By: Cryptic Rock Magazine
June 13, 2026
A classic American tradition for over a century, Miss America has evolved from a traditional beauty pageant into a woman-empowering organization. A non-profit that provides opportunities for young women to grow in leadership roles and offers scholarships for higher education, they also help them build a platform for positive philanthropic projects that help others.
A growing entity that has had female leadership for nearly a decade, despite what some detractors might say about Miss America, it is making positive differences in many lives. A way to excel for many, the latest to hold the crown as Miss America 2026 is Cassie Donegan.
A representative of New York, Donegan is a talented actress and singer who has built a stunning career in musical theater, taking on major roles in productions such as Sticks and Stones, Waitress, Legally Blonde, 9 to 5, and Grease. Also a success in the business world, she is the Chief Operating Officer of the app-based, fully vetted childcare agency, Southern Sitters, which serves several states across the Southern and Midwestern United States.
A fully rounded individual with sights on even more positivity in the future, Cassie Donegan does not take the honor of being crowned Miss America 2026 lightly. Gracious and humbled, she recently sat down to discuss her unlikely road toward success, overcoming obstacles, shattering misconceptions, and much more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in the arts your entire life. What inspired you to pursue this path?
Cassie Donegan – That’s a really interesting question, because when I think about it, I’ve never existed in my life without them being such a prevalent part of it. I took my first dance class at only 2, and then I did my very first musical at only 4. I was very blessed to have a lot of accessibility created for me to participate in these different elements of creativity that were not necessarily financially accessible for my family in the long term.
I don’t know if it was ever a true moment of inspiration, whereas it was just always knowing that this was part of me and something I was supposed to do. It was never questioned by my family when I said this was what I wanted to do for my career; I was never led to believe it was something I couldn’t pursue as a career.
I think I’m very lucky in the fact that, given how my journey was, this was just always something I had no question about whether it was what I was supposed to be doing.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting. As you said, you started at a young age. You have also acted in theaters and on television. Obviously, you are very passionate about artistic expression.
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, there’s something really beautiful when you find complete joy and passion for what you’re doing, for your work. It’s hard work, but it never feels like work.
I wake up every day so thankful that that’s what I get to do. I get to create and tell people’s stories. Sometimes they’re my stories, sometimes they’re other people’s stories. That’s really cool.
Cryptic Rock – That is exciting for sure. You recently won Miss America 2026. Congratulations. What led you to participate, and what led you down this road?
Cassie Donegan – It’s always been really big for me to be able to give back, and I’ve always had a really big hand in different service opportunities since I was young. That is really the core and the heart of the Miss America opportunity: it’s a service-centered scholarship organization that gives women far more opportunities than we typically would without it, right? And it brings that opportunity right to us in many ways and encourages everyone on that philanthropic journey.
That was something that initially really drew me to the organization, because I just love helping, serving, and doing things for people. I had my passions within arts education, but it opened the door for so many others because we have these really incredible national partnerships that are special to me and my family for different specific reasons. It just so happened that everything kind of lined up perfectly in my passions and my personal connections to what the organization has been doing.
It is also, as I said, a scholarship organization, so it’s the largest provider of scholarships to women in the country. Without it, many people in my Miss America class, especially, would not have been able to graduate with their undergraduate and graduate degrees without student debt, or to pay for them out of pocket at all; if they did, it was very minimal.
Those two main reasons are what really drew me to the organization, as they provide a springboard for women. When you have financial access to something like higher education, that’s huge for your long-term journey, especially. Higher education is not affordable, and sometimes career paths require many, many, many years of it, so it creates an accessibility for young women that you do not see in many other realms.
Cryptic Rock – That sounds very possible and exciting. Some people have negative connotations with certain things, like Miss America. They just automatically think of the word “pageant” or “this or that,” and that’s really not the case; this is something that helps people.
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, and I think when I hear the word pageant, obviously, I don’t feel that negative connotation, right? But I have a deep understanding of what I’ve participated in and how it’s impacted me.
So, I think that’s why we’ve kind of turned towards calling it the Miss America opportunity rather than the Miss America pageant, because it really is an opportunity for us. Not just to have the scholarship and the service opportunities, right? But to connect and network in these ways that are so meaningful and impactful, because obviously, change with just one person is huge, but change with 52 women is even greater.
Then that dominoes into the local levels as well, and there are hundreds of thousands of women actively involved in our teen program, all the way to our Miss America program every single year, participating and making a difference.
