Lynnette Cole
Miss USA 2000
A champion for adoption

Lynnette Cole was born on February 9, 1978.  Placed into foster care as an infant, she and her brother were adopted by Larry and Gail Cole of Columbia, Tennessee when she was only ten months old.  The children were of Puerto Rican heritage, and the Coles moved to Tennessee in order to adopt the children, due to interracial adoption laws where they lived.  Before adopting Lynnette and her brother, the Coles had hosted over one hundred foster children.

When Cole was 15, she was named Miss Tennessee Teen USA, and was also a finalist in the Miss Teen USA pageant.  In 2000, Cole was crowned Miss Tennessee USA and in February of 2000, she received the title of Miss USA.  She was the first woman from Tennessee to win the Miss USA pageant.  In addition, she was one of the five finalists in the Miss Universe pageant in 2000.

Since then, Cole has hosted events for several television networks, and has also been featured in several television commercials.  She and her husband Michael live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Information from wikipedia and connection magazine.