Kalie Kathleen Wright Korfe (born April 27, 1993) 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 and entrepreneur. Wright was crowned Miss National Sweetheart 2014 and

Miss Idaho The Miss Idaho scholarship program is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Idaho in the Miss America pageant. The current titleholder receives a $4,000 cash scholarship to any accredited institution of her choice. Sh ...

2015. She competed for the

Miss America 2016 Miss America 2016 was the 89th Miss America pageant, held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 13, 2015. Kira Kazantsev of New York crowned Betty Cantrell of Georgia as her successor at the end of the event. Accordi ...

title in September 2015. In 2017, she was crowned Miss Minnesota USA 2018 and represented Minnesota at

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. The pageant was held at the same venue that was used for Miss USA 1997. Kára McCullough of Washington, D.C., Dis ...

Early life and education

Wright is a native of

Kimberly, Idaho Kimberly is a city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The population was 4,626 at the 2020 census, up from 3,264 in 2010. It is part of the Twin Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. Kimberly was founded in 1905. It is named after P ...

, and a 2011 graduate of Kimberly High School. The oldest of three children, Wright's parents are Brett and Shelly Wright. Wright attended

Blue Mountain Community College Blue Mountain Community College is a public community college in Pendleton, Oregon, United States. It serves Umatilla and Morrow counties as well as most of Baker County. It was established in 1962 and offers Associate of Arts degrees, Associ ...

Pendelton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institu ...

, on a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

scholarship. She left Blue Mountain after reconsidering her career path. Wright returned to Idaho and earned an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

from the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

Pageantry

Early pageants

Wright began performing publicly when she was 8 years old and started entering pageants to become eligible to compete for the

title in 2011. In July 2012, Wright won the Miss Magic Valley 2013 title. She competed in the 2013 Miss Idaho pageant on a platform of "The W.O.R.T.H. Project: Salute, Serve, Succeed" and performed on the piano during the talent portion of the competition. She was named a Top-11 semifinalist for the state title. She also won the Idaho Outdoor Heritage Award during the competition. On November 2, 2013, Wright won the Miss Gate City 2014 title. She competed in the 2014 Miss Idaho pageant on a platform of "Operation Homefront" and gave a vocal performance during the talent portion of the competition. She was named first runner-up to winner

Sierra Sandison The Miss Idaho scholarship program is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Idaho in the Miss America pageant. The current titleholder receives a $4,000 cash scholarship to any accredited institution of her choice. Sh ...

. As first runner-up, Wright was invited to represent Idaho at the

National Sweetheart Miss National Sweetheart is a United States beauty pageant created in 1941 where runners-up from the Miss America state pageants are invited to Hoopeston, Illinois to compete for the title of Miss National Sweetheart, and the name of the title held ...

pageant in

Hoopeston, Illinois Hoopeston () is a city in Grant Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 4,915. History Hoopeston was laid out in 1871. It was named for Thomas Hoopes, one of the men who offered l ...

. On August 31, 2014, she was named Miss National Sweetheart 2014, the first woman from Idaho to claim that national title.

Miss Idaho 2015

On July 25, 2014, Wright was crowned Miss Magic Valley 2015 which made her eligible to compete at the 2015 Miss Idaho pageant. Entering the state pageant in June 2015, Wright's preliminary competition talent was a vocal performance of "

Up to the Mountain "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" is a contemporary folk song written by Patty Griffin. The song touches upon emotions surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, given the day before his assassination in ...

" by

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patricia She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ...

. Her platform is "Operation Homefront", providing assistance to military families and wounded veterans. Wright won the competition on Saturday, June 20, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Idaho titleholder

. In addition to the state crown, Wright won preliminary talent and swimsuit awards, the marketing award, and was an honorable mention to the Miracle Maker Award. She earned more than $10,000 in scholarship money and prizes from the state pageant. As Miss Idaho, her activities include public appearances across the state of Idaho.

Vying for Miss America 2016

Wright was Idaho's representative at the

pageant in

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 2015. In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she placed outside the Top 15 semi-finalists and was eliminated from competition. She was awarded a $3,000 scholarship prize as her state's representative. In addition, Wright was awarded a $1,000 Non-Finalist Talent scholarship for her vocal and guitar performance.

Miss Minnesota USA 2018

Wright previously competed in the Miss Minnesota USA 2017 on November 28, 2016, placing 1st Runner-Up to Meridith Gould. On November 26, 2017, competed in the Miss Minnesota USA 2018 and won the competition and she represented

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Business ventures

Since May 2017, she has owned Stone Hill Farm, wedding venue in Minnesota, with her husband Jeremiah Korfe.

References

External links

Kalie Wright official websiteMiss Idaho official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Kalie Living people 1993 births American beauty pageant winners College of Southern Idaho alumni Miss America 2016 delegates People from Twin Falls County, Idaho Miss USA 2018 delegates