I think it’s important for people to understand that it’s as much an opportunity for us, the delegates participating in the organization. It’s a really awesome opportunity for our partners and for those who work alongside and with us. Because we’re able to change that narrative, we can amplify any mission we partner with in a unique way that’s not typically seen, and that’s a really cool experience.
Cryptic Rock – It’s a very positive thing. We need more positivity in the world. It seems like there is a lot of negativity going around, and everyone seems to have something negative to say about everything.
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, and I experience that often in this position. In the world of social media, everyone has an opinion and an avenue to give it, and I think that’s great. I think people should be able to have and share their opinions. However, we also have to be mindful of what we’re digesting and what we’re allowing ourselves to take in. I often say that other people’s opinion of you is not your business. Because if it’s that negative voice, and you’re feeding that to yourself, or it’s nothing but negativity that you’re taking in and feeding yourself, that’s never going to lead to a positive outcome for you.
Something so beautiful is that much of my job and the work I get to do as Miss America is helping to advance that positivity and make a positive impact on people. I’m very blessed that that’s my reality, and that’s what I get to do as Miss America, because, as you said, there is so much negativity in the world right now, and it’s a scary world right now. Being able to bring some light and positivity to someone, even if it’s just for a few minutes, is a really big blessing and something special that I don’t take for granted.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. Changing the negative attitude and providing positive examples is wonderful. You have done a lot of really exceptional things through the years. Do you get to mentor younger women and work with younger women? What is that like for you?
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, that’s one of my favorite parts of the organization, which is that we have our little sisters program and our teen program. I love my teen. Tess is just phenomenal. She’s an exceptional young woman, and she’s going to do amazing things in this world. And then my Miss New York’s teen, Nadia, I’m still very close with her as well. She’s an exceptional individual who works in the arts education accessibility space, so it’s really cool that we got to do that together.
Getting to be part of that journey for them is huge, especially with our little sisters, who are our princesses, as they call them. I remember when I was that age, and I was really young, and I was interacting with what we called them back then, the big girls, who were the teen and Miss contestants. It was a very cool and pivotal experience for me.
I remember Nicole Johnson when I was 8 or 9 years old, literally getting down at my eye level—she’s a former Miss America—looking at me eye to eye, speaking to me like I was a whole person. She didn’t make me feel like just a kid in this room full of adults who were more important than I was in that moment, but she didn’t make me feel that way. That has stuck with me for a really long time for the kind of Miss America that I want to be. I want to make sure that everyone, regardless of their age or the setting we’re communicating in, feels fully engaged, fully cared about, and seen, because I do care about what they’re saying.
I think we often forget that while it’s really special for people, especially young people, to meet Miss America, it’s likely the only time they’ll ever meet and engage with Miss America. It is just as special to me, because that’s probably the only time I’m going to meet and engage with you. And you are impacting me just as much, and I am actively learning from you, just as you may be learning from me.
I’m also an arts educator myself, and our youth just hold such a special place in my heart. Getting to engage with them in this way, in this capacity, is making a difference because the women before me in this legacy made a difference in my life. It’s something I’m very cognizant of. It is something I’m very grateful for, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful and impactful parts of our organization to have those connections with those young people in that way.
Cryptic Rock – It sets up a brighter future with a better self-image and greater self-confidence. It is also important not to have such a grim view of the world, because, as you said, it is a very scary world. It is easy to get down and very upset about the way things are going, regardless of one’s personal views on the world. From every angle, it just seems like there is a lot of darkness, so it is nice to see some light.
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, absolutely.
Cryptic Rock – Now, we talked about the help that you give to others, which is really positive, but what does the opportunity of becoming Miss America do for you?
Cassie Donegan – One of the biggest impacts is the scholarship money that we were talking about. I earned over $50,000 in scholarship money at Miss America. That’s in addition to the money I earned at Miss New York, and I also had scholarship money from them when I was a teen delegate. So in total, I’ve earned over $70,000 in scholarship money from the Miss America opportunity, which is huge. That’s life-changing. It pays for my education, and that’s something that not everyone gets to have, and have that opportunity to say that they were able to earn that much scholarship money, especially when you think about earning $50,000 plus in a week’s time. That’s incredible. That’s life-changing.
