Henrycia Simmons is a Mississippi native, born in Clarksdale and raised in Jackson. She is a senior psychology major at Tougaloo College, where she is also a provost scholar. She is actively participating in a Maternal Health Equity Research Collaborative with Morgan State University, and recently presented her research findings at the 2024 American Public Health Association Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Simmons earned the esteemed title of Miss Black Mississippi USA 2025. Her platform, It’z Pawsible!, aims to educate individuals about animal welfare while promoting rescuing, fostering, adopting, and volunteering. She has always had a deep love for animals and believes that animal welfare is also human welfare, contributing to her platform's motto that together “it is possible to make a change” within our communities. She successfully rescued two puppies that she calls the Oreo Twins and adopted a formally neglected puppy that she named Kaleidoscope. She is a proud volunteer for Webster Animal Shelter and plans to expand her platform nationwide.