Hermona Girmay in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health at the University of Washington (Photo by Elizar Mercado)
At a young age, Hermona Girmay had a passion for public health, even before fully understanding how her path would unfold. During her time at the University of Washington School of Public Health (UW SPH), she engaged in meaningful work, from participating in capstone projects to contributing to important health policy. In July 2024, Girmay was crowned Miss Washington, and she is leveraging her platform to champion health equity and raise awareness on important public health issues like Type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular health and education. Girmay will go on to compete in the Miss America national pageant in 2025, bringing greater awareness to her public health work. In this Q&A, Girmay shares her public health journey, her advocacy work and the impact she hopes to make, and how she’s using her platform to make a difference.
Tell us the story of how you became interested in public health.
My interest started at a young age. Career wise, I wanted to do something globally focused, but I didn't know exactly what. I vividly remember in 5th grade we had a field trip to the Gates Foundation Discovery Center, and that was the first time I was introduced to public health without really knowing it. I remember being so inspired by learning about what the organization had done.
Years later, I was part of the UW Foster School of Business's Young Executives of Color program in high school, where I was paired up with a mentor who was attending school at the UW. My mentor was Bryan Lopez-Vargas, and he helped me navigate my journey as a first-generation college student. He brought up the field of public health as a possible option for me because he knew this was something I could be interested in and that's when I started looking into it a lot more. Since then, I've been grateful for this pathway because there's so much in the field of public health to be inspired by and work in.
Why did you decide to come to the UW?
I grew up in Edmonds, so I remember my family always being big UW fans even though none of us had attended the school. It was a huge deal for my family and I when I was accepted to the UW SPH. It always felt natural that the UW was the school that I would end up going to. I absolutely loved my experience as a student and all that the UW had to offer me during my time there.
What experiences at UW SPH were most influential to you?
There are so many experiences that I could just go on and on! The classes, professors, the network gained, the students and my peers that I learned with, the opportunities for experiential learning both in and outside of the classroom were all very influential to me. I loved the capstone projects that I was able to be part of too. Through these projects, I worked with the Washington West African Center's after school programs for West African youth in Snohomish and King County, and the Neighborhood House's Most Steer Clear campaign to keep young adults in Washington safe from driving under the influence of marijuana.
I also loved presenting at the undergraduate symposium on my work with Pro Choice Washington. I accepted the position with Pro Choice Washington the very same day that Roe v. Wade was overturned and was able to be a part of creating House Bill 1469, which was passed and signed into law. The shield law prevents the criminalization, policing and surveillance of abortion by: protecting individuals traveling to Washington to seek reproductive health care, and protecting medical providers by eliminating concerns about prosecution from other states' judicial systems. I felt very fortunate to be a part of an important piece of health policy since this is an area I'm interested in pursuing long term.
In July 2024, you were crowned Miss Washington. How do you want to use your platform to make a difference in public health?
There's many opportunities to make a difference which I'm grateful for not only because of my background in public health, but also because of the opportunities the title presents. Some people might not realize that pageantry isn’t just about the glitz and glam; there is so much philanthropy, service and advocacy that’s involved too.
This year I will be advocating for Type 1 diabetes. Living with the illness myself after having been diagnosed in December 2020 was a big life adjustment. The diagnosis also happened while I was applying to the public health major, so it solidified that this was the degree I wanted to pursue. I have been fortunate to use my platform to improve medical device wearing representation. It's amazing to see how many other Type 1 diabetics are no longer ashamed of wearing their continuous glucose monitors or insulin pumps because they've seen me wearing mine on stage when I compete. Being able to shift what people think is beautiful and highlight it in a way that's empowering for others has been special.
I'm also passionate about the work we get to do through the Miss America Opportunity’s partnership with the American Heart Association. It's been a great experience to partner with their advocacy chapter here in Washington state to bring more attention and awareness to cardiovascular disease. I didn't realize until my involvement in the American Heart Association that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. The health and fitness portion of the competition was recently introduced as an area that empowers contestants to advocate for overall health and wellness, rather than judging contestants on their outward physical appearance. It’s been an honor to bring awareness to this cause as a Miss America state title holder.
Something specific to Miss Washington rather than Miss America is the opportunity to partner with Educational Service District 113. After I come back from the Miss America pageant, I will be touring Washington state and speaking to students, mostly middle school and high school students in rural settings. Topics that have been discussed in the past by some of our former Miss Washington's have been vaping prevention, stress and anxiety, and how to cope with all of that in a healthy way.
What do you wish the general public knew about Type 1 diabetes that might be misunderstood or not talked about enough?
There is some stigma with Type 1 diabetes in that people often assume that it happens when you don't take care of yourself. However, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, so it's something that can impact anyone. Living with Type 1 diabetes and meeting other people who live with it as well, I have seen how many of these people take good care of themselves and are on top of their health.
In terms of something that’s not talked about enough, I wish people were more aware of the mental burden that comes with living with a chronic illness. When I was first diagnosed, I felt so much shame until I realized this illness was out of my control. It took me a long time to shift my mindset into realizing I could be empowered by my illness.
It's important to find community because it can be a real struggle if you're dealing with it on your own. I'm very grateful to have the platform of Miss Washington to highlight Type 1 diabetes in a way that empowers others to find the good in something that was initially so isolating for me. I was able to make this shift by connecting with community, and furthering my impact through advocacy.
Tell us about your work through the Miss America Community Service Initiative, SHE-CAN: Support Her Education, Change a Nation. What impact do you hope you will have and why is it important to you?
I have always been inspired by my family's journey to the United States as refugees, and I think about what could have been my reality had they not made the sacrifice to come here and allow me to pursue an education. I could have been a child bride, and I reflect a lot about this as it's still a very real issue for a lot of women. I want to do my part in whatever way I can to allow more educational opportunities for young women.
My Community Service Initiative is called, "SHECAN: Support Her Education, Change A Nation,” which encompasses the work I do to advocate for educational equality with various organizations. At a young age, I started off by collecting books and school supplies and sending them back home to my family's village in Mendefera, Eritrea through my nonprofit called 2Hands1Heart1World. In high school I connected with She's the First and began advocating for scholarship opportunities for young women around the world.
Many people are not aware of how the Miss America Opportunity is the leading scholarship provider for women in the United States, or that there are opportunities to earn scholarships at the local level of competition. I've been awarded nearly $20,000 from my involvement with the Miss America Opportunity, which I will apply to my future graduate school program. As the first in my family to have attended college, the financial freedom that the Miss America Scholarship Organization allows has made an incredible difference in being able to chase my educational goals to their fullest extent.
What interests do you have outside of (or related to) public health? Any extracurricular activities?
I've always loved the performing arts, particularly music and singing. Singing is what I do for the talent portion of the competition when I compete, and it's such a beautiful form of self-expression to me. I love spending time with my family, and I'm the oldest of nearly 30 cousins on my dad's side. We all live in close proximity to each other, and we are the best of friends. I like spending time with my friends too, and we’ve recently gotten into playing board games. Our favorite right now is called Settlers of Catan.