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

beauty queen 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 so ...

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 25,138 as of the 2020 census. A suburb of Jackson, Brandon is part of the Jackson Metropolitan ...

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 The Miss Florida USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss USA pageant. Up until the 2017 pageant, both Miss and Teen state pageants were held separately in different months. In recen ...

. Edwards represented Florida at the Miss America 2005 pageant and the

Miss USA 2007 Miss USA 2007 was the 56th Miss USA pageant, held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California on March 23, 2007, after two weeks of events and preliminary competition. The winner of the pageant was Rachel Smith of Tenness ...

pageant. Edwards grew up in

Clinton, Mississippi Clinton is a List of cities in Mississippi, city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area, Jackson metropolitan area, it is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 10th most populous c ...

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 university affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention and located in Clinton, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1826, MC is the second oldest Baptists, Baptist-affiliated college or university in ...

, she transferred to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, earning a

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

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 pageant titleholder. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and com ...

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 F ...

. Dunlap would later go on to win the Miss America title. In February of 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 2005. Edwards represented Florida in the Miss America 2005 pageant broadcast live from

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

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. Originally the "Town of A ...

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 The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

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'' 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 ...

'' and in ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' Magazine (March 2002) and won the

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

'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