Originally from Midwest City, Oklahoma, Mrs. American Elegance 2022-2023, Lindsay Gutierrez, now lives in Nashville, Georgia with her active duty Air Force husband, Anthony, and many fur babies. She’s a veteran of the United States Air Force, having served at the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath from 2011-2016. Post-separation from the military, Lindsay struggled to find employment, going almost three years without a career. It was through the military and outside experiences that
Lindsay was able to find her “why” as a social advocate. After she separated from the military in 2016, Lindsay first became involved in pageants to bring awareness to veteran needs and issues. She was inspired to help veterans utilize various resources to get back into the workforce, take advantage of their veteran benefits, and use their service beyond the uniform for meaningful change in society.
Lindsay has held the titles of Ms. Veteran America 2017, Ms. Georgia US Continental 2019, Ms. Georgia American Women of Service 2019, Ms. Georgia South 2021, Mrs. Hahira Honeybee 2021, and Miss Georgia Military Star Honorary Veteran 2021.
Lindsay holds an MA in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Social Work degree from Arizona State University. She currently works as a Peer Navigator by helping patients locate food, housing, and other resources in their communities. In her downtime, you can probably find Lindsay creating content for her passion project — The SCAR Initiative, and doing groundwork in her community by advocating and educating people about her platform, Donate Life: My Journey as a
Member of the One Bean Club. Lindsay donated her kidney to another veteran in May 2022 and was a part of the first living chain donation in VA history through the nonprofit, DOVE Living Kidney Transplant for Veterans. She loves being a champion for living organ donation and enjoys sharing her donation story with others.
Lindsay likes mudding with Anthony in their side-by-side, volunteering around her community, hiking, cycling, traveling, reading, cuddling her potbelly pigs, and listening to true crime podcasts. You can connect with Lindsay and follow her pageant and platform journeys on Instagram at @linds_gutierrez and @scarinitiative and through Facebook at @mrsae2223 and @scarinitiative. Lindsay’s perspective in life is best outlined in the famous Man in the Arena speech by former president, Theodore Roosevelt,
and her favorite quote to live by and inspire others with is “be the change you wish to see in the world.”