Osmel Ricardo Sousa Mancilla (born 26 September 1946) is a Cuban-Venezuelan beauty pageant gurú and the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. Formerly an advertising draftsman, Osmel Sousa joined the Venezuelan Committee of Beauty in 1969. Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.
In the 1970s, Osmel Sousa undertook advising selected contestants, many of whom went on to win the Miss Venezuela crown, at the same time he started designing nightgowns for most of the contestants.
In October 1981 Ignacio Font Coll died and Osmel Sousa became the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. During his 25 year career he has been considered to be the driving force behind the large number of Miss Venezuelas who go on to become Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. He has been called a Pygmalion, an artist who turns out talented and beautiful young women. To date, Venezuela has six Miss Universe titleholders, six Miss World winners, six Miss International crowns, and one win in Miss Earth, becoming the most successful pageant powerhouse in history.
In 2007, Sousa joined with Lupita Jones, a former Miss Universe(1991), and Carlos Calderón, emcee of "El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging Univision's Hispanic beauty contest Nuestra Belleza Latina.