It's hard to believe that four years ago we were all wondering if there would still be a Junior Miss program.  A group of Junior Miss faithful rallied with the AJM Board of Directors to continue offering the Junior Miss experience to the country's young women.  We knew that the organization will still face funding difficulties, a lack of awareness about the program, and misperceptions about what Junior Miss really is. But with your help and some temporary financial infusions we have brought Junior Miss back from the brink of extinction.  Now it's time to build AJM into a program for the future.
 
This year, the AJM Board of Directors began to evaluate AJM's strengths and weaknesses and to figure out how to attack the issues we face including the need to attract more high-quality young women and to attract national sponsors.  We've hired the Marshall Strategy firm to guide us through developing a clear definition of the problems we face, a strategy for addressing these problems, and a plan to implement whatever changes we decide to make.
 
Marshall's research and analysis have drilled down to articulate three positioning strategies that differentiate us from similar programs for young women:
· Empowering young women to reach their full potential;
· Showcasing the development and all-around excellence of our participants; and
· Inspiring young women to be their best and to be role models for other young people
 
America's Junior Miss is a powerful program and we have strength in our 50 years of heritage, committeed volunteers, alumnae network, values, and our program. What we are not doing well is telling people who we are and why we're important.  The words we use to describe AJM put us in the "peer group" of beauty pageants - Miss America, Miss Teen USA, Miss America's Outstanding Teen, and America's National Teenager.  Because these programs claim to do the same things as Junior Miss - provide scholarships, empower young women, develop self-worth, America's Junior Miss is not differentiated from these programs and in fact, cannot compete with their advertising ability or scholarships.
 
Our next phase in the process is to get feedback from our stakeholders in the field - especialy those of you who work on state and local programs.  We are setting up several conference calls over the next week so we can provide you with the information Marshall Strategy has put together and get your input before moving forward.
 
This is a very important project to the future of America's Junior Miss and we are looking forward to talking with many of you over the next few weeks.

In Memory of Marcella Wieland

Where Are They Now?