Dominique Parks is no ordinary FAMU student.
Parks is a professional master of business administration candidate. But that’s not all. The Los Angeles native holds the title 2018 Miss Black California U.S. Ambassador, and was crowned in her home state.
“The Miss Black U.S. Ambassador program is a program that's known for bringing ambassadors of change to the community,” Parks explained as she talked about how the pageant is not a typical beauty contest. According to the Miss Black U.S. Ambassador website, each contestant is judged based on a five-minute community service presentation, private interview, fitness, evening gown and an on-stage question.
“I’ve met a great group of women. We all have the same goal: We all want to be change agents within our community. Being able to meet girls from all over the country and hear what they're doing to change the community, it inspires you to want to do more in yours,” Parks said.
“It’s a great experience and it is a life changing experience,” she added. “Just the people that you’ll meet will make you want to be such a better person.”
Parks has used her platform to improve her community in California but she does not want to stop there. “Because I am the California queen, a lot of my platforms points have been done in California,” she said.
Parks plans to execute her points on FAMU’s campus as well.
“Starting March 1, it’s National Reading Month, and my platform point is ‘C.R.E.A.M. of the Crop,’ which is essentially bringing literacy to our children,” she said. “I’ll be having a book drive in connection with the Chicago Club to donate books to juvenile detention centers in California and Chicago.”
Parks is not just a nationally recognized queen, she is also involved in a plethora of organizations on FAMU’s campus. She is in Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, Inc., and she’s involved in the School of Business and Industry’s Roundtable Leadership, where she serve as the president for one of the companies in S.B.I.
Kacey Lusborough, Parks’ longtime friend said, “We’ve always been classmates, but our friendship began after becoming members of the Omega Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. Dominique as a very driven and compassionate person. She’s always working to improve herself and elevate those around her. She excels in and out of the classroom because she gives 110 percent in everything that she does.
“She’s a good person and a hard worker,” Lusborough said.
Mr. FAM-elect, Myles Millsap, can also attest to Parks’ work ethic.
“I’ve known Dom since my freshman year, going into my sophomore year. She’s been the sister that I haven’t had. She was my campaign manager and there were times when I didn’t think I could get something done and she would make it happen just because she’d told me she would. She sacrificed a lot of her personal life for me.”
Parks is also a member of the National Council of Negro Women and the Ernie Sims BIG H.I.T.S. Stars Mentoring Academy.
Parks has a strategic plan on making sure everything she plans to do, gets done.
“I take a moment every morning to map out my week and how it’s going to go. I’m very, very adamant about having my planner and accomplishing the different things that are in my planner. I make a time schedule, so every time segment, every hour, every couple hours, is dedicated to something during my day to make sure that I stay on track with and am able to accomplish all my goals for the week,” Parks said.