# Miss Grand Ecuador

Miss Grand Ecuador is an Ecuadorian female national beauty pageant launched in 2021 by the Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador (CNB Ecuador) organization, directed by Tahiz Panus and Miguel Panus, with the aim of selecting a country representative to participate in its parent pageant, Miss Grand International. Previously, the competition franchise belonged to Maria del Carmen Aguayo, who usually chose the runners-up or national finalists from her national pageant, Miss Ecuador, to partake in such an international competition.
Ecuador has three Miss Grand International placements; the highest is first runner-up, achieved by Andrea Aguilera in 2021, followed by Mara Topi's Top 10 finalists in 2019.

## History

Ecuador made its Miss Grand International debut in 2013, when Alexandra Zulay Castillo Velasco, the national finalist of Miss Ecuador 2012, was named one of the top 20 finalists. From 2013 to 2018, the Ecuadorian franchise belonged to the Miss Ecuador organization, with one of the pageant finalists being appointed as Miss Grand Ecuador. However, only one of them qualified for the top 20 finalists on the international stage; the rest were unplaced. Later in 2019, Ecuador broke the record of non-placement after the new franchisee, the Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador (CNB Ecuador), appointed a 24-year-old actress from Guayaquil, Mara Topic Verduga, to join the international contest in Venezuela, where she was ranked among the top 10 finalists as well as obtained the Best in National Costume award.
Tahiz Panus and Miguel Panus, the presidents of the CNB Ecuador, have been serving as the national directors of Miss Grand Ecuador since 2019. Under their leadership, the first edition of Miss Grand Ecuador happened on June 26, 2021, at the TC Televisión studios in the city of Guayaquil. The contest featured six national finalists from six provinces, including Cañar, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Manabí, and Pichincha, of whom Andrea Aguilera from Los Ríos Province was elected the winner. Aguilera had later participated at Miss Grand International 2021 in Thailand and was awarded the first runner-up, the highest placement of Ecuador at such the international contest since 2013. Previously, Aguilera competed in the Miss Earth Ecuador 2019 pageant but did not win the main title.
However, no pageant was held to determine the titleholder in 2022; the first runner-up of the previous edition, Emilia Vásquez of Pichincha Province, was appointed to the position and expected to represent the country at Miss Grand International 2022 in Indonesia, but was later replaced by Liseth Naranjo for undisclosed reasons. Naranjo was a former Miss Grand Ecuador 2020 but was dethroned before competing on the international stage.

## Editions

The Miss Grand Ecuador pageant was separately held once in 2021, and the upcoming edition is scheduled to be held in 2023.

### Date and venue

| Year | Edition | Date | Final venue | Host province | Entrants | Ref. |
| 2021 | 1st | June 26 | TC Televisión Studios, Guayaquil | Guayas | 6 | |
| 2023 | 2nd | April 15 | TC Televisión Studios, Guayaquil | Guayas | 7 | |

### Competition result

| Year | Edition | Winner | 1st runner-up | 2nd runner-up | Ref. |
| 2021 | 1st | Andrea Aguilera (Los Ríos) | Emilia Vásquez (Pichincha) | Marjorie Vivas (Manabí) | [1][2] [3] |
| 2023 | 2nd | Véronique Michielsen (Ecudorian commu. in Europe) | Andrea Ojeda (Guayaquil) | Alyson Flores (Santo Domingo) | |

## International competition

The following is a list of Ecuador representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.

### Color keys

* : Declared as the winner
* : Ended as a runner-up (Top 5)
* : Ended as a finalist (Top 10)
* : Ended as a semifinalist (Top 20/21)
| Year | Province | Miss Grand Ecuador | Title | Placement | Special Awards | National Director |
| 2024 | Los Ríos | María José Vera | CNB Ecuador 2023 – Virreina Miss World Ecuador | Unplaced | Best National Costume | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2023 | Antwerp, Belgium | Véronique Michielsen | Miss Grand Ecuador 2023 | Did not compete | Did not compete | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2023 | Guayas | Andrea Ojeda | 1st runner-up Miss Grand Ecuador 2023 | Unplaced | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2022 | Pichincha | Emilia Vásquez | 1st runner-up Miss Grand Ecuador 2021 | Did not compete | Did not compete | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2022 | Guayas | Lisseth Naranjo | CNB Ecuador 2020 – Grand International | Unplaced | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2021 | Los Ríos | Andrea Aguilera | Miss Grand Ecuador 2021 | 1st runner-up | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2020 | Guayas | Lisseth Naranjo | CNB Ecuador 2020 – Grand International | Did not compete | Did not compete | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2020 | Guayas | Sonia Luna | 1st runner-up Miss Ecuador 2019 | Unplaced | | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2019 | Guayas | Mara Topić | Appointed | Top 10 | Best National Costume | Tahiz Panuz |
| 2018 | El Oro | Norma Tejada | 2nd runner-up Miss Ecuador 2018 | Did not compete | Did not compete | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2018 | Guayas | Blanca Arambulo | 3rd runner-up Miss Ecuador 2018 | Unplaced | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2017 | Imbabura | María José Villacís | 2nd runner-up Miss Ecuador 2017 | Did not compete | Did not compete | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2017 | Pichincha | Analía Vernaza | Appointed | Unplaced | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2016 | Guayas | Carmen Iglesias | 3rd runner-up Miss Ecuador 2016 | Unplaced | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2015 | Guayas | María Emilia Cevallos | 2nd runner-up Miss Ecuador 2015 | Did not compete | Did not compete | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2014 | Guayas | Irene Lucia Zabala | Appointed | Unplaced | | María del Carmen Aguayo |
| 2013 | Esmeraldas | Alexandra Castillo | Appointed | Top 20 | | María del Carmen Aguayo |

## Winner gallery

* Miss Grand Ecuador 2024 María José Vera
* Miss Grand Ecuador 2022 Lisseth Naranjo
* Miss Grand Ecuador 2021 Andrea Aguilera
* Miss Grand Ecuador 2016 Carmen Iglesias
* Miss Grand Ecuador 2015 María Cevallos
* Miss Grand Ecuador 2014 Irene Zabala

## National finalists
### Color key

       Winner
       Runners-up
       Finalists
       Semifinalists
       Unplaced
       No representative
| YearProvince | 2021 | 2023 |
| Azuay | — | — |
| Bolívar | — | — |
| Cañar | Dayanna Méndez | — |
| Carchi | — | — |
| Chimborazo | — | — |
| Cotopaxi | — | — |
| El Oro | Tahiz Zambrano | Noemí Cedeño |
| Esmeraldas | Lissette Arroyo | Tamara Bautista |
| Galápagos | — | — |
| Guayaquil | — | Andrea Ojeda |
| Imbabura | — | — |
| Loja | — | — |
| Los Ríos | Andrea Aguilera | — |
| Manabí | Marjorie Vivas | Nayeli Párraga |
| Morona Santiago | — | — |
| Napo | — | — |
| Orellana | — | — |
| Pastaza | — | — |
| Pichincha | Emilia Vásquez | — |
| Santa Elena | — | — |
| Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas | — | Alyson Flores |
| Sucumbíos | — | — |
| Tungurahua | — | — |
| Zamora Chinchipe | — | — |
| Contestants with no affiliated province |||
| Ecuadorian communities in Europe | — | Véronique Michielsen |
| Ecuadorian communities in USA | — | Doménica Valverde |
| Total entrants | 6 | 7 |