Kane County resident crowned Ms. Universe Ambassador is using her platform to grow humanitarian efforts

Carmen Santiago-Keenon is a St. Charles resident, public speaker, advocate and business woman who now holds the title of Ms. Illinois Universe Ambassador USA.

Santiago-Keenon describes herself as a survivor who has overcome a great deal of adversity to get to where she is, including childhood trauma, addiction, domestic abuse and gun violence.

She began her career in the technology industry and now works to advocate for women in the industry – improving equality and opportunity in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields – survivors of trauma and abuse, those with disabilities and several other humanitarian efforts.

Santiago-Keenon was crowned Ms. Universe Ambassador USA on Aug. 13 in Daytona, Florida.

She said having been overweight and bullied most of her life that she never saw herself becoming a pageant queen.

“I was very much the ugly duckling,” Santiago-Keenon said. “Everybody made fun of me. I was struggling with a lot of things in my home life, so to even be in this position is pretty funny to me, to be honest.”

Santiago-Keenon’s platform had three pillars: God, country and community.

“I’m happy to be here and to build upon this platform that I believe is important,” Santiago-Keenon said. “Really advocating for God, community, building on inclusive spaces and making sure small businesses, the bloodline of our country, are able to survive and thrive.”

Santiago-Keenon has lived in St. Charles for more than a decade and has planted strong roots. She said she chose to raise her family here because she loves the community and made a lot of connections after immersing herself in the business community.

“To be able to represent not only the great state of Illinois, but my amazing town and the Tri-Cities as a whole, is just amazing,” Santiago-Keenon said. “It was a really interesting and incredible experience.”

Getting here was a journey. Santiago-Keenon was born and raised in Chicago by her grandparents after her mother passed away when she was six years old. At age 13 she was placed in foster care and was emancipated just before graduating from high school.

Santiago-Keenon described her formative years as a slew of bad choices that stemmed from childhood trauma. She met her ex-husband at age 18, had her first child at 19, her second at 22 and was divorced by age 25.

Santiago-Keenon got into the technology industry in her early 30s, which she said changed the trajectory of her life. She is the director of business development at RWS Group and began a technology consultant brand IT Girl Solutions in 2017, which is a collaboration between women business owners in the technology field.

She is on the board of directors for the Autism Hero Project, which is near to her heart because she has a son with autism and she was diagnosed as neurodivergent when she was 38 years old.

Santiago-Keenon also is an ambassador for several humanitarian groups including From the Barrio to the Boardroom, a nonprofit that teaches young people that where they come from doesn’t dictate what they can do; Unspoken Conversations, which addresses childhood abuse; and CASA Kane County, which provided her assistance when she was in the foster care system.

Santiago-Keenon is a public speaker on podcasts and for local youth organizations and businesses, where she often shares her personal stories about surviving trauma, abuse and gun violence, as well as advocates for diversity, equity and inclusivity in the workforce.

“Just being able to now be at a place where I’ve got my life turned around and being able to gift that knowledge to other people is pretty incredible and what I strive to do,” Santiago-Keenon said.

At age 21, Santiago-Keenon survived four bullets to the back in a Chicago shooting. She overcame domestic violence in her late 20s that left her with a metal elbow replacement and has several health conditions she continues to deal with.

Santiago-Keenon said she never considered herself someone who would compete in pageants, but said it must have been in God’s plan for her. Last year, she competed in her first local pageant where she was named Ms. Geneva, and thanks to a sponsorship opportunity from Elgin business JJS Global, she went on to win Ms. Illinois Universe USA and Ms. Universe Ambassador USA this year.

Just before the Ms. Illinois Universe pageant, Santiago-Keenon underwent major surgery to remove cancer and had a fractured foot.

“For me to even have been able to walk that stage, let alone take a title, was incredible and very important to me,” Santiago-Keenon said.

Santiago-Keenon said the main reason she decided to compete in the pageants was to grow her platform to advocate for her causes on a national level and meet people she could work and partner with to achieve more of her goals.

“When you win these titles, you are placed in the right conversations and get a seat at the table,” Santiago-Keenon said. “I saw this as a vehicle to be able to have those conversations, so that’s what was exciting to me.”

Santiago-Keenon said her kids and her community were her inspiration. She said the message she hopes to inspire in others is that “You don’t have to choose between who you are and walking in the integrity of your faith.”

“You can be a survivor and thriver and walk in those truths and still create impact and change around you,” Santiago-Keenon said. “If anything in my story of survival inspires anyone and brings them closer to God, that’s amazing.”

Santiago-Keenon said while she doesn’t have any concrete plans to continue competing in pageants, her goal for the future is to use her new platform to continue advocating for survivors. She also is working to create a pageant space that is accessible for women with disabilities that teaches young women that beauty is on the inside.

She often uses the metaphor of a planted seed to describe how the darkest times of one’s life can be vital to their growth. She said in that season of darkness and gray it can feel like life is keeping you down, but it is really a growth season when a seed is being fed the nutrients it needs to become strong.

“I talk a lot about how a seed doesn’t worry about becoming what it’s going to become,” Santiago-Keenon said. “When you pop up from the soil ... you need that time in the soil and in the darkness to grow.”