08/26/2026
Today is Women’s Equality Day, commemorating the adoption of the 19th Amendment and the generations of women who fought for our right to have a voice and a vote.
I am incredibly proud to come from a line of strong, independent women who taught me that having a voice also means being willing to use it.
My grandma raised three daughters as a single mother while becoming a fierce advocate for public education and her community. She went on to serve the town of Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, as a council member, treasurer, and interim mayor. She showed her daughters and granddaughters that women belong wherever decisions are being made.
My mom followed in her footsteps. She has spent much of her life advocating for women and children, serving nonprofit organizations, coaching young women through the Miss America system, and helping them learn to confidently use their voices.
In 2021, she decided it was time to use her own.
My mom ran for Greeneville City Council and won by ONE vote. She became only the sixth woman elected to the Greeneville City Council. Since women gained the right to vote more than a century ago, only seven women have been elected to office in the Town of Greeneville: six councilwomen and one mayor.
My mom served one term, but watching her serve left a lasting impression on me. Today, two election cycles later, there are no women serving on Greeneville’s City Council.
That matters.
My mom has always said she never would have run for office if she had not spent years coaching women in the Miss America system. Helping other women find their voice gave her the courage to find her own.
And I think that is one of the greatest lessons the women in my family have given me.
Equality is not simply having the right to vote, run for office, lead, advocate, or speak up. It is choosing to use those opportunities when they are placed in front of us.
On Women’s Equality Day, I am thankful for the women who fought so my grandma could lead, so my mom could advocate, and so girls like me can grow up knowing there is a place for our voices too.
May we never be afraid to use them.
Miss America
Miss Tennessee Scholarship Competition
misstennesseeorg
