Ericka Dunlap (born December 29, 1981BlackPast - Ericka Dunlap biography
/ref>) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder from

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

who was named Miss Florida 2003 and subsequently crowned Miss America 2004. Dunlap was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman to be crowned Miss Florida in the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

pageant's 81-year history. As of 2022, she is the only African American woman to have been crowned Miss Florida.

Personal

Dunlap is a native of

, attended William R. Boone High School, and is a graduate of the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. While attending college at the University of Central Florida, she became a member of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

sorority. She and her then-husband, Brian Kleinschmidt, appeared on '' The Amazing Race 15'', where they placed third overall. Dunlap gave birth to a daughter in 2020.Former Miss America shares how pageant helps pave the way for womens’ success
/ref>

Career

In 2004, she was crowned

, becoming the seventh African American woman to hold the title. Dunlap's platform was "United We Stand, Divided We Fall Behind: Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion." Dunlap appeared on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'', ''

Live With Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Mark'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American Broadcast syndication, syndicated breakfast television, morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show ...

'', and Fox News’ ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

''. She also served as Grand Marshal of the Talladega 500

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

race. She has also appeared in a number of movies, including ''

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand ...

''. Dunlap traveled to Kuwait in November 2003, during her reign as Miss America, to entertain and serve the American troops for Thanksgiving. Ericka Dunlap 2008

Dunlap formed Crown Jewel Consulting to deliver public relations consulting. Her charitable organization, The Crown Jewel Foundation, promotes social development skills and image awareness in young girls. Since the fall of 2013, Dunlap has been seen as a judge at The American Idol Experience at

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Br ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. She ran for the Orlando City Commission, District 5 in 2017, but lost to incumbent Regina Hill. In 2024, she partnered with Advil for the Pain Equity Project. April of 2024, Dunlap ran in the Orlando City Commissioner special election. She would obtain 459 votes in the general special election, just 37 votes from continuing into the final runoff election.

References

External links

* 1981 births Living people Miss America 2004 delegates Miss America winners People from Orlando, Florida William R. Boone High School alumni University of Central Florida alumni Delta Sigma Theta members Beauty queen-politicians African-American beauty pageant winners Participants in American reality television series {{US-pageant-bio-stub