It’s definitely impacted me in that way, but it’s also, like I said, a springboard for young women to make their dreams a reality. Because yes, I’ve had this incredible entertainment career before becoming Miss America. I am also a relatively established arts educator, and I’m the chief operations officer of a small business. However, what Miss America does is take that and marry it beautifully with an incredible opportunity to push all of that forward. It’s put me in front of people I might have gotten to at some point to discuss with them. Those doors would have likely opened for me, but it does it in a way, in a timeline, that changes your life. It does it way faster for you, and it brings those opportunities right to us, and that’s amazing.
I have seen so many women go through this organization, from the local to the national level, because the opportunities are not just brought to me as Miss America. It’s been brought to every state delegate, as well as local delegates and participants. I have seen lives actively change because their hard work and determination earned them that position, and now that position is bringing them to places and people who recognize that hard work and determination. I think it is an organization that changes lives in so many different capacities.
Cryptic Rock – It sounds like it is doing wonderful things for many people. What will you be studying as you pursue your education further?
Cassie Donegan – I am hopeful to achieve my MBA in nonprofit leadership and management. I would love to eventually have my own nonprofit. I’m currently the founder of Three Arts Education Scholarships. I would love to open the nonprofit to umbrella those, hopefully create more, and take the STEAM masterclass that I used to do in schools. I hope to put that to print and hand it over to standardized classrooms for standard educators to utilize and integrate the STEAM element into their everyday classroom. I hope to provide that for free, serve as a resource for young emerging artists who may need guidance or financial support at any point in their careers, and be a safe haven for our creatives.
Regardless of where they are on their journey of being a professional creative or, hopefully, becoming a professional creative, and especially our youth. I want to be the best kind of leader possible in that space. Nonprofit leadership differs from for-profit leadership, so I want to equip myself as well as possible to have the greatest impact on as many people as possible.
Cryptic Rock – The best of luck. You seem very driven, and you will succeed. You seem to have a good foundation. Did you have good support from your family through the years growing up?
Cassie Donegan – Oh my gosh, yes, I think I’m constantly amazed at how blessed I am in terms of the village that I have around me. I am definitely the definition of it takes a village, and I have been my whole life.
I came from circumstances that were not necessarily typical for someone to become Miss America. We were a lower-income household. My mom’s a multi-stroke and heart attack survivor, my dad’s a 100% disabled veteran, and those circumstances just set things up to be a little bit more difficult at times. Often, I struggled to connect with my peers because I was dealing with certain things at home that just weren’t typical for someone my age. Then you add on top of that that I was often coming home to find a utility off, or my mom was speaking to the company, begging for another extension, just because we were doing everything we could to make ends meet.
If I had not had people around me, my family and my chosen family, who saw something in me that they chose to support, pour into and make the opportunities that I had accessible to me – both financially, but also driving me when my parents couldn’t, or sitting at that rehearsal when someone else couldn’t, or going here, doing this, getting me that thing, talking to that person, putting those scholarships in place for me to have those lessons, participate in those shows – I wouldn’t have the life that I have.
Certainly, this was not a success that I did all alone. I think that’s really important because, yes, I worked really hard, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, and I did a lot of hard work. I also believe part of someone’s success is the community they surround themselves with, because while your voice is the loudest inside, it’s really important that the voices around you are also positively pouring into you. I have had nothing but love and support from the people around me, pushing me to be the best version of myself while also reminding me to take care of myself on that journey. I think that’s huge.
Cryptic Rock – Often, adversity makes someone stronger. It gives them more character. As you said, you sometimes could not relate to your peers. Maybe that seems like a struggle when you are younger, but when you are older, you appreciate it more. It makes you a stronger person to be able to handle a little adversity, because life throws a lot of it your way.
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, and I think it’s equipped me well to be able to love people well, and I’m able to approach people from a place of empathy, because even though I may not know exactly what they’re going through, I understood at a very young age what it felt like. I also understand what it felt like to have no true idea of certainty in a lot of ways.
I was very aware of many of the struggles we were going through at a very young age. It was scary sometimes when you’re a kid, and everything is just bigger when you’re aware of some of these things. Life has not always been easy. There’s been a lot, and I mean, even after my time at home and going through College and just life in general, and some of the curveballs that it’s thrown my way.
It would be really easy some days to actively choose not to find the positivity in things, but I think it’s really important that we do. I think life ultimately prepares you for the desires of your heart, and sometimes that means going through moments of adversity and really having to push through. I also believe that when really good things are coming, there are sometimes forces in the universe that try to squash them. So, when you’re facing those difficult times, you’re facing that adversity, it just means to keep pushing, because I promise you something really incredible is going to be on the other side of that.
It’s helped me become someone who can approach people at any point in their lives as an ambassador for this organization, and connect with them in a way that means something and is real. I think it’s a quality that is necessary for Miss America. I don’t say this in a bragging way at all, but actually completely opposite. I think she has to be extraordinary, but I don’t mean in the way your brain probably initially goes to that word. I mean that I’m a very ordinary woman who has gone through some pretty extraordinary things in my life to get to where I am now. It’s those extra things that create that resilience and that strength in someone to be able to take on just about anything that life throws at you, and I think a lot of people doubt their ability to do that, but you are ultimately the person who holds the reins on your life.
Life does not get to tell you your outcome. You get to tell life your outcome, and I think sometimes people just need a reminder of that, because sometimes people can maybe hear what I went through in my life, and they think, ” Oh, well, then my struggles simply don’t sound that bad,” or the other end of that spectrum, “What I went through was way harder to process.”
Both of those things are valid. I don’t think we should compare. As they say, comparison is the thief of joy, but I don’t think we should compare. I think if something was hard for you, something was hard for you. It doesn’t matter whether someone else’s thing was harder or not; there’s validity in the struggle you had to overcome, whether it took 1 day or many days. The point is that you overcame it, or you can overcome it. That’s important for me as Miss America for people to understand, because I didn’t come from the background that makes sense for me to be sitting here as Miss America, but I am anyway, in spite of all of those things.
So whether your goal is to become Miss America or to do whatever it may be, you can literally do it. You can do it, and if someone tells you not to or that you can’t, it’s because they know you can and are trying to keep you from doing it. You get to tell them they don’t get to do that, because you can do it.
I am very thankful to be in the position I’m in to say that to as many people as I can, especially young people. Because we live in that social media world where everyone’s life is a highlight reel that they see all the time. It’s important to remind them that’s literally just a glimpse of a good moment for that person. Don’t let the day and age of social media keep you from doing what you are more than capable of achieving because the world needs you, and it needs the difference that you’re gonna make.
Cryptic Rock – You raise some extremely valid points. One takeaway from what you are saying is that we should not judge people on the surface. We should not assume someone got somewhere because they are privileged, but we also should not condemn someone for perhaps not being very polite. Perhaps they are going through something hard in their lives, we are just not aware of. Sometimes we need to just stop and think about why someone might be acting a certain way.
Cassie Donegan – Right. We say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We say that all the time. I think yes, but also, instead of just walking away and not judging the book by its cover, because people design the covers of books to make people want to open them, maybe we don’t allow our initial assessment to be our ultimate decision. Maybe we should take a minute to figure out the inside of that book.
We should take a second to actually get to know someone. Just talk to somebody, find out how you can help them, how you can impact their day. As you said, you have no idea what is going on in someone’s life. You don’t know why they might be acting in a way that they typically wouldn’t, and you may not know, because that’s your only interaction with them.
Maybe just take a step back and take a second, and even if it’s a quick 30 seconds, to see if there is something you can find out behind that cover. Maybe there’s something you can do to help or impact that person, because that domino effect through society spreads like wildfire, and that can be really positive. When one person does one thing that helps someone else, that’s going to pay off for tens of other people.
Cryptic Rock – Agreed. Going back to your love for art, acting, and singing, have you wanted to, or considered pursuing, more television or film roles, or are you happy working in theater?
Cassie Donegan – I love both. They’re so different. I did much more screen work when I was younger, but I kind of dove headfirst into musical theater and live entertainment as I got older. There’s just something I think is so intimate and also really fun about the fact that live performance is never the same twice. I think that’s really cool. It’s an active, living, breathing piece of art, and that’s amazing.
There’s also something so challenging about doing a show 8 times a week, and it keeps you on your toes, but I love as well the different type of intimacy that screen work brings as well. I think they’re both so unique in their own way, and I think that they’re so fun, and you’re able to tell stories in such different ways.
I would also absolutely do more television film work any day. I’m happy whether it’s in front of a camera, in a classroom with a student, or on stage. I’m very thankful that I get to do all of those things. I would absolutely love to do more television and film, though.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting to hear. Do you have any other new projects coming up in theater or anything you could talk about?
Cassie Donegan – Oh my goodness, I mean, there are always new things brewing, which is also something I love about this industry. We were recently in audition season for musical theater. There are so many new things coming across my desk, and I’m so grateful for them. I’m excited to look into those more.
