The official state preliminary to the Miss America competition, the Miss Arizona Scholarship Organization is a 501c3 non-profit foundation devoted to empowering the women of Arizona to achieve their personal and professional goals. Since its inception in 1921, the historical and social significance of Miss America has evolved from a boardwalk beauty pageant to the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women, awarding more than $45 million each year.
The Miss Arizona’s Outstanding Teen Scholarship Program encourages positive achievement by building and nurturing the scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement of our nation’s youth. Founded in 2005, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen has become one of the top scholarship providers for teen girls in the United States. Participants on the local, state and national levels have been the recipients of valuable scholarship assistance upon high school graduation. In just a few short years, approximately $4 million in cash and in-kind scholarships have been awarded.
AMBER BARTO, Miss Arizona 2021
Amber Barto is a Summa Cum Laude graduate from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Business Law and a B.S. in Political Science. She also holds a Master of Legal Studies from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where she received the Dean’s Award and served as the Graduation Celebration speaker. Her future plans are to obtain a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School and to become a lawyer or work in the State Department with the ultimate goal of becoming United States Secretary of State or a Supreme Court Justice.
Amber’s social impact initiative is “Leadership Through Service: Awareness, Action, Results.” She has personally helped raised over $350,000 for various charities and has a proven track record of fundraising, leadership and project management over the last decade. She is a current member of the Arizona Foundation for Women Young Professionals and serves as a social media influencer for American Pistachios.
Amber has been studying dance for 20 years and is the recipient of numerous awards like the ICU Jazz World Champion/Gold Medalist, chosen to dance in the Moscow Ballet Nutcracker and as a member of Arizona State University Dance Team.
KATE BLAIR Miss Arizona’s Outstanding Teen 2021
Kate Blair is a Senior at Xavier College Preparatory, where she is a 1st Honors Scholar, a member of Key Club and in the Computer Science National Honor Society. Her future ambition is to attend Vanderbilt University, followed by medical school to become an Obstetrician.
Through her social impact initiative “Raise a Voice for Childhood Cancer,” Kate has helped raise over $150,000 for the EBB Foundation. Kate co-authored and published a children’s picture book called Princess Pippa and the Crown of Kindness (www.thecrownofkindness.com) and is the host and producer of the Raise A Voice Podcast on Spotify – named a top 15 podcast for childhood cancer for 2021. She has created themed Christmas Trees and organized toy drives for Phoenix Children’s Hospital Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders the last 10 years.
Kate was the recipient of the Miss Arizona’s Outstanding Teen Quality of Life Award in 2018, 2019 and 2021 in recognition of her community service work. An accomplished dancer, Kate has performed with Ballet Arizona and Convergence Ballet Company, and is currently the Xavier Varsity Gatorline Cheer Captain.
