Karenza De Leon has recently been crowned Miss Philippines Australia 2024. At the Grand Philippine Fiesta Kultura, on October 6th, Karenza took home more than just the title with her also achieving Charity Princess Australia, Best in Filipiniana, Best in Swimsuit and Best in Evening Wear.
“I wanted to utilise this pageant as an opportunity to engage more with my Filipino- Australian community and its people, and to also learn more about the Filipino language, food and culture,” Karenza says.
Through this pageant Karenza has had the opportunity to continue her passion of helping people through charity work. Karenza is a local from Quakers Hill who works and volunteers with many organisations throughout the Hills, Blacktown and Greater Western Sydney areas.
“The pageant experience has been so amazing in a way where I have been able to really connect with so many different local businesses, communities and Filipino Associations.” Karenza says she was sponsored throughout the pageant by the Ilocano Association of Australia Inc., and supported by the Bicol Community Leagues Inc.
In the course of the pageant Karenza was able to raise more than $13,000 through her fundraising, which will be contributed towards the non- for- profit organisation, ’A Home for the Angels’ in the Philippines. This organisation provides childcare and shelter for children aged 0-6 who have been displaced or neglected in the streets of the Philippines. Karenza is very passionate about the cause and was able to recently fly out to Metro Manila to connect with the volunteer staff to discuss ways to work collaboratively with them on providing much needed support.
Additionally, the Learning Glow Project is an initiative founded by Karenza herself, which aims to help improve the teaching resources and quality of education within schools of rural South East Asian countries. Through this project, Karenza has been able to continuously ship Balikbayan boxes full of stationery items, sporting equipment and reading books to primary schools in the Cagayan Valley, Philippines and provide teaching resources to schools in Cambodia. Through the help of the Miss Philippines Australia Pageant Karenza was also able to help send ‘A Home for the Angels’ 25 toiletry bags, learning and sensory resources, and toddler aged reading books.
Karenza has also won the title of Miss Charity Australia 2023, which was her first ever pageant. “The Miss Charity Australia pageant was not something that I thought I would ever do, but I felt like it was a good fit for me because I constantly do charity work in my community. After winning the title, I just felt the experience gave me a lot more confidence to do more, and that’s why I decided to go for Miss Philippines Australia 2024”, Karenza says.
When Karenza is not being a pageant winner, she is a flight attendant, model and radio host. Karenza has a background in Early Childhood Education and Primary teaching, which has fuelled her drive to support rural schools in South East Asia and has contributed to her advocacy for the Miss Philippines Australia Pageant. Karenza is also part of Alive 90.5 FM and is a presenter on ‘The Positive Energy Show’.
Through this she has had the opportunity to interview talents and artists within the local community. Karenza has done a lot of volunteer work with Alive 90.5 FM, who are based in Baulkham Hills. She recently attended the Hills Community Aid’s Spring Family Fun Day with Alive 90.5 FM where she dressed up as Wonder Woman to bring smiles and joy to the local community.
After winning the Miss Philippines Australia title, Karenza now hopes to spend the next year learning more Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines, and visiting the local communities across the Philippines, to build stronger connections. She also wants to improve her pageant training in the hopes to compete for a higher pageant title in the years to come.
