Allison Lee Kreiger Walsh is a
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
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
who has competed in the
Miss Florida pageant and 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.
Walsh won the
Miss Florida title in the state pageant held July 8, 2006. She had previously won Miss University of Florida in 2002 and Miss Miami in 2006.
Early life
Walsh was born in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...
on July 8, 1983. She is a graduate of
Bishop Moore High School in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
. In addition, she was a cum laude graduate of the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
with a degree in Public Relations. Her scholastic honors included
Mortar Board
Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college juniors and seniors. It was established in 1918 in Syracuse, New York through the merger of four local women's organizations from four institutions. It started admitting men in 1975 ...
;
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...
;
Golden Key International Honour Society; National Dean's List; Chancellor's List;
Phi Sigma Theta Honor Society;
Alpha Lambda Delta
Alpha Lambda Delta () is an honor society for students who have achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher during their first year or term of higher education.
History
Alpha Lambda Delta was founded in 1924 by the Dean of Women, Maria Leonard, at the Universi ...
;
Phi Eta Sigma and the
National Society of Collegiate Scholars
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) is an American academic honor society for college students. It was established in 1994 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C. NSCS has active chapters at nearly 300 ...
.
She is also a member of
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity. It was founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts.
History
File:S ...
sorority at the University of Florida. She pledged in 2002.
Career
Walsh founded H.O.P.E. – Helping Other People Eat, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that focuses on the prevention and awareness of eating disorders. She served as the inaugural Chairwoman of the National Jr. Board for the National Eating Disorders Association.
In 2006, she started collecting jeans as an initiative through HOPE and NEDA to encourage people to "Be Comfortable In Your Genes- Don't Fight Your Genes, Just Change Your Jeans." Since 2006, over 25,000 pair of jeans have been collected and donated to charities in need. In 2010, Walsh launched the “Get R.E.A.L.” Program, encouraging everyone to set “Realistic Expectations and Attitudes for Life.” This innovative video outreach program was distributed to over 12,000 schools, hospitals, community health organizations and treatment centers throughout the State of Florida and to every college in the nation. In addition to being Miss Florida 2006, Walsh was the recipient of the Miss Florida Community Service Award, the Miss America State Community Service Award in 2007 and the overall interview award.
Walsh earned $38,000 in scholarships while competing in the Miss America Organization. She logged over 80,000 miles in her travels as Miss Florida and completed over 250 appearances. In 2007, Walsh received the Young Woman of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council and in 2008 Walsh was honored as the National Eating Disorders Association Youth Advocate of the Year and was a winner in the 38th Annual Women's Achievement Awards presented by the Women's Executive Council, as Emerging Achiever of the Year in 2008.
See also
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreiger, Allison
University of Florida alumni
Living people
People from Fort Myers, Florida
1983 births
Miss America 2007 delegates