The first Miss Virginia Volunteer is

Breana Turner was crowned Miss Virginia Volunteer 2021 at the end of the finals, held on August 14, 2021 at The Kirkley Hotel in Lynchburg. She earned the right to represent her state at the inaugural edition of Miss Volunteer America pageant, scheduled to take place in May 2022 in Jackson, TN. The 24-year-old beauty queen earned $10,000 in scholarship money, as well as a car and apartment for her year of service. The pageant is part of the new Miss Volunteer America system, which seeks to empower young women across the country through educational scholarships and extraordinary opportunities.

She holds a Master of Public Health degree from VT and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from George Mason University. Her parents, Joseph and Sonji Turner, reside in Loudoun County. Now, she is a Ph.D student at Virginia Tech.

“I was so excited to be around so many phenomenal women,” Turner, a pianist representing Northern Virginia, said of her experience at the inaugural pageant. “I jumped right in and I’m so glad I did. They treated us like royalty all week.”

“I said, ‘sign me up! I am in,’” recalled Vickie Runk, Virginia’s Executive Director, of the opportunity to be a part of the Miss Volunteer America program. “This isn’t just about this moment, but many more moments to come. Creating a state-wide platform for these girls to shine and pour into our communities throughout Virginia sounded so powerful to me. Changing our communities one at a time in a big way- a more powerful way- to show we are intelligent women, we are caring women, and we are Virginians.”

She has spent the past five years building her mentoring program “Sisters with Ambition,” but will dedicate her reign to advocating for women’s health.

“Good health means more than the absence of illness,” Turner said of her social platform, RAISE, which “emphasizes the importance of living a balanced lifestyle for overall well-being. Through resilience, ambition, integrity, support, and empowerment, RAISE has impacted women and girls nationwide since 2016. Those core values represent who I am and who I will be as the very first Miss Virginia Volunteer.”

The 2021 Miss Virginia Volunteer’s court includes :

First runner-up  – Mia Nelson,

Second runner-up – Kate Clatterbuck