On May 26 1999, Mpule Keneilwe Kwelagobe of Botswana beat 86 delegates to win

the Miss Universe pageant, and was crowned as the 49th Miss Universe in Port of

Spain, Trinidad. Miriam Quiambao of the Philippines and Diana Noguiera of Spain

placed first and second runner up respectively. The Miss Universe Organization, par-

ent company of the pageant, was owned by Donald Trump and CBS.

Top right: Miss Universe 1998, Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago,

crowning Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana as Miss Universe 1999 in Cha-

guaramas, Trinidad. It was the first and only time in Miss Universe 60-year his-

tory to have black to black winners.

Below: 19 year old Mpule overlooking Port of Spain, Trinidad the morning after be-

ing crowned Miss Universe. Later that day,

she received the Freedom of the City Key

to Port of Spain from the government of

Trinidad & Tobago. She was also awarded

Freedom of the City keys to Gaborone

(Botswana), Asuncion (Paraguay) and New

Orleans (Louisiana).

During her reign as Miss Universe, Mpule

traveled to over 20 countries in Africa, the

Caribbean, South America and Europe

representing the official cause of the Miss

Universe Organization, HIV/AIDS, and

serving as a spokesmodel for the pageant’s

sponsors including Mikimoto, Clairol, Sa-

sha Cosmetics, Sacha Shoes London,

Speedo, Oscar De La Renta Swimwear and

Sprint among others.

Middle right: Official portrait of Miss Universe 1999. Mpule Kwelagobe was the

first woman to represent Botswana at the Miss Universe pageant, and made his-

tory as the 1st African-born black woman to ever win an international pageant.

As Miss Universe, Mpule appeared on ABC,

CBS, NBC, FOX and CNN and guest hosted

Back to Back Music Videos on VH-1.She even

modeled during New York Fashion Week at Bry-

ant Park. After her reign as Miss Universe, Mpule

was signed as a spokesmodel by CLAIROL. Her

ads were featured in dozens of US magazines.

Immediate right: Mpule’s CLAIROL ad as it

appeared in Ebony Magazine. She launched the

MPULE Foundation in November 2000 at a

ceremony attended by Nelson Mandela, and be-

gan touring Botswana fighting against HIV/

AIDS, promoting positive behavioral change

among youth and championing access to sexual

and reproductive rights for women and youth. In

2006, Mpule graduated from Columbia Univer-

sity in the City of New York with a degree in International Political Economy. In

2011, she founded the MPULE Institute for Endogenous Development, a New

York City based advocacy and public policy think tank.

Bottom right: Mpule crowned Lara Dutta of India as her successor in June 2000

in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Mpule Keneilwe Kwelagobe was born on 14 November 1979, in Gaborone, Bot-

swana, the third and youngest child of Justice Mothusi Kwelagobe and Dibelang

Montshosi Kwelagobe.

At age 17 Mpule became the youngest woman to win the Miss Botswana pageant

while still in high school. She represented Botswana at the 1997 Miss World pageant

held on the island of Mahe in the Seychelles. Two years later she won the inaugural

Miss Universe Botswana pageant

held at the Grand Palm Hotel in

Gaborone, and in May became the

first woman to represent Botswana

at the Miss Universe pageant held

in Trinidad & Tobago.

Left: Mpule Kwelagobe, the first

Miss Universe Botswana flanked

by first and second runners up,

Aalimah Isaacs and Mataila Sik-

wane.

Top right: Mpule during a photo

shoot in the Chobe Game Reserve in Botswana.

Following Mpule’s win of the Miss Universe pageant, Botswana Post launched 5

historic postage stamps of her. The Government of

Botswana bestowed diplomatic status on Mpule and

awarded her the Freedom of the City key to Gaborone,

capital city of Botswana, and a full scholarship to any

university of her choice around the world. In 2002,

Mpule was accepted into ivy league institution, Colum-

bia University in the City of New York, and graduated

in May 2006 with a degree in Political Science

(International Political Economy). Immediate right: one of Mpule’s Postage stamps.

Middle right: Mpule Kwelagobe, Miss Botswana 1999, in her traditional cos-

tume during the Parade of Nations opening ceremony at the 1999 Miss Universe

pageant.

In 2000, Mpule was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations

Population Fund (UNFPA), which partnered with the MPULE Foundation to ad-

dress health systems, in particular HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health, in

Botswana. Immediate left: Mpule at the

United Nations meeting of Goodwill Am-

bassadors and Messengers of Peace in New

York City in 2002 with Kofi Annan, secre-

tary-general of the United Nations.

Today as an Ethnoscientist, Mpule heads the

MPULE Institute for Endogenous Devel-

opment, a New York City-based policy

advocacy think tank that engages in re-

search on traditional knowledge systems

(TKS) and how they inform endogenous

development, green growth and gender

equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) in Africa. In 2012 the MPULE Insti-

tute launched “In Women’s Hands: Empowering the Next Generation of Afri-

can Female Leaders” campaign to advance gender equality in agricultural and rural

development in Africa.

Bottom right: Mpule dancing with traditional dancers on the banks of the

Chobe River in Kasane after being crowned Miss Universe.