Everyone has a mountain to climb and autism has not been my mountain, it has been my opportunity for victory.

– Rachel Barcellona

Rachel Barcellona is a beauty pageant contestant and autism advocate currently Miss Manatee River and competing in the Miss Florida pageant. She also was Miss Florida International in 2016 and Miss Southeast International in 2017. She’s also the first contestant to compete in Miss Florida with autism and first for Miss America since Alexis Wineman in 2013.