Born and raised in Farmington, school counselor Stepheny Atencio is taking her community mission of mental health awareness to the national spotlight as the newly crowned Miss New Mexico for America Strong 2026.
Atencio won the state title on June 6 during a pageant held in Albuquerque. She was crowned alongside Mrs. New Mexico America 2026 Faith Rogers and Mrs. New Mexico American 2026 Sarah Houghteling.
Atencio will represent the state at the national Miss for America Strong competition in Las Vegas this August. The pageant system emphasizes community service, requiring contestants to select a nonprofit platform to support and promote during their reign.
The competition also scores contestants based on interviews, which account for 50% of their overall score, judging the women on their poise, personality and confidence.
Atencio’s platform, titled “Bridging Hope,” focuses on creating mental health access, suicide prevention and advocacy among Indigenous and rural populations.
“Mental health should never be determined by where someone lives,” Atencio said.
Working as a school counselor for the past 19 years, she has served students at Navajo Preparatory School since 2022. Before that, she worked at Farmington High School for seven years and began her counseling career in the Aztec Municipal School District in 2005.
To address a lack of resources and cultural stigmas in rural areas, Atencio developed a chat application based on cognitive behavioral therapy called Atsa Bot, meaning “eagle” in Navajo. She said that teenagers are often hesitant to speak to a counselor face-to-face, making the app an accessible, clinically based alternative.
She also draws on her 32 years of experience as a dancer and her training as a certified yoga instructor to promote physical and mental wellness. Last year, she implemented “Mindful Mondays” at her school, leading students through breathing techniques and coping exercises. She also led school-wide yoga classes, including sessions for the boys basketball team.
In a survey conducted at the end of the year, 95% of her students stated the mindfulness activities were helpful.
“Many of our students come from areas that are two, three, four hours away, often there’s no electricity, there’s no running water,” said Atencio. “These students come to us and they complete a prestigious diploma program and go to some of the top universities in the world. I think back to, these are students who came from having very little at home and they took that resiliency and moved forward. And that’s a beautiful thing to watch.”
Atencio said she hopes to use the national stage to showcase the culture and resilience of New Mexico communities.
“I hope that they learn that our culture is a beautiful culture that is one of resiliency,” Atencio said. “If we think about the Zia symbol, it states the perfect friendships among united cultures. And that actually speaks to what we live here.”
“When I first started at Navajo Prep, I came on during a week called Hózhó Naashá week. And Hózhó Naashá means to walk in beauty. And I want that to be my message,” Atencio said. “That we should all walk in beauty. That we all walk with hope. And that life is never about doing things alone.”
When asked about her overarching goal for the year, Atencio said her focus remains on the students and communities she serves at home.
“I think how do we change the world? Well, we change the world by working within the realm of our influence,” Atencio said.
Atencio competed and was crowned as Miss San Juan County in the 2001 Miss New Mexico scholarship pageant and later competed for Mrs. New Mexico in 2019. She said she decided to compete again this year to show her two teenage daughters that it is never too late to pursue a goal.
“I want my girls to think that it’s never too late to follow your dreams,” she said. “You just have to be brave enough to try.”
Cindy Archer, the pageant director for Mrs. America in New Mexico and Montana, said Atencio has wanted to be part of the pageant system for a long time and stood out for both her ambition and commitment to service.
“She’s an extremely talented woman,” Archer said. “She’s very intelligent. And I feel like the reason why she was chosen was because she had the drive and the ambition to carry it out.”
Archer said the Miss for America Strong system revolves around community service and advocacy, allowing titleholders to elevate causes they are passionate about on a larger stage.
“The crown isn’t something that you just put on your head and become a queen, it is something that you live and that you breathe and that you are committed to passionately whether it’s your event or your platform that you’re doing or if it’s somebody in the community that calls and says hey we could really use a volunteer here,” Archer said. “But it’s all on community service whatever they do is based on community service and humbling themselves wanting nothing in return.”
Atencio has already begun making appearances throughout the community, recently attending the E3 Children’s Museum Ice Cream Social on July 4. She said she plans to continue participating in events and service opportunities leading up to the national competition.
Additionally, the title has already brought unexpected opportunities. Shortly after the national competition, Atencio will walk in New York Fashion Week.
“Thank you in advance for your support, for your encouragement, for providing opportunities for me to serve in our community,” Atencio said to her supporters in Farmington.