| Miss Grand United States of America | |
| Founder: | Chantel Martínez |
| Type: | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters: | Chicago |
| Location: | United States |
| Membership: | Miss Grand International |
| Language: | English |
| Leader Title: | National Director |
| Leader Name: | Rachel Slawson |
| Parent Organization: | Protagonist Live LLC. (2024-2026) |
| Website: | Official Website |
Miss Grand USA, also referred to as Miss Grand United States of America, is an annual female beauty pageant in the United States, founded in 2016 by a Dominican-American businessperson, Chantel Martínez, aiming to select the country representative for Miss Grand International, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting World Peace and against all kinds of conflicts.[1] [2]
The Miss Grand USA organization has been franchising the state competitions to individual organizers since 2016, which in some cases are responsible for more than one state.[3] [4] Each U.S. state must choose a candidate who competes at the national Miss Grand USA pageant, however, delegates may be appointed state or regional titles if a state pageant is not offered in their area.
The United States holds a record of 4 placements at Miss Grand International, the highest position was first place, won in 2020 by Abena Appiah of New York, followed by the third and fourth runners-up by Sthephanie Miranda and Michelle León in 2023 and 2016, respectively.
The United States has been participating at Miss Grand International since its inception in 2013. Under the management of Earth Pageant Productions during 2013 – 2015, the first two country representatives were appointed to join the international event without organizing the contest while the last one obtained the title through the Miss Earth United States 2015, two of them, Blair Griffith and Lauren Petersen, were placed among the top 20 finalists in 2013 and 2015, respectively.
After Chantel Martínez a New York-based Dominican-American fashion model acquired the franchise in 2016, she eventually run the first contest of Miss Grand USA to determine a winner for the international stage. The event was held at Leonard Nimoy Thalia of Symphony Space in New York City, featuring 13 national finalists, of which Michelle León from the host state was announced the winner. León also obtained the fourth runner-up title after participating in the 2016 Miss Grand International contest in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] Later in 2018, Martínez scheduled to organize the 2018 contest on May 28 in New York,[6] but lost the franchise to Israel Silva and Hernan Rivera of H&I Grand Productions LLC, the Chicago-based event organizer that owned and ran the Miss Grand USA beauty contest from 2019 to 2023.[7] The license was then transferred to an e-commerce company, Protagonist Live LLC, in early 2024, with former Miss Grand Ireland 2023, Rachel Slawson, as the president.[8]
Since its establishment, the pageant, originally programmed to be held on 31 August, was canceled once in 2020 due to the significantly increased of COVID-19 infection cases in the country, the organizer then decided to appoint a Ghanaian American model Abena Appiah to instead compete at the international stage in Thailand, where she won the contest, making her the first American representative to hold such a title and the first black contender to do so.[9]
The following list is the edition detail of the Miss Grand USA contest, since its inception in 2016.
| Year | Edition | Date | Final venue | Host State | Entrants | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1st | May 28 | Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space, New York City | New York | 13 | [10] | |
| 2017 | 2nd | July 25 | 17 | ||||
| 2019 | 3rd | August 11 | Lincolnshire Marriott Resort, Lake County | Illinois | 35 | ||
| 2021 | 4th | June 20 | Joe's Live Rosemont, Rosemont | 18 | [11] [12] | ||
