Carolyn Brady, a native of Philadelphia and 2019 Bowdoin graduate, became the first African American to be crowned Miss Maine in the pageant’s 84-year history. And, she’s the first to hold it for 2 years.

In recent years, the Miss America organization has been trying to change their perception from one focused on physical beauty and swimsuits to one that celebrates academic achievement, community service, social impact, leadership skills, and diversity. Carolyn brings all of that and an infectious positivity, endless energy, a deep level of engagement, and a drive to truly make the world at any scale a better place.

Carolyn feels Miss Maine provides a platform to make a positive impact for all people in our state. Since being crowned, she has toured the state and worked with local philanthropic organizations including Catholic Charities Maine and Gateway Community Services. Her primary service project, “Immigration Builds our Nation,” highlights the contributions that immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers have made to Maine communities. She was crowned Miss Maine just in time for her to start helping the migrants sheltering at the Portland Expo. As the daughter of immigrants, she has a deep understanding of the experience of that community and how important it is to help them feel welcomed and part of their new home. She participated in a Friendsgiving events that brought 70 immigrants to their first Thanksgiving dinner.

Carolyn is AmeriCorps member and in her first year she worked at Howard C. Reiche Elementary School in Portland helping kids improve their reading, language, and math skills. During that time, George Floyd was killed and the massive uprising in Maine sparked change locally. Because of the disparity of COVID cases and access to healthcare for people of color, Carolyn’s focus has shifted and she is now Maine’s COVID recovery Americorps member. Carolyn is also working to shine a light on Black owned businesses throughout the state.

Looking ahead, she had planned to volunteer with the Peace Corps in Madagascar yet that has been deferred due to the pandemic. She’s applied to several graduate schools to focus on international affairs. Her long term goal is a career with the U.S. State Department, and her hope would be an assignment in China, where she spent the summer after her freshman year. She fell in love with the Chinese culture the language, which she minored in at Bowdoin along with majoring in government and legal studies. She hopes to one day work in the state department to “figure out how we can make decisions between countries based on what’s best for the people of those countries” and “minimize focus on bureaucracy, maximize focus on humanity.”