Nellys Pimentel

Nellys Rocio Pimentel Campusano (born April 27, 1997) is a Puerto Rican model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Earth 2019. She became the first-ever Puerto Rican and Caribbean woman to win Miss Earth.

Pimentel was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico but her parents were originally from the Dominican Republic. She is the eldest of two siblings. In her elementary and middle school days, she experienced racial discrimination for the multiple bows in her Afro-textured hair.

She graduated magna cum laude in Psychology with a second degree in Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras.

It was her mother, Felicia Campusano and her aunt Josefina Campusano who encouraged her to compete in Miss Earth Puerto Rico.

Pimentel competed as Miss San Juan and was crowned Miss Earth Puerto Rico 2019 on May 5, 2019 at the Ambassador Theatre. She also won Miss Photogenic and was crowned by Miss Earth Puerto Rico 2018 Krystal Xamairy Rivera Barrios.

During her reign, she raised environmental awareness especially in schools and through mass media guesting. She advocated the importance of alternative products that are durable or biodegradable in place of disposables. She also advocated the use of cosmetic lines that do not harm the environment or create as much garbage.

Her participation in Miss Earth Puerto Rico was her first beauty contest experience, although at 14 she participated and won a modeling competition, "Construyendo Sueños" (Building Dreams). As Miss Earth Puerto Rico, she went to compete at the Miss Earth pageant in Manila, Philippines.

Pimentel represented Puerto Rico in Miss Earth 2019 pageant with the coronation night held at Okada Manila, Philippines on October 26, 2019. She took part in various environmental protection activities along with the other 84 Miss Earth 2019 delegates which included tree planting and TV guest appearances and competed into three preliminaries: the environmental and intelligence, face and poise, and figure and form. She was announced as one of the Top 20 semifinalists. After swimsuit and evening gown parade, she entered the Top 10 with the hashtag round, followed by the final four for the final question and answer portion of the pageant.

In the final question and answer round, the top four contestants were asked the same question: "There are many people, including notable international leaders, who do not believe in climate change. How would you convince them of the seriousness of this problem?" She answered:

I would have to say that addressing this issue of people not believing in climate change is more of a matter of lack of education and not only a lack of education but also the ignorance and not wanting to inform themselves of the fact that we are living in a planet that is our biggest home, and we have taken advantage of it instead of putting back what it is giving to us. Making notable leaders and a lot of influencers engage with themselves and become better people is the most important thing to do.

At the end of the event, she won the title and was crowned by her predecessor, Miss Earth 2018 Nguyễn Phương Khánh of Vietnam.She became the first-ever Puerto Rican winner of the Miss Earth crown. She called the attention of her nation's leaders "to stop taking advantage of the environment and start initiatives to protect and give back to it." After winning Miss Earth 2019, her country Puerto Rico became the fourth country to win titles for each of the Big Four pageants.

On November 18, 2019, Pimentel received recognition from the Senate of Puerto Rico for winning the first Miss Earth crown for Puerto Rico. The commendation was presented by Senator Itzamar Peña Ramírez and presided by the Puerto Rican Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz during the 18th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico.

On November 19, 2019, Pimentel was given commendation for her feat in Miss Earth at the La Fortaleza, the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico and she was received by Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. She reaffirmed her commitment in enhancing the image of Puerto Rico and discussed the current environmental issues, such as coastal erosion, the need for beach cleanup and the development of agricultural communitie Pimentel also spoke about her work platform entitled "Love your land as you love your family", a project that aims to educate communities in Puerto Rico