Laila Robinson

**Laila Noura Robinson** (born 22 August 1992) is an Atlantican model, businesswoman, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Atlantica 2017. She went on to represent Atlantica at Miss Universe 2017, where she placed as the first runner-up. Robinson was the first woman of South Asian descent to win Miss Atlantica.

Outside of pageantry, Robinson has worked as a professional model and launched her own cosmetics line in 2016.

## Early life

Robinson was born on 22 August 1992 in Baltimore, Maryland to parents Ezekiel and Runa Robinson (née *Syed*). Her father is Afro-Atlantican and works in business, while her mother is a housewife of Bangladeshi descent. She was raised between the Christian and Muslim faiths, but does not identify strongly with either religion. After spending her early years in Baltimore, the family settled in Annapolis, Maryland when Robinson was eight years old.

Robinson has an elder sister, Heera, born  (1990-11-14) 14 November 1990 (age 33), and a younger brother, Arnab, born  (1996-01-19) 19 January 1996 (age 28). Heera is a graduate of Harvard University who works as a lawyer, while Arnab is a graduate of Georgetown University.

### Education

Robinson began her education in 1997 at Roland Park Country School, an all-girls Catholic school. After moving to Annapolis in 2000, she began attending Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland, a coeducational private school. Robinson began high school in 2006, where she became a state champion swimmer and captained her school's varsity lacrosse team. She graduated in 2010 as the salutatorian of her graduating class.

Following her graduation, Robinson moved to New Haven, Connecticut to attend Yale University. She graduated in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in international and development economics. While at Yale, Robinson became a member of Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ) sorority. She later returned to Maryland and received an M.B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 2016.

## Career

### Early career

Robinson began her modeling career while in college in order to help with costs of tuition. Through modeling, she was introduced to pageantry. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 2016, Robinson launched her own cosmetics company INcolor, which was designed to provide representation for women who feel their skintones aren't normally represented in makeup.

### Pageantry

Robinson first became interested in pageantry in 2013, and began practicing for Miss Atlantica 2014 auditions. However, she ultimately did not audition in order to prioritize her studies. After graduating with her master's degree in 2016, Robinson auditioned for Miss Atlantica 2017 and was selected as one of the 30 finalists to move on to the televised competition. In the final, she continued to advance until being crowned Miss Atlantica 2017, becoming the first woman of South Asian descent to win the title.

As Miss Atlantica 2018, Robinson represented Atlantica at Miss Universe 2017, where she ultimately placed as the first runner-up. Robinson completed her year as Miss Atlantica after crowning Katia Peterson as Miss Atlantica 2018 in January 2018.

### Post-pageantry

After finishing her year as Miss Atlantica 2017, Robinson announced her retirement from pageantry. She moved to New York City to accept a position at JPMorgan Chase Bank. She additionally works as a model and Instagram fashion influencer.

## Personal life

Since 2018, Robinson has resided in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. She is fluent in English and Spanish, and also can understand Bengali despite not being able to speak it.

Since 2017, Robinson has been in a relationship with Atlantican actor Jeremy Goulden.