In terms of things happening while I’m Miss America, I’m working on those three scholarship funds, and one of our biggest fundraisers every year is a benefit concert I put on here in the city. I’m excited about that.
I get to come together with other creatives with that shared mission and goal of bringing that accessibility to our youth, and really pushing that message forward to those who will give us their ears to listen and help us on that endeavor. I look forward to that every year, just because it’s fun. It’s people getting to choose their own material, coming together and sharing their personality in that material, and just having a fun night of community that’s making a difference.
Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear. Talking about singing, you have a very powerful voice. So, what inspired you as a singer? Is there a particular artist or form of music?
Cassie Donegan – I grew up in a small town in the south, about an hour north of the Carolina border, and so I grew up with a lot of southern Bluegrass music. You can hear that in a lot of my independent musical journey; when I write music, that’s kind of the baseline of what you’re hearing. I grew up with a lot of, especially New Grass, like Alison Krauss, things of that nature.
I would say, probably, ultimately, my biggest inspiration in many areas of life, and in music, is Dolly. I have loved Dolly Parton my entire life. My very first car only had a cassette player, and I would literally just play Dolly Parton cassettes on it, on repeat, over and over again. I’ve worked at Dollywood, and I’ve had the honor of playing Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 more than once.
She has been a very important part of my career in ways she obviously has no idea she was important. I also think she’s the kind of person I try to be. She genuinely cares for people, positively impacts them, and does everything she can to do so, but she’s so true to herself.
I think authenticity is so important, and it’s important in your creativity. It’s also important to you as a being, and it’s something that I tried really hard to maintain throughout my journey, from my time as Miss Five Boroughs to becoming Miss America, and in my career. Queen Dolly is definitely the primary inspiration I look to as an artist.
Cryptic Rock – Dolly Parton has done some amazing things over the years. Just a few years ago, she surprised everyone and released a Rock record.
Cassie Donegan – Yes, and she’s one of the best lyricists I have ever heard. She has that many songs, and they’re all so different. Where does all of this information come from? First of all, how do you store all of this in your brain? It’s just flowing out of her all the time, and she’s talked about how she has drawers full of random lyrics that were never even used. I then think, so there’s more out there? There’s more that we never even got to hear? How does one have this much creativity at all times?
Cryptic Rock – It is really inspiring. She has had such longevity and been so prolific. Someone who is a theater actress and such, do you have any favorite films at all?
Cassie Donegan – Yeah, I love the Horror genre, I must be honest. I have since a kid. I have always wanted to revive the Scream Queen title and be one. Genuinely, if I went into television and film primarily as my career, I would love to do something like Bates Motel or American Horror Story. I would love to do something that is an episodic kind of Horror breakdown. I think those are so cool. I think they’ve been wonderfully done. One of my favorite scream actresses is Vera Farmiga. I also love Jessica Lang. I just think they’re all exceptional. I love the Horror genre. If I had to pick a favorite, I would always love Psycho (1960). Also, the OG Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
If it’s a good horror movie, I’ll sit down and watch it, to be honest with you. Then, on the flip side of that, I also love a good, cheesy Hallmark movie. There’s no in between for me on the spectrum; it’s Hallmark or Horror. (Laughs). I love a good feel-good little Disney/Pixar movie, too. I’ve loved Winnie the Pooh since I was little. My dad calls me Pooh Bear. I will say, though, that the one Horror movie I don’t support is the Winnie the Pooh Horror film. That was a no-go for me.
I love classic Horror too. The modern ones are really good as well, but classic Horror, they just do something different.
Cryptic Rock – Completely agreed. It would be cool if you, uh, had the opportunity to do something episodic, like you said, like Bates Motel. Did you watch Stranger Things?
Cassie Donegan – I did watch Stranger Things and enjoyed it. I’m a true crime junkie, and I love a good true-crime podcast, too. One of my favorite crossovers of my musical theater career, and my love for Horror, is that I played Carrie in Carrie the Musical, and that was incredible. I got to keep the dress, I got to keep the blood dress. It’s now encased in a spray-paint sealant, a highly flammable object at my mother’s house with all my other show mementos.
I usually get to keep something from each show, and that one, I asked, ” What are you doing with this dress? They’re, like, “Throwing it in the trash can. It’s covered in chocolate syrup.” I asked, “Can I keep it? Please. I want to keep the pig’s blood dress.” So, I got to keep it, it was really cool!
Read the article HERE: https://crypticrock.com/an-authentic-talk-with-miss-america-2026-cassie-donegan/