User:Mauriziok/María Daniela Velasco

María Daniela Velasco Rodríguez (born August 21, 1993) is a Venezuelan model, anthropologist and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Earth Venezuela 2021. She also represente the Capital District at the Miss Earth Venezuela 2017 where sehe ended as one of the finalist. Velasco will represent Venezuela at the Miss Earth 2021 competition.

Early life
Velasco was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She is the daughter of Major General Efraín Velasco Lugo. She obtained a degree as an anthropologist from the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. In addition to this, she has carried out training studies in ecolidership and sustainable business management at the University of Cambridge. On the other hand, Daniela has worked as a television presenter and is also the founder of the environmental NGO 'Okospiri' and is CEO of the company Ecopreneur Evolution.

María Daniela is also bilingual in both English and Spanish.

Miss Earth Venezuela 2017
Velasco began her participation in beauty pageants in 2017, as a participant in the inaugural edition of Miss Earth Venezuela in that year. María Daniela represented the Capital District in said pageant, managing to position herself as one of the seven finalists. In addition to that, she got the special band for Best Catwalk. In the end, Ninoska Vásquez from Lara state would obtain the aforementioned title.

Miss Continentes Unidos 2017
In that same year, Daniela reached her first international competition, after having replaced Oriana Gómez (candidate for Miss Miranda 2016) as the Venezuelan representative in the Miss Continentes Unidos competition. Velasco then represented Venezuela in the Miss Continentes Unidos 2017 contest, which took place on September 23, 2017 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Finally, María Daniela managed to position herself within the group of 10 semifinalists within said competition.

Miss Earth Venezuela 2021
Velasco returned to the ranks of Miss Earth Venezuela, but on that occasion as a possible nominee to represent Venezuela in Miss Earth 2021.

After a selection process of several weeks in which Instagram followers were involved. Velasco was chosen as one of the 5 finalists. Within this group were also foundː


 * Gabriela de la Cruz, Miss Supranational Venezuela 2019 and fourth finalist of Miss Supranational 2019.
 * Lisandra Chirinos, Miss Portuguesa 2020 and Top 10 of Miss Venezuela 2020.
 * Elizabeth Gasiba, Miss Capital District 2020, Top 10 of Miss Venezuela 2020 and first finalist of Miss Supranational Venezuela 2021.
 * Valentina Sánchez, Miss Nueva Esparta 2020, Top 5 of Miss Venezuela 2020 and third finalist of Miss Supranational 2021.

On October 11, 2021, this group was reduced to 3 finalistsː Lisandra Chirinos, Elizabeth Gasiba and María Daniela Velasco.

On October 15, 2021, the designation event was held, in which Gasiba and Velasco would finally be tied. In this event, a group of juries was in charge of evaluating the candidates taken into consideration for the final round. Among those who wereː


 * Edgar Rosales, Executive Vice President of Banco Plaza.
 * Dr. Thomas Seif, dentist.
 * Vanessa Torres, director of Velvet The Beauty House.
 * Teresa Pérez, business manager of Erika's Cosmetic.
 * Juan José Álvarez, director of Unilever Andina (Sedal).
 * Dias Khadijah Kinanthi, Indonesian Consul in Venezuela.
 * Jholeidys Silva, president of Velvet The Beauty House.
 * Otayma Zerpa, President of Otayma Zerpa Designs.
 * Eleazar Guzmán, physical trainer at Lido Fitness.
 * Giselle Reyes, runway teacher.
 * Johan Changó, official photographer of Miss Earth Venezuela 2021.
 * Guillermo Felizola, official photographer of Miss Earth Venezuela 2021.
 * Faddya Halabi, model and businesswoman.

In this designation ceremony, both were put to the test in a varied round of questions.

During the final round of questions and answers, Velasco was posed a series of tirades, to which she responded:


 * "What ecological project would you carry out?", Raised by Dr. Carlos Delgado, official surgeon of Miss Earth Venezuela.

"Thank you very much Dr. Carlos for this question. I would carry out not only a project for the Miss Earth Organization, but two projects that I am currently executing, a project with my NGO Okospiri called 'Ecoactivistas' that seeks to promote, develop creativity, free expression, the authenticity of our children so that from that way we can reimagine, redesign and rebuild a much more sustainable world. This project would be the first online platform that encompasses all artists who in one way or another are working and making works of art from the upcyling alternative, that is, with this project we will be mitigating plastic pollution, in addition to reimagining a better world. And as a second option, which is my 'Ecopreneur Evolution, Eco Lab' project, through this project we are going to make people see that it is possible to use business as a force to do good, that we can effectively achieve a regenerative and distributive economy that operates within planetary limitations. This project consists of an –ecolab– that will contain all the resources that our vulnerable communities and local eco-entrepreneurs need so that they can transform their ideas into completely sustainable, viable and scalable businesses."


 * "From your perspective as a woman. What do you think of the concept of Pachamama, of the concept of mother earth? How do you see planet earth from that perspective of motherhood?", Raised by journalist and politician Vladimir Villegas.

"Definitely, thank you very much for your question. But definitely, I consider that from the perspective, as a woman, of María Daniela Velasco, I would define or give the concept of Pachamama as that unbreakable force that sustains us all, that living force that is resilient. Obviously, from a position of creating a concept of motherhood, I cannot give it in detail because I have not been a mother, but I can say, making a comparison, that Pachamama, from this position, from this perspective, would be that living system that nourishes us, It nourishes us with love, nourishes us with color, nourishes us with life, which also provides us with everything we need so that we can survive, with everything that humanity as such needs within its existence. This is why it is so important to preserve it, take care of it and learn to love it above all."

"Thank you very much for your question. I believe that not only this message will be addressed to my generation, but to all present generations; This message is addressed to humanity, since each of us has a responsibility and we must take part and assume our power to be able to create a much more conscious and sustainable world, and I consider that the first action, that particularly, I María Daniela Velasco takes and that I advise others, is to question the current system, it is to question our production, consumption and waste habits, and that please are not in a linear way, but that they can promote a circular economy. It is questioning ourselves and saying 'Ok, yes I am going to buy this shirt, who made that shirt, what is the history of that shirt, what am I going to do next with that shirt, where is it going, how does it pollute our planet', this is an action that is completely base. Then there are other actions such as composting, completely eliminating the consumption of plastics, since it is polluting our oceans and terrestrial ecosystems; We can also take showers, why not? of five minutes, to minimize water consumption in this sense, be attentive to electricity, lights, turn them off when we are not using them. So, there are many measures that we as human beings can really take in our day to day to mitigate this climate, environmental and above all humanitarian crisis that we are currently experiencing."At the end of the event, the president of the Miss Earth Venezuela Organization, Prince Julio César, declared that both María Daniela Velasco and Elizabeth Gasiba would both be bearers of the title of Miss Earth Venezuela, Velasco as Miss Earth Venezuela 2021, and Gasiba as Miss Earth Venezuela 2022. Finally, her predecessor, Stephany Zreik, gave the crown to Velasco as the new Miss Earth Venezuela.
 * "What are the practical measures that you take and would you recommend to your generation to mitigate climate change that is already generating great problems on the planet, and is going to aggravate them for all those who are young today?", Raised by the presenter of the Globovisión program, Ecoprácticas, Fernando Jauregui.

Miss Earth 2021
Velasco will represent Venezuela in Miss Earth 2021, which will take place on November 21, 2021 virtually from Manila, Philippines, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.