| 2022 | 5th | June 23 | Copernicus Center, Chicago | 12 | [13] | ||
| 2023 | 6th | August 17 | Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel & Conference Center | 25 | [14] | ||
| 2024 | 7th | August 12 | Club M2, Miami | Florida | [15] [16] |
| Year | Result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Grand United States | 1st runner-up | 2nd runner-up | 3rd runner-up | 4th runner-up | ||
| 2016 | Michelle León (New York) | Heather Jorgensen (Illinois) | Melissa Martinez (Mississippi) | Karina Lopez (New Jersey) | Jodelis Diaz (Pennsylvania) | [17] |
| 2017 | Taylor Kessler (California) | Brianna Key (Louisiana) | Alexi Gropper (Georgia) | Courtney Williams (Maryland) | Leidy Guzman (Rhode Island) | [18] |
| 2019 | Emily Delgado (Nevada) | Alexandria Kelly (Michigan) | Que Demery (Florida) | Shiobhan Fraser (Georgia) | Stormy Keffeler (Washington) | [19] [20] |
| 2021 | Madison Callaghan (North Carolina) | Taylor Gipson (Tennessee) | Gennesis Padron (Atlantic) | Sydney Salinas (Texas) | Emily Argo (Illinois) | [21] |
| 2022 | Emily DeMure (Colorado) | Mercia Stephens (Ohio) | Brooke Butler (Kansas) | [22] | ||
| 2023 | Sthephanie Miranda (Great Lakes) | Samantha Keaton (Illinois) | Rachel Slawson (New York) | Francie Millan (Texas) | Mazzy Eckel (Washington) | |
| 2024 | Cora Griffen (Georgia) | Tiajah Elliott (New Jersey) | Victoria Oluwakotanmi (Illinois) | Andrea Valentina (Florida) | Giselle Burgos (Arizona) | [23] [24] |
| Year | Representative | Competition performance | National director(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement | Special award | |||||||
| 2013 | Blair Griffith | Miss Grand United States 2013 | Top 20 | — | Evan L. Skow | [25] | ||
| 2014 | Sara Platt | Miss Grand United States 2014 (Special title at the Miss Earth United States 2014 pageant) | Unplaced | — | ||||
| 2015 | Lauren Petersen | Miss Grand United States 2015 (Special title at the Miss Earth United States 2015 pageant) | Top 20 | — | ||||
| 2016 | Michelle León | Miss Grand United States 2016 | 4th runner-up | — | Chantel Martínez | |||
| 2017 | Taylor Kessler | Miss Grand United States 2017 | Unplaced | — | ||||
| 2018 | Paola Cossyleon | Unplaced | — | [26] | ||||
| 2019 | Emily Delgado | Miss Grand United States 2019 | Unplaced | — | ||||
| 2020 | Abena Appiah | Top 16 of Miss World America 2017 | Winner | — | ||||
| 2021 | Madison Callaghan | Miss Grand United States 2021 | Unplaced | — | ||||
| 2022 | Emily DeMure | Miss Grand United States 2022 | Unplaced | — | ||||
| 2023 | Miss Grand United States 2023 | 3rd runner-up | — | |||||
| 2024 | Cora Griffen | Miss Grand United States 2024 | TBA | TBA | Rachel Slawson | |||
| ||||||||
| State | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Colorado | 2013, 2022 |
| New York | 2016, 2020 | |
| 1 | North Carolina | 2021 |
| Nevada | 2019 | |
| Illinois | 2018 | |
| California | 2017 | |
| Virginia | 2015 | |
| South Carolina | 2014 |
The following list is the national finalists of the Miss Grand USA pageant, as well as the competition results.
| width=120 | width=130 | 2016 | width=130 | 2017 | width=130 | 2019 | width=130 | 2021 | width=130 | 2022 | width=130 | 2023 | width=130 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alesha Mc Neese | |||||||||||||
| Alaska | Abigail González | |||||||||||||
| Arizona | Myriam Rochin | Annaka Jordan | Sierra Rothacker | Giselle Burgos | ||||||||||
| Nadia Monique | ||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | ||||||||||||||
| California | Jen Sidorova | Taylor Kessler (W) | Ereka Lambe | Nyakoach Lam | Bibyana Marquez | Rebecca Edwards | Me-Kayla Brittany | |||||||
| Colorado | Kelly Cardona | Ashley Marian Avila | Lizeth Morales Tena | Emily Demure (W) | Kylie Klein | Liza Degtiarova | ||||||||
| Sabrina Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | Naomi Arias | Amber Walker | Kathyria Burgos | Sara Zaimi | ||||||||||
