Jenna Edwards (born July 29, 1981) is an American

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

from

Brandon, Mississippi Brandon is a city in and the county seat of Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. It was incorporated on December 19, 1831. The population was 21,705 at the 2010 census. Brandon is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is l ...

who has held the titles

Miss Florida The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated Miss F ...

and Miss Florida USA. Edwards represented Florida at the

Miss America 2005 Miss America 2005, the 78th Miss America pageant, was held in Atlantic City on Saturday, September 18, 2004, following a week of events including the preliminary competition. The pageant was broadcast live on ABC from Boardwalk Hall in Atla ...

pageant and the Miss USA 2007 pageant. Edwards grew up in

Clinton, Mississippi Clinton is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson metropolitan area, it is the tenth largest city in Mississippi. The population was 28,100 at the 2020 United States census. History Founded in 1823, Clint ...

and graduated from Central Hinds Academy in 1999. After spending one year and a study abroad semester at

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

, she transferred to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in Communication Studies and English Literature.

Pageantry

In 1998 and 1999, she competed in the

Miss Mississippi Teen USA The Miss Mississippi Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Mississippi in the Miss Teen USA pageant. The pageant was directed by Premier Pageants from 2001 to 2010, before becoming part of Greenwood ...

pageant, and placed first runner-up both years. She won her first major title, Miss Teen All-American, in 1999. Edwards was an official hostess/entertainer for that pageant in 2000 and 2001. In 2000 she won the Miss Oktoberfest pageant, beating future Miss USA titleholder

Shandi Finnessey Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978) is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty queen. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss Am ...

Miss America

In September 2002, Edwards won the Miss University of Miami preliminary title, and competed for the Miss Florida title in mid-2003. Edwards placed in the top 15 and won Newcomer of the Year. The pageant was won by

Ericka Dunlap Ericka Dunlap (born December 29, 1981) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Orlando, Florida who was named Miss Florida 2003 and subsequently crowned Miss America 2004. Dunlap was the first African American woman to be crowned Miss Flor ...

. Dunlap would later go on to win the Miss America title. In February the following year she won Miss Winter Park, another preliminary title, and competed at the state pageant held in June. In that pageant she won both swimsuit and evening gown preliminaries, and was crowned Miss Florida 2004. Her first runner-up was Shannon Schambeau who would later become

Miss District of Columbia Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

2005. Edwards represented Florida in the

pageant broadcast live from Atlantic City, New Jersey in September 2004. She did not place in the nationally televised pageant, but did win a preliminary swimsuit award.

Miss USA

In April 2006, Edwards returned to the pageant stage, winning the Miss

North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campu ...

USA title, a preliminary for Miss Florida USA. Edwards competed for the Miss Florida USA 2007 title on 15 July 2006, winning the title and becoming the third Miss Florida to win the Miss Florida USA crown. She represented Florida at the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant held at the Kodak Theatre in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on March 23, 2007, but did not place. Edwards passed on the Miss Florida USA title to Jessica Rafalowski on 14 July 2007.

Queen for a Day

Edwards is well known for starting the charity "Queen for a Day", for which she won the Miss America Overall Community Service award. Queen for a Day is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded in 2000 that is dedicated to helping young cancer sufferers, allowing them to dress up and crowning them "Queen for a Day". The organisation aims to encourage local communities to host party days for girls with cancer. It has been featured on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'' and in ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' Magazine (March 2002) and won the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

's "Commitment to Kids" Award in 2001.

References

External links

Miss Florida 2004 official profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Jenna 1981 births Living people Miss America 2005 delegates Miss USA 2007 delegates Mississippi College alumni University of Miami alumni People from Miami People from Clinton, Mississippi Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners