Shriya Boppana (born January 8, 1999) is an Indian-American beauty pageant titleholder, award-winning activist, and on-air personality who was crowned as the winner of Miss India America 2020 [1] and 1st Runner Up at Miss Grand US Virgin Islands 2024. Boppana is a broadcast journalist currently at WDCA (locally known as "FOX 5 Plus") in Washington, D.C. [2] and a consulting analyst at Accenture. [3] [4]
Boppana was raised in Herndon, Virginia. [5] She graduated from Herndon High School [5] in 2017 and later received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University in 2021. [6] [7] She currently attends Duke University's Fuqua School of Business for her Master of Business Administration as a Forte Foundation Fellow and a Fuqua Impact Scholar. [4]
In September 2020, Boppana placed 1st Runner Up at Miss India DC 2020 [6] [8] and was later awarded Miss India America 2020. [9]
In August 2022, Boppana placed 1st Runner Up at Miss Earth DC 2022. [1]
On 25 March 2024, Boppana placed 1st Runner Up at Miss Grand US Virgin Islands 2024, preliminary to Miss Grand International.
In 2021, Boppana founded Becoming A Voice, a resource creation center for gender and sex crime advocacy content. [10]
On 21 July 2022, the Malala Fund (founded by Malala Yousafzai) featured Boppana's activism journey on their social media. [11] Malala later featured Boppana in her 2022 International Day of the Girl video on Tik Tok. [12]
In 2023, Boppana made the inaugural Forbes 30 Under 30: Austin local list as an activist and TV personality for her anti-sex trafficking work with Becoming A Voice. [2] In April, she was inducted into the Fairfax County Public Schools Hall of Fame also for her anti-sex trafficking and youth empowerment advocacy with Becoming A Voice. [13]
'Becoming A Voice with Shriya Boppana' produced by Global Television Networks first aired on the show, Capital Forum, on WDCA (locally known as "FOX 5 Plus") in February 2021. [14] The segment aired six episodes in season one and was renewed for season two in 2023. [14]
On 3 August 2021, Boppana was featured in an episode of WJLA (locally known as "ABC 7 News") 'Future Leaders of America.' [5]
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, it became Carnegie Mellon University through its merger with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon and formerly a part of the University of Pittsburgh.
The School of Computer Science (SCS) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US is a school for computer science established in 1988. It has been consistently ranked among the best computer science programs over the decades. As of 2024 U.S. News & World Report ranks the graduate program as tied for No. 1 with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley.
Miss Puerto Rico is a national title bestowed on the women representing Puerto Rico in international beauty pageants.
Miss Arizona USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arizona in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by its winner. The pageant is directed by Casting Crown Productions.
The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in High Point, North Carolina since 2021 and was previously held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Burlington, Wilmington, and Morehead City.
The Miss Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represented Virginia in the Miss America pageant since the 1930s. Four Miss Virginia winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America, including former national titleholder Caressa Cameron.
The Miss Maryland competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Maryland in the Miss America pageant.
Miss Thailand, is a beauty pageant held in Thailand for Thai women, first held on December 10, 1934, in Phra Nakhon District of Bangkok, under the name of Miss Siam. Since 2023, the winner of the pageant represents Thailand at Miss Global.
Patricia Yurena Rodríguez Alonso is a Spanish model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Spain 2008 and then Miss Universe Spain 2013. She represented Spain at Miss World 2008, where she placed in the top fifteen, and at Miss Universe 2013, where she was the first runner-up, becoming the highest-placing Spanish delegate since Teresa Sánchez López who was the first runner-up at Miss Universe 1985, and after Amparo Muñoz won the title in 1974.
Miriam Odemba is a Tanzanian model and beauty pageant titleholder. She started her modeling career at an early age and gained fame when she won the Miss Temeke title in 1997. The following year aged 23 she took part at Miss East Africa 1998 and in the modeling competition M-Net Face of Africa 1998 becoming a runner up. She later participated at Elite Model Look 1999 contest and Miss Earth 2008 where she was crowned as Miss Earth – Air 2008.
Jennifer Colón Álvarado, also known as Jenny Allende, is a Puerto Rican model, singer, tv host, esthetician, iridologist, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2024. As a 36-year-old woman and single mother of three children, Colón made history by becoming the first woman over the age of 28 and first mother to win the title. In the history of Miss Universe, Colón was the second woman over the age of 32 and currently one of the three oldest women to have been selected to compete in the pageant. She was also the fourth mother and second single mother to have been selected to participate in the pageant. Colón will represent Puerto Rico in Miss Universe 2024.
Christopher Granger Atkeson is an American roboticist and a professor at the Robotics Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Atkeson is known for his work in humanoid robots, soft robotics, and machine learning, most notably on locally weighted learning.
Miss International 2013, the 53rd Miss International pageant, was held on December 17, 2013 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Alejandra Andreu, Miss International 2008, crowned Bea Santiago of the Philippines at the end of the event. This was the second consecutive year Japan hosted the pageant.
Miss Queen Portugal is a national beauty pageant in Portugal. It is responsible for selecting the country's representative to Miss Earth, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness.
Miss Fiji is a national Beauty pageant in Fiji. Beginning in 2024, the new formation of Miss Universe Fiji will serve as the national contest to select the representative for the Miss Universe pageant, marking the end of a 43-year absence from the competition.
Thiessa Sickert is a Brazilian journalist, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She had been in various beauty pageants in the World. She started when she was 16 years old, winning the Miss Brasil Massachusetts 2009 in Boston. Then, in 2012, as Miss Minas Gerais she went from the state pageant to the national Miss Brasil, there, she was named the second runner up. In 2015, she was awarded the Miss Earth Brazil 2015 title by its organization and represented Brazil in the Miss Earth 2015 pageant in Vienna, Austria. In that year, Thiessa was crowned as Miss Earth-Fire 2015.
Sujita Basnet is an American-Nepalese beauty pageant titleholder, social worker and management consultant who participated in many beauty pageants from 2011 to 2021. She was crowned as Miss Universe Nepal 2021. She represented Nepal at Miss Universe 2021. She was also the first runner up to Miss Universe Nepal 2020. She worked at many social organizations in the USA and became a well-known social worker.
Kathryn Ann Whitehead is an American chemical engineer who is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research considers the development of nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems for gene therapy, oral macromolecular delivery systems, and maternal and infant therapeutics. She is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2021 and Fellow of the Controlled Release Society.
Miss Grand US Virgin Islands is a national beauty pageant title awarded to women chosen to represent the US Virgin Islands at the Miss Grand International contest. The title was first awarded in 2014 when a 24-year-old Stateside Puerto Rican, Wilma Echandy, was appointed to represent the US Virgin Islands in Miss Grand International 2014 in Thailand. Under the directorship of Brian Javier, the first contest of Miss Grand US Virgin Islands was expected to be held in March 2024.
Miss Grand United States Virgin Islands 2024 was the inaugural edition of the Miss Grand United States Virgin Islands pageant, held on March 25, 2024, at the CUZ Miami Venue, Doral, Florida, United States. Eight candidates from different cities and sub-districts competed for the title, of whom a 23-year-old model and former 1st runner-up Miss Grand United States 2023 representing Coral Bay, Samantha Keaton, was elected the winner, while the representatives of Christiansted and Reef Bay were named the runners-up.
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