Shelby Thompson
Miss Tennessee 2013
Shelby Thompson’s lifelong dream came true when she was crowned Miss Tennessee on June 22, 2013, at the Carl Perkins
Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee. As the newly crowned Miss Tennessee, Kirkland’s Inc. sponsors Shelby as she serves as
Governor Haslam’s Official Spokesperson for Character Education and travels 70,000 miles speaking to 40,000
schoolchildren about the Character Education Trait: Trustworthiness. Throughout her year of travels across the state,
Shelby also serves as a National Spokesperson for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Official Friends of Children’s Hospital Board
Intern, Volunteer Tennessee’s Honorary Board Chair, as well as the Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network
for the state of Tennessee, home to five CMN hospitals.
Shelby is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a B.S. in Public Relations, a minor in Business and has
been accepted into Lipscomb University’s MBA program with a Nonprofit Management concentration. She was a member of
Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, was selected as one of fifteen college seniors to participate in the Senior Leadership
Capstone Course, and received the UTK’s School of Public Relations Scholarship. Shelby also received Tennessee’s Lottery
HOPE Scholarship, as well as the University of Tennessee’s Center for International Education Scholarship. While a student
at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, she was selected by her professors to attend the LeaderShape Institute in 2011,
was employed as an Ambassador Scholar, served as Philanthropy Chair for Alpha Delta Pi Sorority where she coordinated
weekly service projects for 175 members and was named Alpha Kappa Chapter’s Junior of the Year. The National Alpha
Delta Pi Sorority honored Shelby as the National Collegiate Volunteer of the Year in 2011 for her work involving Ronald
McDonald House Charities where she raised over $8,000 through the fundraiser she created.
Shelby has been awarded over $26,000 in college scholarships from her participation in the Miss America program. She
won the Miss Tennessee Quality of Life Award 2013 and was presented the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Medal Award by
HRH Prince Edward at Governor Haslam’s residence in May 2013. Shelby was a Swimsuit Preliminary Winner in 2010 and
won Talent Preliminary awards in 2012 and 2013 when she competed for the Miss Tennessee crown. With the scholarships
she won participating in the Miss America Organization, Shelby was afforded the opportunity to study International Public
Relations and Crisis Communication in Italy at Universita di Urbino during the summer of 2011.
As a Nationally Endorsed Spokesperson for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Shelby will represent the organization during her
travels across the state and will be filming a national Public Service Announcement that will run on Comcast and joins
Academy Award Winner, Jamie Foxx, former Miss America, Laura Kaeppeler, Grammy Award winner, Eve, and Super Bowl
Champion, Darrin Smith, as national spokespeople. Shelby is an Honorary Member of BBBS Ambassador Circle, has
appeared in a statewide Public Service Announcement as Miss Tennessee in support of BBBS, and is on a billboard
campaign with her Little Sister, Justice Fields, for BBBS. Over this past year, she has worked as the Fund Development
Intern and has spearheaded the Tennessee chapter’s capital campaign by organizing Bowl for Kids’ Sake in five different
cities that have raised $125,000, while also raising nearly $15,000 during the past ten months through online virtual
fundraisers and speaking engagements. Shelby has also served as a Programs Intern for BBBS and volunteered as a Big
Sister to Justice for three years, until her Little Sister graduated from the program. Shelby received the University of
Tennessee Chancellor’s Honor for Extraordinary Community Service for her volunteerism with BBBS.
In addition to her work promoting Big Brothers Big Sisters, Shelby has been heavily involved with Tennessee’s five CMN
hospitals and volunteered for IHOP’s CMN National Pancake Day for the past several years. Shelby created a Krafts 4 Kids
Program, which she has taken to all five Tennessee CMN Hospitals, where she makes “love bug crafts” with patients who are
able to participate. She has volunteered for CMN Queen for a Day events in Nashville and Memphis, hosted a Pancake
Breakfast for CMN Hospitals in Knoxville, and hosted both The Children’s Christmas Artwork Winner’s Party and “Miss
Tennessee Day” at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Shelby escorted youth volunteers at CMN’s Sundae with Friends and
Fashion Show and worked as a phone bank volunteer for the Nashville and Knoxville CMN telethons. She volunteered at the
CMN Phone-a-thon for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and participated in the Jersey Mike’s Day of Giving in Nashville
where 27 stores provided a portion of the proceeds to CMN. Shelby has founded the GenerosiTEA fundraiser at Vanderbilt
Children’s Hospital where mothers can bring their daughters to have refreshments and photos with Miss Tennessee while
learning about Shelby’s volunteer experiences at VCH.
When Shelby is not working on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters, CMN Hospitals and the Miss Tennessee Organization, she
enjoys classical vocal performance and has had the opportunity to sing at Dollywood and Carnegie Hall. She has studied
classical voice through Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, Nashville Opera and Opera Memphis. Shelby is an avid triathlete
and runner, having completed both the Nashville Country Music and Chicago Half marathons and UT’s Triathlon.
Shelby traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey in September 2013 to compete for the title of Miss America. Shelby is honored
and blessed to have the great opportunity to be a role model and mentor to thousands of students in the State of Tennessee.