The City of Edina featured Rotary Club of Edina member, Feroza Mehta, as a Hometown Hero. She was always fascinated by pageants but never entered one until after her daughter competed. Now she's Mrs. Minnesota International 2026 and uses her new-found platform for autism advocacy.
Feroza Mehta has felt a pull toward pageant life for almost as long as she can remember. Her fascination with the glamorous but rigorous competitions dates back to her childhood in Calgary, Alberta.
“Growing up, we would get both Canadian television and channels from across the border,” Mehta recalled, affording many opportunities to tune into both national and regional pageant circuits. She admired the contestants for their talents, poise and the bravery it takes to step on stage in front of judges and cameras.
Mehta herself is no stranger to on-camera appearances. As a young adult, she pursued a career in journalism, starting with a bachelor’s degree from Ottawa’s Carleton University and a master’s in international journalism from the University of London. “I then went back home to be a [field] reporter for Citytv and CTV,” two pillars of the Canadian media landscape.
Pageants reentered Mehta’s life in a big way after getting married, resettling in Minnesota and starting a family. “My daughter, Ava, took part in pageants starting when she was 10 years old and until she turned 13,” she shared.
Ava Mehta represented Edina and Minnesota in the National American Miss (NAM) program and other pageants, appearing on stages in the Twin Cities and in venues as far afield as California – always with her mother right alongside her.
Ava could see how much Feroza loved the pageant scene. “When she was done, she basically told me: ‘Okay, mom, now it’s time for you to finally do it!’”
With her family’s encouragement and tutoring under acclaimed pageant coach Cheri Kennedy, Mehta finally took that leap. Last summer, she competed as Mrs. Edina in the annual Minnesota-America Pageant. Before year’s end, she had secured the prestigious title of Mrs. Minnesota International 2026. Her fast-paced pageant journey will continue in July 2026 when she represents the state in Chicago at the elite Mrs. International 2026 competition.
While her whirlwind pageant career has certainly fulfilled a lifelong aspiration, Mehta also sees these showcases as a platform for something bigger and far more important than herself.
“Contestants must champion a social cause. Mine is autism advocacy. This is something I care deeply about as a woman who has [lived] on the spectrum, but was not diagnosed until the age of 37.”
Mehta says that the clinical assessment made sense in hindsight, contextualizing challenges she had experienced throughout her life. However, she may never have known she was autistic if it had not been for her son.
“Aidan was diagnosed with autism at a young age” after exhibiting early signs, Mehta shared. While walking her 1-year-old through a battery of tests, she realized that many of the same traits and behaviors applied to her. She took the initiative to schedule her own evaluation through the Autism Society of Minnesota, confirming that she, too, is on the spectrum.
Mehta says that her family’s experience is not unusual. “Autism is far more likely to be diagnosed in boys than in girls. … As we grow up, women are also adept at masking or camouflaging actions, like mimicking those around us to better fit in.”
Other factors are also at play. “For decades, autism research and diagnostic criteria were largely based on how autism presents in boys. So, as a result, many women, especially those who don't have an intellectual disability, were overlooked. They were misdiagnosed. Some get diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder. Or they're told that they were simply shy, sensitive, dramatic, gifted or anxious.”
Mehta feels she has an obligation – but also the enormous privilege – to use her pageant stage as a vehicle to spread awareness, dispel entrenched stigmas and normalize autism screening in adulthood.