a filter that went from 16 semifinalists to the “Top 5”.
The motivator recognized that her “baby”, as she calls Ashley, has important and great merits, but the sum of everything she achieved is due to teamwork, of which Cifredo feels extremely proud and it is not because she is a “compulsive optimist,” but because “every person who worked with Ashley is part of that recognition.” Cifredo admits that her evaluation letter as director of the MUPR was going to be Ashley, who will deliver the crown on August 24 at the Santurce Fine Arts Center.
“I knew that regardless of the level of work we did, at the end of the day, the evaluation was going to be her (Ashley). She did a formidable job in the middle of a contest that was extremely challenging due to the classification cut and all the changes that occurred. She was extraordinary in representing her as a national ambassador,” she stated.
This year 33 delegates compete in the local pageant in which for the first time there are married women, mothers and transgender, according to the changes imposed by the international organization of Miss Universe before the arrival of the owner of the organization, Anne Jakrajutatip.
The MUPR director sees the changes in the Miss Universe organization as a response to today’s society.
“The changes in the organization of Miss Universe, a response to a social change is true to the extent that we have been advancing and waking up and women are demanding an equitable and just space in society,” she reiterated.
The philosophy for the Puerto Rican girls who aspire to represent Puerto Rico remains the same, which is to understand that they are ambassadors of a country within a universal platform in which “they should take advantage to make themselves known and develop all the tools they have.” ”.
“What we are looking for this year is this girl who is ready to get on that platform and who continues to contribute to it, while the platform gives her the power to be heard, to feel. So this has to start from honesty. Now that we come from a pandemic, it is important to have contact with the people again, that the queen be a queen of the people. For me it is vital to help the girl to know herself so that the people know her”, pointed out the motivator.
In the midst of her work as director of MUPR, Cifredo develops her personal projects on digital platforms such as the series “MUJER-es” and the podcast “Sin hurisa”. Both projects converge in the digital world, the first to give a space to women “who defend her position from her corner” and the other is a conversation on relevant issues and “give visibility with whom we talk.”
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