UD student Jackie Means won Miss Caribbean US 2025 and was voted Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.

The STEM Queen gets a new crown

Article by Artika Casini Photos courtesy of Jackie Means March 21, 2025

UD student and founder of Girls Empowerment STEM Initiative wins Miss Caribbean US

When people ask Jackie Means why she competes in beauty pageants, the University of Delaware sophomore and six-time winner has a simple answer: “It’s a great way to be a positive role model.”

Means is a marketing and management information systems double major who also minors in neuroscience.

Means knows that you don’t need a sash or crown to promote issues of personal and national significance. “But,” she said with a smile and shrug, “it doesn’t hurt.”

Whether serving as Miss Black USA Talented Teen 2021, Miss Philadelphia 2023, or in her most recent role as Miss Caribbean US 2025, Means has always championed the same cause: inspiring underprivileged girls to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

It’s a passion she discovered as a 12-year-old girl looking to conduct chemistry experiments in the family kitchen.

“I would have loved to have a female scientist to look up to, especially a woman of color,” said Means, the self-ascribed STEM Queen. “Instead, I had a force-of-nature mother who helped turn my dreams into a reality.”

Means and her mother, Joann, a “force of nature” who taught her daughter to always “lift as you climb.”

In fact, her mother’s vision was even bigger. “Lift as you climb. Use your passions to make the world around you better,” JoAnn Means would tell Jackie and her older brother, Johnny, Class of 2021.

With those words in mind, Means founded the Girls Empowerment STEM Initiative at age 12. Since its 2015 inception, the not-for-profit organization has reached more than 6,500 young women and been featured on The Steve Harvey Show, The Today Show, Access Hollywood, The Kelly Clarkson Show and more.

Means has been featured on national outlets, including The Steve Harvey Show.

In Delaware, Means conducts multiple educational and outreach activities for young girls every week.

“I do less during midterm and exam season,” admitted the marketing and management information systems double major who also minors in neuroscience.

As founder of the Girls Empowerment STEM Initiative, Means conducts numerous educational activities each week and has reached thousands of young girls over the years.

And in her limited free time, she competes in pageants. She chose Miss Caribbean US, open to all U.S. residents, as a tribute to her late grandmother, Marisel Olavarria. An Air Force Airman born in Puerto Rico, Olavarria died long before Means’ birth, though her legacy endures.

“I know she’s beaming down on me,” Means said of her grandmother.

Then she smiled softly to herself and headed to class. The STEM queen has more work to do.