MISS CALIFORNIA
How much money does Kimberly Vernon, the winner of the Miss California pageant 2024, get?
Vernon, Miss Santa Clara County, will represent The Golden State at the 2025 Miss America pageant.
Miss Santa Clara County Kimberly Vernon has been named Miss California 2024 and will now go on to represent The Golden State at next year’s Miss America pageant, which will be held at the beginning of 2025.
44 contestants from across California battled it out for the coveted crown, but what did Vernon actually win for coming out on top?
How much money does the winner of Miss California receive?
Although organisers of the 2024 Miss California pageant haven’t officially published prize details, Fresno-based newspaper The Fresno Bee revealed the winner of the 2023 event, Sabrina Lewis, claimed a $20,000 scholarship “among other prizes,” as well as the customary crown and state sash.
Those who just missed out on the main prize didn’t go away empty-handed, however. The first runner-up was rewarded with a $7,000 scholarship, with the rest of the top five also receiving $5,000, $4,000 and $2,500 scholarships respectively.
The prizes on offer in 2024 and expected to be similar, if not identical, to those handed out 12 months ago.
Who is Kimberly Vernon, Miss California 2024?
Vernon fails from the San Francisco Bay Area and describes herself on her personal website as an “artist, educator and advocate” who has “an unwavering passion for making a positive impact in the world”.
A graduate from California State University Fullerton, where she double-majored in Theatre and Cinema Television Arts and minored in American Studies, Vernon, the most recent winner of Miss Santa Clara County, is a four-time local titleholder in the Miss America Opportunity, a program which focuses on a number of areas, including community service, volunteerism, women’s education and women’s empowerment.
Vernon has described the program as being a “transformative force” on her life, which has led to a career change. She currently works as a Marketing and Operations Associate for Queenly, an online marketplace for formalwear.
Vernon will be hoping to become the first Miss California to be crowned Miss America in more than 40 years, with Debra Maffet, the 1982 winner in the Golden State, last achieving the feat in 1983.