Meet the 51 women competing to be Miss USA 2023

Sophie Burzynski, 22, is currently a pre-dental student at Auburn University, where she is double majoring in nutrition science and business management.

Burzynski runs her own wedding videography business, CEO of Videos By Sophie B. She filmed her first wedding at 15 and captured 18 weddings just last summer.

Jordan Naylor, 25, is currently working toward a career in collegiate athletics. While she was in college, Naylor helped coordinate Division 1 and Division 2 games.

Naylor was born and raised in Anchorage and, according to her Miss USA bio, spends her summers "hiking the endless trails, fishing the Russian River, and soaking up every second of the midnight sun."

Candace Kanavel, 27, graduated from Arizona State University. She currently works as a police officer.

Kanavel founded the initiative "Yes She CAN," which is focused on "bolstering confidence and capability among women," according to her Miss USA bio. Kanavel is using the initiative to help equip women with essential self-defense and situational awareness skills. In addition to "Yes She CAN," Knavel also works with organizations that help victims of domestic violence, child abuse, and human trafficking.

Mackenzie Hinderberger, 23, graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in elementary education. She currently works as a kindergarten teacher as well as a high-school dance coach.

Hinderberger is dedicated to school safety and has partnered with NightLock to help provide better security to schools. She visits school boards across Arkansas to help implement new safety features and advocate for stronger security regulations and procedures.

Tianna Clark, 28, graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology. She is a sergeant in the Army National Guard, currently working as a public relations and marketing manager.

Clark is also a model and actress and runs her own blog, "In Bloom Woman," to help encourage and empower other women, according to her Miss USA bio.

Arianna Lemus, 27, is currently a student at Capella University, where she's studying pre-counseling. Lemus plans to obtain her master's degree in counseling and currently volunteers as a helpline specialist for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Lemus founded the AJL Teen Mentorship in 2019 and advocates for homeless youth in Denver with Urban Peak.

Lemus also works as a model, actress, writer, and producer. She's the owner of Mírala production company and her short film, "Red Flags," premiered at her film festival MíraLA SFF, which is dedicated to highlighting films by women of color.

Karla Aponte Roque, 27, graduated from Albertus Magnus College with a degree in biology and chemistry and minors in psychology and pre-pharmacy. Last year, she graduated from Fairfield University's accelerated nursing program. She is now pursuing her master's in business administration with a concentration in healthcare management.

Roque is a registered nurse at Yale New Haven Hospital. She also works with the American Heart Association, Alzheimer's Association, and American Cancer Society.

Noa Mills, 25, is a partnership implementation specialist and works with healthcare providers across the country to destigmatize substance use recovery.

Mills, who has received the Governor's Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, established the Noa A. Mills community clean-up service project when she was 19 and the Noa A. Mills Annual Scholarship when she was 21. She became a published author of two books by the age of 16.

Cassie Baloue, 25, graduated from the University of California, Merced with a degree in political science. She is a signed model and currently works as a digital press secretary in the US House of Representatives.

Baloue is also a legislative ambassador with the American Cancer Society and the founder of Cancer Collections, a panelist series that promotes cancer awareness. Baloue advocated for the "Find It Early Act," a federal bill that would ensure all health insurance providers cover screening and diagnostic breast imaging for women at higher risk of breast cancer.

Caroline Dixon, 25, graduated from Florida State University, where she received a degree in media communication studies, as well as a Juris Master from the College of Law.

Dixon is a former first-grade teacher who now serves as a senior legislative aide to a Florida state senator. She has already traveled more than 7,500 miles as Miss Florida USA.

Rachel Russaw, 25, graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in consumer sciences. She is a full-time content creator and has an online clothing boutique, Shop 8.14.

Russaw founded the initiative #InfluenceHerIRL, which promotes self-confidence, mental-health awareness, and entrepreneurship, according to her Miss USA bio. She also serves as the director of community outreach for the nonprofit Novaturient, which provides free mental-health services to children and families in Atlanta.

Savannah Gankiewicz, 27, currently works as a professional model and entrepreneur. She is the director of "What Makes You Feel Beautiful," a nonprofit based in Maui dedicated to female empowerment.

Gankiewicz is the co-founder of EchoHouse, a boutique hotel that will open in Bali in 2024. She is also certified in youth mental-health first aid and has been trained in youth suicide and bullying prevention.

Hannah Menzner, 28, is currently pursuing her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of "Glass Ceiling Epiphanies," which shares "real stories from women in business to close the corporate gender leadership gap," according to her Miss USA bio.

