Moroccan-American Marwa Lahlou recently won the Miss Arab USA crown in Arizona, taking home a $10,000 prize.

Morocco’s Marwa Lahlou Crowned Miss Arab USA

Rabat – Moroccan-American Marwa Lahlou recently won the Miss Arab USA crown in Arizona, taking home a $10,000 prize.

“I am out of words, thank you,” the Moroccan beauty queen said at the crowning ceremony after receiving the crown from 2019 Miss Arab USA Iya Agha.

Lahlou holds an MBA in International Business Management and Marketing with high honors from the University of New Haven. She is also fluent in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.

Her family moved to Alexandria, Virginia, when she was in high school after she was bullied, the Arab American Organization said on its website.

In Alexandria, she discovered “the sense of group solidarity and hospitality inherent to the Arab culture … since then, she set herself as an ambassador for her heritage and worked hard throughout her life to represent the beauty and generosity of her Arab roots.”

Lahlou’s decision to participate in the Miss Arab Pageant was in great part driven by the ambition to represent Arab heritage and raise awareness about bullying, added the Arab American Organization.

The annual pageant event returned this July after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

American-Palestinian Joanna Rashid was selected as the first runner-up in 2022, with American-Lebanese Maria Bassil second runner-up and Jennifer Kassir third.

According to the organizers, the fundraising event seeks to celebrate the “Arab cultural heritage [and] redefine the image of the Arab woman as a leader and a vital partner in the development of the world.”

They added that Acco the event provides a platform for young Arab women to “take pride in their heritage, discover their inner beauty in achieving their humanitarian goals in life, and lay a strong foundation as leaders of the future.”