First Black Miss Israel On A Mission To Help The Youth

Model Titi Aynaw Was The First African Woman To Win Miss Israel

She broke barriers by becoming the first woman of color to win the Miss Israel beauty pageant.

And today, model Titi Aynaw has made it her duty to reach out to young people – especially black youth – and encourage them to follow their dreams like she did. Aynaw founded Titi’s Project, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children from Netanya, a rough area in Israel where she was raised. The beauty is also in the middle of a university speaking tour across the United States with the Jewish National Fund and Media Watch International, sharing her story about how she went from a deprived childhood in Ethiopia to joining Israeli leaders at the White House.

“When I met Obama, it was with the leaders of Israel, the leaders from all over the world,” Aynaw told BOSSIP. “First I was shocked, but I remembered 12 years before, I was a young girl going barefoot in Ethiopia, and I never dreamed I could do something like that. If you keep dreaming, and you keep doing, and you are brave, you can follow your dream, everything can happen.”

Aynaw said she’s also proud to have spurred change in beauty standards in Israel and wants to be a source of inspiration to young women. Once her college tour wraps, Aynaw will remain in the country to take meetings with major modeling agencies. After becoming the first black woman on a billboard in Israel, she said she hopes she can recreate that success in the states.

“I’m so happy to be a role model for young girls of my color,” Aynaw said. “I’m happy to open the fashion industry in Israel to the black beauty.”

Hit the flip for more pics of the Israeli-Ethiopian stunner: