Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

To us, Miss America is always evolving and growing to support and represent all women. As the Miss Arlington Scholarship Organization, we strive to truly embody those principles. We aspire to be the most inclusive and diverse local in the state of Virginia and in the nation. We demonstrate our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through our board, our judges, the women who have represented us and will represent us in the future, our sponsors and partners, and our community service.

Briana Hanafin Mendonca
Executive Director

​​Briana Hanafin Mendonca became the Executive Director of the Miss Arlington Scholarship Organization in 2021. During her one year of competition in the Miss America system, she won the local title of Miss Arlington 2014 where she went on to finish as a top-11 semi-finalist in the Miss Virginia pageant also winning the Miss America Organization Academic Award. She began volunteering directly following her year of service within the Miss America Organization.

She works full-time in consulting at Accenture, and founded the softball instruction company, Arlington Softball+. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the DC Grays. Briana supports various diversity initiatives and programs that promote and encourage STEM educations, especially in young women.
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Briana graduated from the University of Maryland – College Park with a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems. She grew up in Arlington and recently moved to Loudoun County where she lives with her husband, two cats, and goldendoodle.

Katie Chambers
Director of Operations

Katie Chambers is a native of Newport News, VA and is an account director at MissionWired, a direct response marketing firm. Her clients include an array of nonprofits and organizations in the political, healthcare, and environmental spaces. Her time in Northern Virginia began as a student at George Mason University, where she double majored in music and government & international politics. Throughout college, she participated in local pageants and vied for the title of Miss Virginia, where she went on to finish as 3rd runner up in her final year of competition.

During her years competing in the Miss America Organization, Katie educated others about bone marrow and stem cell donation through her platform, Give The Gift of Life: Be a Bone Marrow Donor. After college, she enjoyed a brief foray in political campaign work and volunteered for Be The Match, the nonprofit organization that works in tandem with the National Marrow Donor Program. Following this, she began her career in nonprofit fundraising. Katie has performed on many stages with many groups and can now be seen singing with the Choral Arts Society of Washington, a frequent guest of the National Symphony Orchestra and regular feature at the Kennedy Center. After time spent living in Columbia, SC and Los Angeles, CA, she and her husband Philip now live in Arlington.

Chrissy Ching Mott
Director of Business Development

Chrissy Ching Mott is a native of Northern Virginia and a graduate of James Madison University with a B.S. in Public Policy. With 9 years of experience in the information technology recruiting space, Chrissy is the Vice President at Celertek, a technology staffing firm in Northern Virginia. Chrissy's passion is helping to build technology teams for some of the area's top emerging growth technology companies throughout the DC metropolitan area, working as a trusted advisor to many C suite executives on growth initiatives and recruitment strategy.

She has been a featured speaker at technology user group events about resume building and job interviewing. Chrissy is a big advocate for women in STEM and is a member of Women in Technology, a professional affinity group in the DC metropolitan area, previously serving on the Job Fair Committee, a group focused on helping women land positions within the technology space.
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Previously, Chrissy held the titles of Miss Coastal Virginia 2013, and Miss York County 2014, affiliates to the Miss America system. Chrissy resides in Aldie, Virginia with her husband, Ethan, and two dogs, Lola and Pippa.

Cecilia Daizovi
Director of Media Relations and Creative

Cecilia Daizovi is the Chief Brand Strategist for Deloitte's Higher Education practice and is the Founder and CEO of daizovi design – a website design and development firm. Formerly, Cecilia led the organizational change management and strategic communications efforts for programs at the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Her past work has been honored with the PRSA Silver Anvil Award, the highest award in the Public Relations industry.

Cecilia resides in Miami, Florida and Leesburg, Virginia, and is a proud alumna of Purdue University (BA) and Georgetown University (MA, GC). She is an active mentor for undergraduate students at Purdue's Brian Lamb School of Communication and board member for the Miss Arlington Scholarship Organization. Cecilia is a 42-time U.S. National Champion baton twirler in five events and five-time member of Team USA, representing the United States at 5 consecutive International Cup Championships and World Championships. In 2016, she placed 3rd runner up to Miss District of Columbia.

Madeline Morgan
Director of Teen Programs

Madeline Morgan is a skilled strategic communications professional, with an emphasis in policy communications. Currently, Madeline is a senior communications associate at the American Hospital Association, a leading trade organization representing 5,000 hospitals and health systems across the country. Madeline graduated from the University of Georgia in 2017 with a B.A. in Political Science, and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019 with a Master of Public Affairs.

In 2012, Madeline won the title of Miss Wisconsin’s Outstanding Teen. During her year of service, Madeline traveled throughout the state promoting her platform, 100% Drive: The Dangers of Distracted Driving. In recognition of her work, Madeline was named an official spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Zero in Wisconsin campaign, aimed at reducing preventable deaths on Wisconsin roads. In partnership with the Department of Transportation, Madeline created a series of public service announcements that aired on television and radio stations statewide and was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety.

Morgan Moore
​Director of Contestant Relations

Morgan Moore is a native of Knoxville, TN who has lived in Northern Virginia since 2016. With 7 years of technology sales, Morgan is currently the Sales Team Lead for Actionfigure, an AI transportation software company in DC. Her clients include the Department of State, WMATA, Nimbus Therapeutics, as well as many companies in the Real Estate space. Morgan’s love of the Miss America program reigns true, through coaching contestants in Tennessee and now as a part of the Miss Arlington Organization Board of Directors. ​

Morgan has been a part of the Miss America program since a teen where her pageant career started. Morgan represented Knoxville as Knoxville’s Teen Princess,​ where she received first runner up at the state level. ​She went on to compete in the Miss program where she held the titles of Miss Mountain Lakes 2011, and Miss UT Knoxville 2012. Morgan promoted First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to reduce Childhood Obesity as a school spokesperson for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s Childhood Obesity Coalition as her platform. Being a University of Tennessee graduate she was honored to represent her university as Miss UT Knoxville with a third runner up placement at Miss Tennessee.