Menzner was inspired to launch the nonprofit Project IdaHOPE to share suicide prevention education and resources after she volunteered for a crisis hotline. Menzner has visited five continents this year and studied abroad in Singapore, Spain, and India.

Samantha Elliott, 22, is currently pursuing a master's in accounting and is testing to become a certified public accountant. She plans to work at a Big Four accounting firm as a federal auditor of the US Army and eventually hopes to become an FBI forensic accountant.

Elliott has partnered with various schools and nonprofits to bring financial literacy workshops and resources to people of all backgrounds, according to her Miss USA bio.

Haley Jordan, 25, currently works as a sports broadcaster and high-school broadcasting teacher, often going straight from class to the ballpark to report on the Indianapolis Indians baseball team, according to her Miss USA bio.

Jordan loves speaking to everyone from veterans to aspiring pageant queens as the current Miss Indiana.

Grace Lynn Keller, 24, graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in journalism and mass communications. Keller currently works as the vice president of a marketing and production company that oversees more than 50 podcasts, YouTube shows, and social media marketing campaigns.

Keller is a classically-trained ballerina and also has her own true crime podcast, "Grace is on the Case." Keller also launched the platform "Read To Succeed" and has traveled over 30,000 miles across multiple states to present literacy programming for children in rural and low-income communities.

Haley Berger, 22, is currently studying for both her doctor of pharmacy and master's in business administration at the University of Kansas. She hopes to pursue federal pharmaceutical law.

Berger is an active member on campus, serving as an ambassador for the pharmacy school. She's also a member of the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity and enjoys mentoring young women and networking with prospective students.

Madalyne Kinnett, 22, currently works as a full-time model and is also a mentor for multiple Kentucky philanthropies. Kinnett was just 13 when she lost her mother to a fentanyl overdose. In her Miss USA bio, she said she "struggled with PTSD, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts" afterward.

"There were many times I wished for resources and a leader to step in and help me," she writes. "This is why I am committed to filling the gap by working as a mentor and spokesperson for organizations and philanthropies around Kentucky."

Sylvia Masters, 28, graduated from Nicholls State University. She currently works as a news anchor at KLFY News 10 in Lafayette. She also sings the national anthem at events.

Masters advocates for early cancer detection and screenings in memory of her father. According to her Miss USA bio, she also spends her time visiting childhood cancer patients and their families at hospitals throughout Louisiana.

Juliana Morehouse, 23, graduated from the College of Charleston with a communication degree. She's currently pursuing two master's degrees in theology and mental-health counseling and also serves as a community educator for Alzheimer's Disease.

Morehouse will be the first married woman to compete at Miss USA. She previously told Insider how it felt to make history, and how happy she was about the rule change.

"I've dreamed of getting married for a lot of my life, and I've dreamed of competing at Miss USA for a lot of my life," Morehouse said. "I never thought doing the two at the same time would be possible."

"I feel really honored to be the first to do both," she added. "And it just excites me because, in a lot of ways, there's an attack on marriage in our culture. And I think marriage is a wonderful institution and it can be a really positive life choice for a lot of women."

Savena Mushinge, 26, is the first Zambian-American to compete on the Miss USA stage, according to her Miss USA bio. She is a licensed real-estate broker and transaction manager and has served multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Mushinge is an ambassador for US Zambia Tourism as well as Icing Smiles, a nonprofit that delivers cakes to children with critical illnesses. Mushinge is also co-founder of the nonprofit Daughters' Pride Foundation, which serves families that have been impacted by poverty.

Annika Sharma, 22, is the first Indian-American Miss Massachusetts USA, according to her Miss USA bio. She graduated from Boston College, where she studied finance, marketing, and philosophy, and currently works as a wealth management analyst at Bank of America.

Sharma also works with the nonprofits Best Buddies International and Uncommon Threads. She is a former figure skater and cross-country runner.

Alexis Fagan-Williams, 23, graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in psychology and a minor in global and cultural perspectives. She currently works as a behavioral therapist for children with autism and plans to apply to medical school after her reign as Miss Michigan USA.

Fagan-Williams lost her father to gun violence when she was just 8 years old. She now shares her story with at-risk children in Michigan and also works with state government officials to support families affected by gun violence.

Sarah Anderson, 20, is currently a junior at Minnesota State, where she's studying psychology with a minor in child development. She hopes to one day become a child and family therapist.

Anderson is signed to Ford Models and she has modeled in Minnesota and Los Angeles.

