Cara Mund

Life and career

Early life and education

Mund was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. Since the age of 14, Mund has organized an annual fund-raising fashion show benefiting the Make-a-Wish Foundation. She graduated from Brown University in 2016 with a degree in business, entrepreneurship, and organizations where she was a member of the sorority, Kappa Delta. Prior to being crowned Miss America, she expressed plans to attend law school to receive her Juris Doctor and had already been accepted to Notre Dame Law School. From August to December 2016, she interned for Republican Senator John Hoeven in Washington D.C. and has expressed interest in representing North Dakota in the state and U.S. Senate as well as being the first woman to be elected governor of North Dakota. Mund is a relative of Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President of the United States.

Pageantry

Mund began pageantry as a child, capturing the titles of Little Miss North Dakota, Miss Pre-Teen North Dakota, and Miss Junior Teen North Dakota. Mund later competed in Miss North Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2010 as Miss Red River Valley's Outstanding Teen. She went on to win the competition, and competed in Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2011.

Mund later competed in Miss North Dakota 2016 as Miss Oil Country, and was the first runner-up. She returned to the competition the following year as Miss Northern Lights 2017, and was crowned Miss North Dakota 2017, with her platform being "A Make-A-Wish Passion with Fashion."

Miss America 2018

Mund represented North Dakota in the Miss America 2018 competition held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2017. Her platform was "A Make-A-Wish Passion with Fashion." In the preliminary competitions, Mund was named the first runner-up for the Quality of Life Award.

On September 10, 2017, Mund was crowned Miss America 2018 by Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields, besting first runner-up, Miss Missouri 2017, Jennifer Davis. Along with the title of Miss America she received a $50,000 scholarship. Mund is the first contestant from North Dakota to win the Miss America title.