Miss New Jersey USA and Teen USA profiles

Your ultimate Miss USA state pageant resource

Consider this your in-depth guide on all Miss New Jersey USA and Miss New Jersey Teen USA titleholders since 2010. Pageant Update’s titleholder profiles are full of state pageant, professional and appearance photos of each titleholder, as well as their national pageant photos and more.

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Links to Miss New Jersey USA and Teen USA titleholder profiles

Miss New Jersey USA 2024 Jabili Kandula

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2024 Julia Livolsi

Miss New Jersey USA 2023 Derby Chukwudi

New Jersey Teen 2023 feature image Julia

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2023 Julia Carrano

Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava (resigned)

Miss New Jersey USA 2022 Alexandra Lakhman

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2022 Isabella Galan

Miss New Jersey USA 2021 Celinda Ortega

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2021 Delaney Musgrave

Miss New Jersey USA 2020 Gina Mellish

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2020 JaeLynn Polanco

Miss New Jersey USA 2019 Manya Saaraswat

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2019 Ava Tortorici

Miss New Jersey USA 2018 Alexa Noone

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2018 Diana Smerina

Miss New Jersey USA 2017 Chhavi Verg

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2017 Briahna Reinstein

Miss New Jersey USA 2016 Jessielyn Palumbo

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2016 Gina Mellish

Miss New Jersey USA 2015 Vanessa Oriolo

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2015 Jacqueline Giancola

Miss New Jersey USA 2014 Emily Shah

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2014 Valentina Sanchez

Miss New Jersey USA 2013 Libell Duran

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2013 Christina Thompson

Miss New Jersey USA 2012 Michelle Leonardo

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2012 Kendal Barrett

Miss New Jersey USA 2011 Julianna White

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2011 Savannah Schechter

Miss New Jersey USA 2010 Chenoa Greene

Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2010 Erica Szymanski

Derby Chukwudi New Jersey 2023 professional photo 11

Isabella Galan New Jersey Teen 2022 appearance 29

Miss New Jersey USA 2021 Celinda Ortega's state costume at Miss USA 2021

Derby Chukwudi New Jersey 2023 professional photo 14

Miss USA 2013 titleholder photo almanac • New Jersey

Get to know recent New Jersey titleholders...

Miss New Jersey USA

2010 – Chenoa Greene, 24, of Atco, who was a graduate of The University of the Arts with a Bachelors of Science Degree in communication with a concentration in journalism. She has worked as a TV host and entertainment writer for Philly2Philly.com.
2011 – Julianna White, 22, of Haddon Township, who worked full time as an In-House Model for QVC, was the morning news anchor at WCCB, Charlotte’s CW and is now an on-air spokesperson for L’Occitane, appearing on QVC, TSC, Amazon and more.
2012 – Michelle Leonardo, 20, of Tinton Falls, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 2013 and is now VP and Global Brand Lead for Bottega Veneta. A talented dancer, she has danced for both the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
2013 – Libell Duran, 22, of Keasbey, who was studying Communications and Business Administration at William Paterson University as well as taking acting courses in New York City.
2014 – Emily Shah, 19, of Edison, daughter of famed Bollywood producer Prashant Shah and now an actress, producer and entrepreneur. She will judge the Miss Teen USA 2023 pageant.
2015 – Vanessa Oriolo, 21, of Colts Neck, a first generation Italian-American who accredits her business-savvy mind to all of the knowledge she acquired growing up in the restaurant industry.
2016 – Jessielyn Palumbo, 24, of Wayne, a graduate of The College of New Jersey, where she received a BA in Digital Arts and a minor in Fine Arts and now an accomplished celebrity and event photographer. She has been the official photographer for the Miss NJ USA pageant since 2019, as well as other states.
2017 – Chaavi Verg, 20, of Edison, who is multilingual and can speak four languages — English, Hindi, Spanish, and Mandarin. She gave New Jersey their highest placement since 1991.
2018 – Alexa Noone, 23, of Bayonne, who moved to New Jersey in 2016 from California to work out of the Newark Liberty International Airport as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She is of Nicaraguan, Filipino American with German and Irish descent.
2019 – Manya Saaraswat, 21, of Marlboro, who was a student at Bucknell University during her reign, where she received the Presidential Fellowship, the highest merit scholarship allotted to an incoming freshman.
2020 – Gina Mellish, 21, of Oceanport, who graduated with a degree in Fashion Merchandising from Marist College in 2020 and has since launched a successful jewellery line, “Gina the Brand”, worn by Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu.
2021 – Celinda Ortega, 26, of Fair Lawn, who has worked as a publicist in New York City. She is a first-generation Dominican American, and later won the Miss Dominican Republic USA title.
2022 – Alexandra Lakhman, 26, of Hoboken, a first generation Ukranian-American, who is actively involved within the Cure SMA Organization.
2023 – Derby Chukwudi, 25, of Hoboken was born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Nigeria. She is an Investment Strategist within the Global Investment Strategy Group at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