Sydney Russell, 24, is currently finalizing her doctorate of pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi.

Russell launched her own YouTube channel to share holistic strategies that people can combine with their current healthcare routine. She also launched a health literacy platform to "bridge the gap between medical jargon and everyday language," according to her Miss USA bio.

Miss Missouri Autumn Black, 24, got a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, which she now uses as a social media manager at a tech company.

Black founded "The Flawless Movement" to support students as they enter the workforce, and in her free time, she loves spending time with her rescue dog, exploring restaurants, and taking barre classes, according to her Miss USA bio.

Mady Rigg, 27, studied communications and political science at Eastern Washington University before becoming Miss Montana.

Today, Rigg works as a marketing manager. However, she hopes to work in politics someday, which is a goal she works toward through her roles as a board member of the Flathead Area Young Professionals and as a Kalispell Chamber ambassador.

Rigg also loves hiking and boating, according to her Miss USA bio.

Miss Nebraska Mimi Wood, 23, has always had a passion for dance, performing competitively throughout her childhood and joining the dance team at the University of Nebraska, where she got a degree in elementary education.

Wood has combined her love of dance and supporting children through Project Believe and Achieve, which aims to help kids grow their confidence, and through her program Dance and Develop at YMCA.

Miss Nevada Josie Nicole Stephens, 28, works as a chemical account manager for Shell, partnering with the EPA to produce oil and gas cleanly.

According to her Miss USA bio, Stephens comes from a family of oil workers, but she is the first woman in her family to work in the business, which has made her passionate about supporting women in STEM.

Stephens is also a mental-health advocate and loves to read in her free time.

Britney Lane, 26, was crowned Miss New Hampshire, but in her day-to-day life, she is a child and family therapist at a nonprofit for low-income families, though she has aspirations of running for political office someday, according to her Miss USA bio.

Lane is also an advocate for victims of sexual violence — and is a survivor herself — and she helped pass the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights and the United Nations Resolution Bill.

When she isn't working, Lane loves hiking and cheering on the Boston Red Sox.

Derby Chukwudi, 25, may be representing New Jersey in the Miss USA pageant, but she works in New York City in finance at JP Morgan.

Chukwudi was born in Texas but raised in Lagos, and she moved away from home when she was 16 to go to college. She's passionate about financial education, and she wants to help make it a mandatory subject in US public schools.

Miss New Mexico Bianca Wright, 25, has a degree in environmental science from New Mexico State University. She used her educational background to start the initiative #Harvestinghelpforhumanity, which encourages people to spend time in nature as a form of healing.

Wright does volunteer work with people who are unhoused, building hygiene packages, and she is licensed to perform weddings.

Miss New York Rachelle di Stasio, 26, is a successful ballerina, as she attended the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School with a full scholarship and went on to dance with the company professionally.

Today, di Stasio is pursuing a career as a model and actor, and she is signed with Elite Model Management. She is also passionate about the volunteer work she does with RAINN, as di Stasio is a survivor of sexual assault herself. She hopes to create a foundation for other survivors and people who are struggling with their mental health.

In addition to being crowned Miss North Carolina, Jordan McKey, 25, works for Hologic as a surgical specialist helping women with uterine fibroids. She is one of only six specialists in the US who know how to perform the procedure she does at her job, according to her Miss USA bio.

If she becomes Miss USA, McKey hopes she can use her platform to bring mental-health support to schools.

Monni Kwamboka Nyaribo is the first Black Miss North Dakota in the pageant's history, and she is a first-generation Kenyan American.

Nyaribo's goal is to become a United Nations Ambassador, and she is working to support the passage of the CROWN Act, "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair," in North Dakota to prevent racism towards people who wear their hair naturally.

Miss Ohio Mackenzie Schutt, 27, is a personal trainer, model, and owner of Mack's Fit, aiming to help people see exercise as a form of self-love, according to her Miss USA bio.

Schutt loves to be active whether she's working or not, from horseback riding and taking motorcycle drives to training her dog in canine sports, and she volunteers for a variety of organizations, including the Special Olympics.

At just 21, Liv Walbeck was crowned Miss Oklahoma. She studies journalism at the University of Oklahoma, and she gets to flex her skills by working as an on-field host for the triple-A team associated with the LA Dodgers.

Walbeck launched her platform Liv it Well to support others, and she volunteers with Dress for Success.

A physicist by trade, Miss Oregon Manju Bangalore is currently a Scientist-Astronaut Candidate, studying to become a researcher in space. The 25-year-old has already taken steps toward achieving that goal, working at two different NASA centers and at the White House on policy.

