Beauty Pageants And Academia – The Perfect Contradiction?

When you think of beauty pageants, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not academia, social responsibility or sustainable finance.

Dr Ana Nacvalovaite, Research fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, says otherwise. Aside from being a distinguished academic and renowned expert within her field of work, Ana is also Mrs Great Britain, and will soon be competing in the semi-finals for “Mrs Globe”.

At first it may seem like a contradiction, but for Ana, the world of pageants and academia intersect in several ways.

“Beauty pageants have given me a platform to promote social and environmental issues that are important to me, such as gender equality, human rights, and sustainability. It has given me a stage to speak” she tells me.

“As an academic, I’m passionate about promoting social responsibility and sustainability and all aspects of society. So, my involvement in the beauty pageant has given me a unique opportunity to reach a broader audience and raise awareness of these issues.”

Where did this passion for social responsibility stem from? Having begun her career in human rights law, with a focus on conflict prevention and resolution, Ana soon saw how heavily the charity sector relied on contributions, and her career soon diverted towards social enterprise.

This has led to Ana’s present endeavours, where she is currently working on a three-year research project in Oxford Kellogg’s Centre for Mutual & Co-owned Business, investigating whether sovereign wealth funds might focus investments globally on local co-operatives as a way of enhancing social and environmental sustainability.

Discussing this project, Ana tells me that she hopes her work will allow her to promote greater understanding and awareness of the potential world that sovereign wealth funds can play, in which they can leverage their resources and influence to promote positive environmental and social outcomes.

“It is all about encouraging more widespread adoption of sustainable investing practices and understanding the communities that they invest in to. This is why I have chosen to work with cooperatives and employee-owned businesses”.

Change requires resources, particularly financial resources, and Ana’s humanitarian work became more finance-focused once she realised that “financial institutions are very much the foundation of what you can get done within any sphere”.

And getting things done is what Ana means by investing in people – employees, customers, and communities – to ultimately build stronger, more resilient, and more sustainable societies all over the world. This includes ensuring that workers are treated fairly, providing equal opportunities to all, and working to address social disparities.

“Supporting and respecting human capital is a paramount ingredient for successful, sustainable finance for future generations,” she explains.

During the course of her career, Ana has seen first-hand the benefits of focusing on the social aspects of investment within communities. But she has also witnessed what can happen when this is ignored, only fuelling her desire to keep bringing awareness to the topic even further.

“When you go to countries where you have got a factory, or a mine, where the life of that particular investment is finite, you see communities being built around this activity, and you see those communities thriving. But when the funding dries up, and that business is no longer required on a big scale, those who are usually employed within the factories or the mines become unemployed, usually leading to mass migration.”

“This leads to much greater tensions,” she points out, “because the whole ecosystem is disturbed, subsequently taking away possibilities for education, creating issues of domestic violence, and so on. All of this can be avoided if we continue to invest into these communities long-term, allowing populations to work for themselves, be proud of what they do, and build a future for generations to come”.

This deep desire to help those in need, to give a voice to those unheard, and to raise the alarm on important societal issues takes us back to where we began – the “Mrs Globe” beauty pageant.

The Mrs. Globe International pageant is a beauty competition that was established in 1996. Run by Dr Tracy Kemble, also founder of ‘The W.I.N. Foundation’, the pageant’s mission is to empower women, celebrate their achievements, and promote community involvement. The winner of the competition is awarded the title of Mrs. Globe International and becomes an ambassador for the pageant’s mission – to fight against domestic violence against women and children, and to empower women to make choices and start again by building strong lives in their community and beyond.

“Mrs Globe is dedicated to providing a platform for women to share their stories and advocate for themselves and others who have experienced abuse,” Ana shares.

“I am a fan of their strong mission to empower women to take control of their lives and make positive changes. Every woman has the potential to achieve great things and that by providing resources and support, we can help them to build strong, healthy, and fulfilling lives. This is why I am proud to represent Great Britain.”

Speaking to Ana, it soon makes perfect sense why she became so involved with the pageant, especially considering her humanitarian background, her ongoing work surrounding social sustainability, and her overall passion for speaking up about societal injustice. Could other academics learn from this approach? It would appear so.

“Perhaps there is a huge audience out there that may not be reading reports that are written by an academic and in a setting that is more serious, but they may listen to someone speaking from a different platform such as the pageant world,” she ventures. “It has given me a unique opportunity to reach that broader audience and raise awareness. So, I’m very grateful for that.”

Aside from the pageant community, impactful discussion and celebrating achievements is also a strong element in Ana’s other world – the University of Oxford. Regarded as the most prestigious institution in the UK for not only their academic standards of teaching, Ana is proud to share that the school is also doing an outstanding job relating to ESG.

“At Kellogg College, Oxford University, you can sit next to anybody at dinner or lunch, it doesn’t matter if they’re a fellow student or a member of the staff within the college and you have the most incredible committed discussions, and a lot of them focus on ESG, and how to really make our communities better,” she tells me.

“It is a place where you’re really able to discuss and put your point of view forward, and then work together on making changes in the long run”.

Oxford Is More Than Just A University, It’s The UK’s Gift To The World

But are business schools and universities doing enough in relation to ESG? For Ana, she believes a lot of great work has been done so far – but there’s still so much more to do.

“The academic community can be very insular – and that is problematic, I think. We need to build more bridges; we need to rebuild and fill in the gaps between private and public, and academics and politicians,” she says.

“There’s so much conversation to be had within one room, bringing different perspectives on the topic that it would only enrich the outcomes if this were to happen more. We’re very lucky at Kellogg, we have these discussions – I know Oxford is very good at that. And there are a lot of universities and academic establishments who are excellent, but this should happen more frequently”.

Accessibility is key, and as an academic, Ana believes it is important to stay committed to integrating the ESG considerations into teaching and research programs into everyday conversations and bringing it down to a very basic level.

That includes everything from developing ESG-focused courses and research projects, to having meetings and seminars with outside communities to incorporate these considerations into case studies and real-world projects.

“I think we have all got to come together, because none of us in this very global community can function on our own, the knowledge becomes insular and it needs to be out there, it needs to be shared, and it needs to be used.”

When you look up ‘investing’ in the dictionary, it says: ‘To put money into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit’. But for Ana, it’s much deeper than this. Investing isn’t just about monetary gain, it’s about using those funds to invest into people – to allow them to prosper, and to avoid further problems as a result of financial and social neglect.

Profit, in this sense, is empowerment, education, and security. Using her resources not only as an academic, but her platform as Mrs Great Britain, Ana is a driving force for change, opening up the conversation and aligning her personal and professional passions for a healthier, more inclusive society.

“I think it is important for us to come together and find long-term solutions that are strong enough to ensure that future generations have the option to choose what they want to do with their lives, to leave a legacy, and to ultimately thrive”.