Miss Volunteer America

On June 5th, 2018, the Miss America Scholarship Pageant announced that it would be parting ways with the swimsuit portion of the competition. Gretchen Carlson, Miss America CEO at the time, stated, « We are no longer a pageant; we are a competition…We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That’s huge. » Many long-time Miss America volunteers were unhappy with the change, and decided to cut their ties with the organization. 

In Jackson, Tennessee, Miss Tennessee director Allison Alderson DeMarcus, along with Miss Tennessee 2018 Christine Williamson, departed from the Miss America Program to create a new scholarship pageant, Miss Tennessee Volunteer. The inaugural competition was held on June 16th, 2019 with Williamson crowning Kerri Arnold.

Following the competition, the decision was made to make a national pageant. Miss Volunteer America statewide pageants were originally scheduled in the second half of 2020 but had been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the national pageant had also been postponed to 2022. 

The first edition of national pageant was held on May 7th, 2022 in Jackson.

The Miss Volunteer America organization were continuously strive to promote the S.E.R.V.E. (Scholarship, Education, Responsibility, Volunteerism, and Empowerment) initiative and provide scholarships for women.