Layilah Nasser

Miss Maryland USA 2021

On July 25, 2021 Layilah Nasser was crowned Miss Maryland USA 2021. Nasser, 26, spent twelve years preparing to win the title to allow her to compete on the Miss USA stage.  Layilah grew up in Montgomery Village, Maryland and always had a desire to give back to her community. She has proudly been a member of the Girl Scouts of America since the first grade. With her passion for paying it forward, she has been able to serve as  troop leader in two states and in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Growing up, Layilah struggled with bullying for several years before she was able to step out of her comfort zone and take the lead. After winning the first troop presidential election, she served as president for many years. The skills she gained from this experience guided her to other leadership opportunities within Girl Scouts.  Layilah served as the spokesperson for Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital for a year and was a Public Relations Department intern. She was able to spread the word by speaking at different events, participating in documentaries, and interviews. Layilah was granted the opportunity to serve as a co-emcee at the 100th year anniversary on the National Mall in Washington D.C with 250,000 people from all around the world in attendance. Layilah raised awareness regarding the historical and future mission of the Girl Scouts. Over the years, she has received over 100 community service awards as well gaining over 3,000 hours of community service with Girl Scouts and her community. As someone who truly believes in the investment of young women, Layilah has served as a local and internationally Girl Scout leader.  As a local leader, she served in two unprivileged communities in the greater Maryland area with 60 girls. Layilah shared that her most rewarding experience was serving as an International troop Leader in Denmark. Her troop included girls from Denmark, Finland, Dubai, and London but they all shared one thing, the passion for serving others. She realized that the main job of a troop leader is not only to plan events, meetings and service activities, but it’s to offer a guiding hand in the development of young women striving to be our future leaders.

Upon graduating from Spelman College, she was able to land her first job working at Google as a Recruiting Coordinator then moving into a more diversity focused role. Currently, she works on a team that she helped create which is the first ever Diversity Talent Acquisition team at Adobe. Her successes also include the several companies adopting programs that she developed globally from community services organization to career readiness program for underrepresented talent. She proudly shares that she provided over 1,000 opportunities from internships, apprenticeships and full time jobs to underrepresented talent over the course of her entire career. 

Her passion spans from beyond her 9-5 duties as the founder of “ Queen in Tech Connect” which focuses on helping women break into technology. As Miss Maryland USA, she has plans to use her program to continue to provide resources through on hand experiences and skill building workshops throughout the entire state. Layilah also plans to expand her scholarship program to continue to encourage women to look within through the essay of the application process. To date, she has provided over $2,000 in scholarships to young ladies nationwide! Layilah believes that nothing can be accomplished with true confidence in oneself which is why she’s so dedicated to pouring into other women!

Layilah is a travel enthusiast.  She has traveled to over 25 countries starting in Morocco, Africa. Her favorite countries visited include Iceland, Turkey, Spain and Cuba. She went on a mission to Haiti with Give Hope Global to not only support an orphanage. She also was able to teach a lesson of respect and kindness. That same year, she started a fundraiser with one of her friends in order to raise money for hearing aids in the kids at the orphanage.  Layilah also enjoys volunteering with other organizations such as the Ronald Mcdonald House, Community outreach programs and other women empowerment groups!

Combining her desire to leave a legacy in every space she enters and her love for travel and empowering others to see the beauty within them, Layilah is humbled, honored and excited to represent Maryland at Miss USA and throughout her reign. ”

Layilah Nasser

Miss Maryland USA 2021

For more information or to schedule an appearance, contact Layilah at MissMDUSA21@gmail.com.

To follow Layilah’s exciting year as Miss Maryland USA , Click on the link below.

* View photos on https://missmarylandusa.com/miss-maryland-usa-instagram-feed/