Janaye Michelle Ingram is a political organizer from

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census. ...

Biography

Ingram was crowned

Miss New Jersey USA The Miss New Jersey USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss USA pageant. It is produced by D&D Productions. New Jersey has yet to win the Miss USA title, although from 1989 to 19 ...

2004 in Jersey City, New Jersey in late 2003. She later represented New Jersey in the

Miss USA 2004 Miss USA 2004 was the 53rd Miss USA pageant, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2004. The winner of the beauty pageant was Shandi Finnessey, who became the first winner from the state of Missouri. Finnessey was crow ...

pageant held 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 wo ...

in April 2004 where she went unplaced. She is originally from

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

, but later moved to Cherry Hill. Ingram's family is well known in Camden. Her father and his siblings are musicians who worked closely with

The Sound of Philadelphia Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. I ...

. Her paternal aunt is

Barbara Ingram Barbara Jane Ingram (February 9, 1947 – October 20, 1994) was an American R&B singer and songwriter who was active throughout the early 1970s until the mid-late 1980s, enjoying modest success as a backup singer for almost two decades. ...

. She graduated from

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Fou ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

where she was initiated into the Alpha Pi chapter of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen st ...

sorority. Ingram later went on to pursue a Master's of Science in Nonprofit Management at The New School's Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. Ingram has worked with organizations across the country to empower underserved populations and has received numerous awards and recognition for her efforts. In 2013, Ingram was promoted from her position as

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

bureau chief to be national executive director of

National Action Network The National Action Network (NAN) is a not-for-profit, civil rights organization founded by the Reverend Al Sharpton in New York City, New York, in early 1991. In a 2016 profile, '' Vanity Fair'' called Sharpton "arguably the country's most infl ...

, founded and led by

Rev. Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...

. She is a board member for the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) and has started a scholarship campaign for children and youth in impoverished communities called Ambassadors of Hope. In 2017, she was Head of Logistics for the

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 m ...

, which was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.

References

Selected publications

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Video

External links

Miss New Jersey USA official websiteMiss USA official website

The Grio

Janaye Ingram official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Janaye 1978 births Living people People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Camden, New Jersey Miss USA 2004 delegates African-American feminists American feminists African-American activists 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people