Bangalore is a model and actor, and she has worked with Beyoncé and appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swim issue.

She also founded the nonprofit Operation Period, providing menstrual projects and educational materials to people in need.

Miss Pennsylvania Jasmine (Jas) Daniels, 26, studied at Immaculata University. She works as a client manager for a digital marketing agency, and she founded her own digital marketing agency to support small businesses.

Daniels' passions include travel, exercise, and her dogs, and she wants to use her platform to uplift women.

Miss Rhode Island Mary Malloy, 26, uses her degree in broadcast journalism and entrepreneurial studies from Emerson College as a program manager at Amazon Web Services, writing a weekly newsletter, and as a freelance journalist with outlets like The Hollywood Reporter.

Malloy is certified as a crisis counselor to support people in need, and she works with Best Buddies, an organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She even published the children's coloring book "Millie's Many Emotions" to help others process their feelings.

Miss South Carolina Kirby Elizabeth Self, 23, attended Clemson University, and she is pursuing a master's degree in corporate sustainability and innovation from the Harvard extension school. She also works as a coordinator for The Council for Educational Travel USA to set up high-school exchange programs, and she earned the SC Department of Commerce's Young Entrepreneurs Award.

Self volunteers for the nonprofit Girls on the Run, and she likes to fly airplanes and hike.

In addition to being crowned Miss South Dakota, Amber Hulse, 25, is studying law at Georgetown University.

During her time in Washington, DC, Hulse has clerked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and interned at the White House, and she hopes to continue working in public service, serving as a model for other women seeking leadership positions.

Miss Tennessee Regan Ringler, 26, moved to Nashville to earn her master's degree in organizational leadership at Trevecca Nazarene University. She also worked as an account executive and did part-time work as a model and stylist while earning her degree.

Ringler volunteers at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and she enjoys being active.

Born in Colombia, Lluvia Alzate, 26, moved to Texas with her family when she was just 5 years old.

Alzate began partnering with Texas ALS associations after her mom died from complications from the disease in 2022. Alzate was her mom's full-time caregiver, according to her Miss USA bio, and she hopes to use her family's experience to support others.

Alzate also has a passion for financial literacy, intending to educate others on its importance.

Miss Utah Noelia Voigt, 23, studies interior design. She is an advocate for survivors of dating violence and the rights of immigrants, as she is the daughter of an immigrant from Venezuela.

Voigt has published a children's book, and in her free time, she likes to dance, car camp, and spend time with her dog.

Miss Vermont Jenna Howlett, 21, is a certified cosmetologist and esthetician with her own business, Redhead Beauty, and she is passionate about the importance of trade schools.

Howlett comes from a family of farmers, and she volunteers for both Green Up Vermont and has helped to provide relief to dairy farmers with flooding in Vermont.

At 24, Miss Virginia Ashley Williams is the first Caribbean American to be crowned Miss Virginia, as well as a first-generation college student, according to her Miss USA bio. She works as an event coordinator for government contracting executives and was an NFL cheerleader for three years, even performing in the 2020 halftime show.

Williams' goal is to support organizations that work with active-duty military workers and veterans.

She may be Miss Washington, but most of the time, Samantha Gallia, 24, goes by Dr. Gallia while working as an oral radiology resident at the University of Washington Hospital.

Gallia created #GirlDocsRock to help other women develop leadership skills, and she uses her time on the weekends to volunteer at free healthcare clinics for those in need.

If she becomes Miss USA, Gallia hopes to partner with Smile Train to help people with her dentistry skills worldwide.

Miss West Virginia Nevaeh Harmon, 21, is pursuing a degree in biochemistry at Marshall University so she can go to medical school and eventually become a pediatric physician, her Miss USA bio says.

Harmon hopes to be a model for other women — particularly those who are Black and Filipino like her — pursuing STEM careers.

Miss Wisconsin Alexis Loomans, 21, has a degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently studying to get her real-estate license.

Loomans also has a self-made modeling career, and she used her love of modeling to start Catwalk for a Cause, raising money for the American Family Children's Hospital.

Miss Wyoming Beck Bridger, 27, is a sergeant in the Wyoming Army National Guard, and she graduated from the U.S. Army School of Music.

Bridger founded The Warrior Women Project to support other women in the armed forces, and she works for the nonprofit Bought Beautifully to help women who have survived human trafficking and domestic violence get jobs with fair wages.