News & Updates
Charlottesville Resident Becomes Miss Virginia, Will Compete in the 2025 Miss America Competition
For immediate release
July 2, 2024
Carlehr Swanson, formerly Miss Blue Ridge, was crowned Miss Virginia 2024 on Saturday,June 29, at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, VA, winning a total of $22,500 in scholarship awards.
Carlehr is a third year PhD student at the University of Virginia (UVA) in critical and comparative studies in music. Her ambition is to obtain a doctorate in music and to work in higher education as an administrator
or professor. She earned her Bachelor’s of Music from George Mason University, a Master’s of Music from the University of Miami, and her Master of Arts from UVA.
Carlehr’s Community Service Initiative (CSI) is called “Bridging the Divide: Music is Unity.” She started this outreach program as an eighth grader after making an impromptu performance at her grandmother’s
rehabilitation center. This sparked her lifelong dedication to sharing music’s healing power. Since then, “Music is Unity” has evolved into a full-service arts organization for free performances in nursing homes and schools, prompting artist mentorship, social harmony, and community engagement with a vision to
foster empathy, diversity and unity. To follow Carlehr’s CSI journey, visit www.CarlehrSwanson.com.
She sang and accompanied herself on the piano during the talent competition, performing the soulful Aretha Franklin song, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman. Carlehr serves as the director of UVA’s Historic Gospel Choir, Black Voices. She hosts a weekly gospel radio show on 101.3 JAMZ and recently won Loni Love’s The Real Talk Show Instagram live talent show. She was also cast as an extra in the Apple TV series Swagger.
As Miss Virginia, she’ll travel across the Commonwealth as a goodwill ambassador, performing artist, and motivational speaker. She’ll visit more than 70 elementary schools as spokesperson for the Virginia Adult Beverage Control, promoting healthy choices and substance abuse prevention. She’ll also share her personal message about the importance of music in everyone’s lives.
In addition, Carlehr plans to start “Music is Unity” clubs in schools across the Commonwealth and recruit young women from high schools and colleges to participate in the Miss Virginia and Miss Virginia’s Teen Scholarship Competitions. She has won almost $40,000 in scholarships plus additional tuition scholarships through her participation in local and state Miss America preliminary competitions.
Other Miss Virginia finalists include: first runner-up, Miss Loudoun County, Breana Turner ($6,000 scholarship); second runner-up, Miss Arlington, Emily Kinsey ($4,000 scholarship); third runner-up, Miss Lynchburg, Susanna Shedd ($3,000 scholarship); and fourth runner-up, Miss Northern Virginia, Madison Whitbeck ($2,000 scholarship).
Cassidy Lee, Miss Hampton-Newport News’ Teen, was crowned Miss Virginia’s Teen 2024, walking away with a $5,000 scholarship. Cassidy attended Warhill High School in Williamsburg, VA, and will attend the University of Alabama this Fall. Her CSI is entitled, “The Power of a Smile,” and she performed a musical theatre dance in the talent competition. Both Swanson and Lee will represent Virginia in the national Miss America and Miss America’s Teen Competitions in Orlando, FL, in January 2025.
The Miss Virginia Opportunity, Inc., awarded more than $60,000 in cash scholarships and additional tuition scholarships to colleges and universities during the 2024 Miss Virginia and Miss Virginia’s Teen Competitions, that featured 24 Miss Virginia candidates and 22 teens.
The Miss Virginia Opportunity is part of Miss America, one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and providers of scholarships for young women. Four Miss Virginias have won the Miss America crown and one state teen titleholder has won the national teen competition.
For more information and for upcoming events, visit the organization’s new website:
Media Contact:
Mrs. Trone Kee
540-539-3634
News & Updates
Miss Virginia Opportunity Announces New Leadership Team
For Immediate Release
April 23, 2024
The Miss Virginia Scholarship Program is now doing business as the Miss Virginia
Opportunity, Inc. With continued leadership from Elaine B. Aikens, Co-Executive Director;
Aikens is now joined by Mark A. Schreier and Nancy Glisson Lucy as additional Co-
Executive Directors.
Aikens, a retired Winchester educator, has volunteered with Miss Virginia for 40 years. “I
enjoy watching the growth and achievement the young women gain by participating in
pageants. The confidence and opportunities that are afforded them, with the scholarships
that are awarded, open doors they have never imagined were available to them. I guess
you might say that my volunteer work is what gives me the most pleasure in life...oh, and
traveling is loads of fun, too.”
Mark Schreier brings a professional background of sales, marketing, and broadcasting.
The Roanoke resident works in sales / new business development for Robertson
Marketing in Salem. Schreier was the pageant’s director of Marketing, Fundraising, and
Production for 15 years before moving into the leadership role. He’s also the president of
the pageant’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit scholarship partner, the Margaret R. Baker Charitable
Foundation, Inc.
Nancy Glisson Lucy, Miss Virginia 1993 and 4th runner-up to Miss America 1994, adds a
strong background of marketing and organizational development. She’s also involved in
nonprofit event planning, development, and fundraising. Nancy’s interests include: Thrive
Bible Study, the “Night to Shine” - Tim Tebow Foundation event, Full Circle Grief Center,
and Hope Church Music Ministry. She resides in Richmond.
In addition to the leadership change, the organization has also added new members to
the board of directors. Lucy says, “We’re so grateful for our dedicated board of directors
who are our stewards of the Miss Virginia legacy. We have a wonderful group of
stakeholders who are actively overseeing our management and protecting the interest of
the Miss Virginia Opportunity for years to come.”
Schreier agrees, adding, “We’re here to help young women further their educations and
become game changers in all aspects of their lives. This program is one of the most
impactful ways to prepare young people for the future, with the foundation of scholarship
and community service. Building this legacy for future generations is one of the most
rewarding parts of volunteering for this organization, and I’ve been doing it with the Miss
America Opportunity for more than 40 years.”
The board of directors also consists of Debra Anderson, Dale Bradshaw, Chip Brown,
Bootie Chewning, Dr. Nancy Dye, Scott Freda, Melinda Froelicher, Linda Haas, Melody
Jessee, Trone Kee, Patrick Moore, and Nikki Williams.
Associate board members are Kay Bolliger, Callie Dalton, Carolyn Hodges Campbell,
Matt Hogan, Toni McLawhorn, Ashley Smith, and Beverly Young.
Katie Rose, the current Miss Virginia, earned a Juris Doctor from the University of
Richmond Law School. She was crowned in Roanoke last July, winning more than
$22,000 in scholarships, after performing a classical ballet en point in the talent
competition.
Katie travels thousands of miles across the Commonwealth, promoting her social impact
initiative, “Ending Domestic Violence by Empowering Women and Enabling Reform.” She
also serves as a spokesperson for promoting healthy choices and preventing substance
abuse to students in Virginia’s elementary schools, as part of the Virginia Alcoholic
Beverage Control Authority / Miss Virginia School Tour program.
The 2024 Miss Virginia and Miss Virginia’s Teen Competitions will take place June 27-29
at the Berglund Center in Roanoke.
For more information and for upcoming events, visit the organization’s new website:
www.missvirginia.org
.
Media Contact:
Mrs. Trone Kee
tronekee@gmail.com
540-539-3634
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