Seven Indian-American women in the race for Miss World America 2020

Serene Singh of Colorado, contestant in Miss World Ameica. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

By Shruti Dhawan -September 17, 20200

The Miss World America pageant recently announced the 30 contestants for its 2020 national competition. The list includes seven Indian-American women and one Bangladeshi American woman.

Serene Singh of Colorado, Amulya Chava of Kansas, Radhika Shah of Nevada, Manju Bangalore of Oregon, Manya Saaraswat of Pennsylvania; Shree Saini of Washington, and Mangala Chava of West Virginia are the Indian American contestants who will be competing for the Miss World America 2020 crown. , Afroza Nishi of Rhode Island is the Bangladeshi-American contestant.

Singh from Colorado is the founder of a nonprofit, ‘The Serenity Project Brave Enough to Fly’ that aims to give confidence tools to at-risk women, according to the Miss World America website, which provides brief bios of the contestants,

Singh has also worked for former First Lady Michele Obama and the Girls Opportunity Alliance to improve girls’ education in South Asia. She plans to one day serve on the United States Supreme Court, the bio says.

Amulya Chava of Kansas, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

Amulya Chava from Kansas wants to be a civil rights attorney and is currently majoring in political science. She is the founding president of her local Wounded Warrior Project chapter. She recently released her first book entitled ‘Soar’.

Radhika Shah of Nevada, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

Shah from Nevada founded Real Autism Difference (RAD), a nonprofit to provide respite services for those with autism in the Southern Nevada community and beyond. In just two years, she raised more than $100,000 for RAD’s programs. In December of 2018, she was appointed by then Governor Brian Sandoval to serve as the youngest Youth Commissioner for the state of Nevada. Shah will be attending Stanford University this fall as a Public Policy major before pursuing a medical degree, the bio says.

Bangalore is a physicist, actor, and the founder of Operation Period, a youth-led nonprofit addressing menstrual inequity through art, advocacy, education, community engagement, and aid.

Manju Bangalore of Oregon, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

Bangalore has worked at two NASA centers, Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center, as well as in the White House on science policy in the Obama administration. Bangalore is now pursuing her M.S. in aerospace engineering with a concentration on propulsion systems.

Saaraswat from Pennsylvania is pursuing a Master of Science in Health Policy and Economics at Weill Cornell Medicine before she enters medical school and wants to focus on global pediatric health.

Manya Saaraswat of Pennsylvania, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

Saaraswat has done a stem cell internship at Harvard university, has 4 publications in medical journals, and experienced what she says was a ‘life-changing’ trip to volunteer and intern at a local hospital in India.

Saini from Washington state, who has a heart condition, is a global motivational speaker and has addressed audiences in more than 8 countries and 30 states in the United States.

Shree Saini of Washington State, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

A graduate of University of Washington, Saini has been a visiting student at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, her bio states. She has earned the “Best Pageant Titleholder” award and recognitions from the Secretary of State, Senate, Governor and the American Heart Association CEO.

Mangala Chava is from West Virginia and wants to become a physician. She is a recent graduate of Biology from University of California, San Diego and has been involved with Alzheimer’s San Diego during her time in college and currently volunteers for Alzheimer’s Orange County.

Mangala Chava of West Virginia, contestant in Miss World America pageant. Photo: courtesy Miss World America

The 2020 national competition will be held in the form of a series of virtual web casts. Tickets to the event can be accessed at https://missworldamerica.com/ for $15 for the All-Access pass and $45 VIP Access pass.

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