Miss New Jersey Teen USA

2010 – Erica Szymanski, 18, of Mt. Laurel, a talented violinist and member of both the National and Music Honor Societies.
2011 – Savannah Schechter, 18, of Far Hills, was New Jersey’s first Congeniality winner at Miss Teen USA. She is now a singer, model and actress who uses the stage name Savannah Lynx.
2012 – Kendal Barrett, 16, of Montclair, who was passionate about acting and singing and had attended acting courses and film study in New York City. She graduated from USC in 2018.
2013 – Christina Thompson, 17, of Holmdel. After competing in both North Carolina and New Jersey, Christina won the Miss Virginia USA 2021 title and made the top 16 at Miss USA.
2014 – Valentina Sanchez, 19, of Spring Lake Heights, a passionate advocate for suicide prevention and awareness who has since represented her native Venezuela at a number of international pageants.
2015 – Jacqueline Giancola, 18, of East Brunswick, who was captain of both the varsity golf and varsity cheerleading teams at her school. She later made the top 10 at Miss Alabama USA 2018.
2016 – Gina Mellish, 17, of Oceanport, an ambassador at her high school and the President of the Fashion Club where she helped to raise thousands of dollars for victims of Hurricane Sandy. She later made the top 10 at Miss USA 2020.
2017 – Briahna Reinstein, 17, of Manalapan. As one of the founding members of Students Without Borders at her school, Briahna helped to raise thousands of dollars for Doctors Without Borders. She later graduated with a BSN from Florida State University.
2018 – Diana Smerina, 16, of Freehold, who was a member of the National Young Scholars program and her school’s National Honor Society.
2019 – Ava Tortorici, 18, of Montclair, who was double majoring in Biology and Exercise Science at Montclair State University. She now lives in Los Angeles where she works as a model and actress.
2020 – JaeLynn Polanco, 16, of Bergenfield, who was a proud member of the “Rise Program”, an organization that supports anti-bullying campaigns by spreading kindness, respect, and acceptance. She later won the Teen Miss Earth USA title.
2021 – Delaney Musgrave, 18, of Lawrenceville, a boarding student at The Lawrenceville School where she was Student Council Vice President of Social Life, organising social events and serving as an active and supportive member of the student council.
2022 – Isabella Galan, 17, of Wayne, who created her own podcast where she talks about mindfulness, mental health and wellness among teenagers.
2023 – UmaSofia Srivastava, 16, of Morris Plains, the first titleholder of Mexican and Indian heritage. She runs her own blog, That’s Fan Behavior.

Julianna White and Michelle Leonardo were both former Miss New Jersey Teen USA titleholders, but as their Teen years were pre-2010 they do not have Teen profiles (although photos from their Teen reigns can be seen on their Miss profiles). Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2013 Christina Thompson went on to win Miss Virginia USA 2021 and Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2016 Gina Mellish won Miss New Jersey USA 2020.

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