Emoura Phạm

I come from three generations of women, each given a different chance at life. My grandmother grew up during war, facing hunger and fear simply to survive. My mother walked long distances to school, sometimes on an empty stomach, but never stopped believing in the power of education. Because she wanted a different future for me, she worked tirelessly to give me opportunities she never had.

At 15, that sacrifice took me across the world to the United States, where I attended boarding school and completed my final two years of high school. Living away from my family at such a young age taught me independence, self-sufficiency, and responsibility. More importantly, it helped me understand something my mother had always believed: education does not simply give us knowledge. It can change the direction of our lives.

I later graduated from university with a degree in Acting, turning my lifelong love for the arts into my field of study. But acting gave me more than a degree. My teachers and coaches taught me to understand people, emotions, and different perspectives, and to put my heart into everything I do. Most importantly, while learning how to become someone else on stage, I was also learning how to become more fully myself.

I am Emoura Pham, Miss Grand Vietnam 2026. When I look back at my journey, I realize that so much of who I am today exists because someone before me created an opportunity for me. My grandmother survived so the generations after her could know peace. My mother sacrificed so I could receive an education. My teachers believed in me and helped me discover my own voice.

Growing up between Vietnamese and Western cultures has also given me the privilege of seeing the world through two different perspectives. From my Vietnamese roots, I carry the values of family, resilience, and community. From my Western upbringing and education, I learned independence, openness, and the courage to express my own voice. I do not have to choose between these two worlds. I have the privilege of learning from both, carrying the best of both, and becoming a bridge between them.

Art has always been another language through which I express myself. I have been singing for as long as I can remember, started playing guitar at around 10 years old, and have explored musical theatre, painting, and dance. Painting and art therapy helped me through some of the more difficult moments in my life, while dance gave me a new sense of freedom through music and movement. I have also always been athletic, and through sports, I learned discipline, teamwork, resilience, and the importance of caring for both my physical and mental well-being.

But perhaps the greatest lesson my own journey has taught me is this: I was given opportunities that not every child is fortunate enough to have. When an opportunity can change the direction of your own life, you begin to understand the responsibility of creating one for someone else.

That belief is at the heart of my “100 Bridges for Our Homeland” project. So far, 18 bridges have been completed, and bridges 19 and 20 are now being built. But to me, these are never just numbers. On the other side of each bridge may be a child waiting for a safer and shorter way to school instead of traveling more than ten kilometers. A family may gain an easier path to make a living. A rural community may become connected to greater opportunities. Every bridge is a reminder that sometimes, changing someone’s future begins simply by giving them a way to reach it.

If there is one thing I want the world to remember about me, I hope it is not simply a Vietnamese woman wearing a crown. I hope they remember me as a woman who builds bridges. Bridges between children and education. Between opportunity and potential. Between the two cultures that shaped me and between Vietnam and the world. Because throughout my life, someone was always there to build a bridge for me. Now, I want to spend my life building those bridges for others.

Stop the War and Violence

To me, peace is deeply personal. I come from Vietnam, a country where generations before us gave their youth, their dreams, and even their lives so that my generation could grow up knowing peace instead of war. Some of them never even had the chance to return home or have their names remembered. Their sacrifice reminds me that the peaceful life I have today was never something I should take for granted.

That is why I believe peace is more than the silence of guns. Peace is a child being able to reach school safely. It is a family having the opportunity to build a better life. It is replacing fear with hope, distance with connection, and division with understanding. This belief lives through our “100 Bridges for Our Homeland” project, where every bridge can connect a child to education, a family to opportunity, and a dream to a future.

The generations before us built a bridge to peace through sacrifice. Now, it is our responsibility to continue that bridge, not with blood, but with knowledge, compassion, and action.

To me, “Stop the War and Violence” is not simply a call to end conflict. It is a promise that the peace we inherited will not end with us. We must protect it, live it, and build more of it for the generations who come after us.

The 4Bs

To me, the 4Bs represent not only the woman I am today, but the woman I am constantly becoming.

Body is discipline. It is about taking care of myself and having the strength and energy to keep showing up for what I believe in, even when the journey becomes difficult.

Beauty is character. I grew up watching the women in my family face hardship with courage and compassion. They taught me that beauty is not only about how we are seen, but about how we make others feel, how we treat people, and what we choose to give back.

Brain is the ability to learn, adapt, and turn challenges into growth. Education changed the direction of my own life. My mother worked incredibly hard to give me the opportunity to study in America at 15, and because of her, I learned that education does more than open doors. Sometimes, it can change the entire direction of a life.

Business, to me, is how we make purpose sustainable. I have had the opportunity to work in my family’s real estate business, managing rental properties and being involved in buying and selling properties. That experience has taught me lessons that go far beyond business itself: how to communicate and negotiate with different clients, solve unexpected problems, make responsible decisions, and take the lead when challenges arise. Most importantly, it has taught me that good business is not simply about making a deal. It is about understanding people, building trust, and creating value for everyone involved.

I bring that same mindset into our “100 Bridges for Our Homeland” project. I have learned that a good heart can start a mission, but it takes vision, strategy, partnerships, and commitment to make that mission last. For me, business is not separate from purpose. It is one of the tools that can help purpose grow.

Today, I believe I already carry the 4Bs within me, but I do not see them as a finish line. I see them as a foundation for the woman I am still becoming. I want to keep the strength to take action, the beauty to lead with compassion, the intelligence to create solutions, and the business mindset to make those solutions last. And perhaps, as I grow, my 4Bs can become 5 or even 6: adding Bravery to keep stepping into the unknown, and Benevolence to make sure that whatever I achieve can also benefit others.

Because I do not simply want to embody the 4Bs. I want to become a better version of them every day: stronger in action, deeper in compassion, wiser in my decisions, and more capable of turning ideas into lasting impact. Because ultimately, what matters is not only what we have, but what we choose to do with it.