Miss New York Teen USA – Valarie Goorahoo

Valarie Goorahoo was born in Brooklyn and raised in a Indo-Caribbean household in Long Island. To immerse herself in her culture, she enjoyed staying with her grandmother in Queens- where a large population of West Indian New Yorkers reside. After traveling to Trinidad and Tobago at last year, she witnessed the mistreatment of women in her culture. Promising to end the toxicity and help others do so as well, she decided to take action by healing herself. Her cultural identity, while making her strong, was the reason she wasn’t able to be her authentic self.