1st runner-up 2020, 1st runner-up 2019, Non-finalist Miss New York USA 2017, Non-finalist 2016, Semi-finalist Miss New York Teen USA 2014, Top 10 2012
A native of Middlebury, Amanda Torchia was crowned Miss Connecticut USA on 6 June 2021 and represented Connecticut at the Miss USA 2021 pageant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Amanda was the first Afghan woman to win Miss Connecticut USA.
Amanda has made it her mission to mentor and motivate Connecticut’s youth in creating their own paths of success. Having a career in Early Childhood Education, Amanda was inspired to create her youth program: Educate to Create. Through her program, she works with students in inspiring them to break barriers and use the power of education to achieve their goals. She also advocates for equal opportunity within education by providing and fundraising for learning materials and supplies to be given to some of Connecticut’s poverty-centric districts, so that each child may have a chance to thrive.
In her free time, she is certified in Animal Fostering through the Humane Society and enjoys spending time learning Italian from her father, who is from Calabria, Italy. She fuels her creative side, having modeled with brands such as Jovani, Terani Couture and Tarik Ediz.
The on-stage moments, the tension of the final two and the glory of the crowning, here are Amanda’s state pageant photos.
Lights, camera, action! Professional photoshoots are one of the perks that comes from winning a title.
Amanda was first runner-up twice, to Acacia Courtney in 2019 and Chelsea Demby in 2020, before she won in 2021.
All beautiful things must come to an end, no matter how bittersweet. See Amanda’s farewell walk and other candids from the weekend she crowned her successor Cynthia Dias as Miss Connecticut USA 2022.
Winning a state title is a sisterhood for life. Here are Amanda’s “after the crown” photos.