| Delaware | Eddia Jane Watts | |||||||||||||
| District of Columbia | Luciana Davalos Brown | Faatima Brown | Natalia Salmon | |||||||||||
| Florida | Stephanie Camacho | Tyeshaa Hudson | Que Demery | Bella Logins | Florence Garcia | Ivana Valentina Garcia | Andrea Valentina | |||||||
| Georgia | Alexi Gropper | Shiobhan Fraser Smith | Nicole Monserrat | Kennedy Thomas | Cora Griffen (W) | |||||||||
| Hawaii | Stephanie Wang | Jena Masero | ||||||||||||
| Idaho | ||||||||||||||
| Illinois | Heather Jorgensen | Leah Weatherford | Karah West | Emily Rae Argo | Samantha Catherine Keaton | Victoria Oluwakotanmi | ||||||||
| Indiana | Barbara Satine | |||||||||||||
| Iowa | Faith Bernadette | |||||||||||||
| Kansas | Beth Wiese | Ileana Flores | Brooke Butler | |||||||||||
| Kentucky | Ramya Kondaveeti | |||||||||||||
| Louisiana | Brianna Key | Mayura Kulkarni | Darcy Nguyen | Bri Hunter | Gabriela Vazquez | |||||||||
| Maine | Susie Damm | |||||||||||||
| Maryland | Karol Melendez | Courtney Williams | Brianna Rea Lopez | Amanda Bertholf | ||||||||||
| Massachusetts | Caroline Placzek | Ana Solano | Paradise Rodriguez | Joyce Sanchez | ||||||||||
| Michigan | Alexandria Kelly | Malia Lopez | Morgan Pickrell | |||||||||||
| Minnesota | Katerina Katakalides | Việt Mĩ Nguyễn | Annais Loks | Nkechi Okorie | ||||||||||
| Mississippi | Melissa Martinez | Melissa Martinez | Latora Melly Bemley | Jessica Fields | ||||||||||
| Missouri | Tyler Liane Prugh | Rachel Ringgenberg | Rachel Ringgenberg | |||||||||||
| Montana | Shannon MacNeil | |||||||||||||
| Nebraska | Brenda Melissa Ramos | |||||||||||||
| Nevada | Chelynel Sanchez | Ellen Kincaid | Emily Delgado (W) | Miranda Contreras | July Garza | Hanin Al Qoreishy | ||||||||
| New Hampshire | ||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | Karina Lopez | Mayelin De La Cruz | Christine Pierre | Tiajah Elliott | ||||||||||
| New Mexico | Gabriela Gomez Raiciof | Jacqueline Mata | Francely Lopez | |||||||||||
| New York | Michelle Leon (W) | Chanise Thomas | Heather Thompson | Ashley Sánchez | Maxine Cesar | Rachel Slawson | Ariel Jingjing Cao | |||||||
| North Carolina | Miriam Marie | Madison Callaghan (W) | London Tucker | |||||||||||
| North Dakota | ||||||||||||||
| Ohio | Summer Sadiyeh | Natalia Chelsy Cordero | Moazmah Gill | Mercia Stephens | Teyana Adams | |||||||||
| Oklahoma | Stephanie Ariza Ramírez | |||||||||||||
| Oregon | Melony Escobar | Jasmin Arevalo-Larios | ||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | Jodelis Diaz | Smaroling Esther | Madison Rivera | Jennifer Santiago | Ebone Marie Jimerson | |||||||||
| Rhode Island | Leidy Guzman | Alexa Cardona | Christella Merveille Ilunga | |||||||||||
| South Carolina | Verhonda Crawford | Angelia Williams | Jakiyra Hambright | |||||||||||
| South Dakota | ||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | Autumn Endsley | Byrgundy Mallory | Taylor Gipson | |||||||||||
| Texas | Alaina Pereyna | Courtney Newman | Anastasia Semenova | Sydney Salinas | Juanita Maldonado | Francie Millan | Karina Ramirez | |||||||
| Utah | ||||||||||||||
| Vermont | Noelia Baez | |||||||||||||
| Virginia | Naomi Rahn | Trerese Roberts | Amella Montiel–Goodman | |||||||||||
| Washington | Stormy Keffeler | Vanessa Guerrero | Mazzy Eckel | Gillian Arroyo | ||||||||||
| West Virginia | ||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | ||||||||||||||
| Candidates with no affiliated state | ||||||||||||||
| Atlantic | Gennesis Padron | |||||||||||||
| Great Lakes | Sthephanie M. Miranda (W) | |||||||||||||
| Mid-Atlantic | Leslie Ann Padilla | |||||||||||||
| New England | Alanna Hepbun | |||||||||||||
| North East | Joselyn Farias | |||||||||||||
| South Atlantic | Alexis D Williams | |||||||||||||
| South East | Chinelo Aniekwu | |||||||||||||
| Tri-State | Maxine Cesar | |||||||||||||
| West Coast | Alexandra Marie Gill | |||||||||||||
| Total | 13 | 17 | 35 | 18 | 12 | 24 | 19 | |||||||