Marissa Whitley was Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. The reigning titleholder is Danielle Doty of Texas....

 2001, representing the state of Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

.(23 August 2001). Miss Missouri Selected As Miss Teen Usa, Kentucky New Era She was the first titleholder from that state to win the national competition.

Whitley won her first title, Miss Missouri Teen USA

Miss Missouri Teen USA

The Miss Missouri Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Missouri in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant has been directed by Vanbros since 1993....

 in 2000, and reigned until she won the Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. The reigning titleholder is Danielle Doty of Texas....

 2001 title at South Padre Island, Texas

South Padre Island, Texas

South Padre Island is a town in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Brownsville–Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas. The population was 2,816 at the...

 on August 22, 2001. Whitley was crowned by Jillian Parry

Jillian Parry

Jillian Parry was Miss Teen USA 2000, representing her home town of Newtown and state of Pennsylvania. She was the first titleholder from that state to win the national competition....

 of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and later gave up her title to Vanessa Semrow

Vanessa Marie Semrow

Vanessa Marie Semrow is a beauty queen from Rhinelander, Wisconsin who held the Miss Teen USA 2002 title.Semrow won her first title, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA on October 15, 2001, in a pageant paying tribute to the events of September 11, 2001...

 of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 on August 28, 2002. Whitley is also the 3rd biracial (African American/White) winner of the pageant.

Less than a month into her reign, and now living in New York City (as part of her prize package), Whitley witnessed the 9/11 Attacks first hand, and was able to use her title to reach out to children affected by the terrorism.

As Miss Teen USA, Whitley represented the Miss Universe Organization

Miss Universe Organization

The Miss Universe Organization is the organization that currently owns and runs the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty contests. Based in New York, it is owned jointly by NBC Universal and Donald Trump. The current president is Paula Shugart...

. Her "sister" 2001 titleholders were Kandace Krueger

Kandace Krueger

Kandace Gayle Krueger Matthews is an American television personality and former beauty queen who has held the Miss USA title. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She was born to Larry & Barbara Johnson Krueger...

 (Miss USA

Miss USA

The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...

, from Texas) and Denise Quiñones

Denise Quiñones

Denise Marie Quiñones August is a Puerto Rican actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was the fourth woman from her country to win the Miss Universe contest...

 (Miss Universe

Miss Universe

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....

, of Puerto Rico).

Marissa Whitley is still residing in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where she is working for MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 Networks on the College Television Network and as a commercial print model for Ford Models

Ford Models

The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...

. She continues to speak at events around the country.