Vanderbilt alumna Addison Hadley wins Miss United States, uses platform to advocate for low-income communities

Addison Hadley poses with her Miss United States sash. (Photo courtesy of Franz Orban with The Code Creatives) After winning the Miss United States pageant, Addison Hadley (M.Ed, M.Ed ‘23) is pursuing multiple service initiatives to improve the lives of children around the country. Hadley has been competing in pageants for five years. Through her experience, she has developed networks and connections to further her service efforts working with children from low-income communities. Pageants were one of her main external commitments while she pursued her dual masters degree in clinical mental health counseling and professional school counseling from Vanderbilt. Time at Vanderbilt During her time at Vanderbilt, Hadley balanced full-time doctoral coursework, a part-time job, 1,400 internship hours, community service and pageants. Nicole Cobb, associate professor and director of the Human Development Studies Program, taught Hadley during her M.Ed program and commended her hard work. “Addison has a heart full of compassion and unwavering commitment to make the world a better place,” Cobb said. “Her passion for social justice extended beyond the classroom, as she actively participated in community service, organized awareness campaigns and engaged in meaningful dialogue with her peers. She used her voice to advocate for socioeconomic equity on campus meeting with leaders across the university.” After graduating from Vanderbilt in May 2023, Hadley moved to Denver where she currently works as a professional mental health counselor. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity I had at Vanderbilt to explore various different internship placements so I could really get a comprehensive look at what my career might be,” Hadley said. “It’s definitely been a learning experience to jump off the diving board into the actual life of a professional mental health counselor, but I’ve got great support from the group that I’m working with.” Pageant journey Hadley was […]

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