A Heart for Service: Berkley Bryant, National Brand Ambassador

What do you get when you mix a love of pageants and a heart for service? Berkley Bryant, crowned Miss Volunteer America in June 2024, is a great example of this combination, yet she is so much more. Having been entrusted with the honored position of Brand Ambassador for The Salvation Army USA, Berkley has been using her national platform to inspire and empower young people across America.

“The Miss Volunteer America organization is partnered with The Salvation Army in order to spread the good news and be a part of doing something good,” Berkley shares. “Our mission is really all about empowering young women through educational scholarships and extraordinary opportunities. That’s our ultimate goal.”

Along with her crown, Berkley received a $50,000 scholarship for being named Miss Volunteer America and has been traveling across the country representing The Salvation Army as well as the Miss Volunteer America organization.

Berkley was born on an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, and spent much of her early life moving wherever they sent her family. “The military lifestyle really taught me so much about appreciating our surroundings, appreciating diversity, and the differences that we all carry,” she shares. “Growing up, it was difficult for me to find that feeling of home because of moving so much. And I’m sure so many people in The Salvation Army can also relate to that as well.” She eventually landed in South Carolina, which she now calls home.

Berkley began dancing competitively at age three. As a little girl, she dreamed of attending Clemson University to continue honing that passion alongside other academic pursuits. Recognizing in her early teens that attending a four-year university would be an expensive, possibly unattainable goal without financial assistance, she started dabbling in the pageantry world in pursuit of scholarships. “The pageants that I competed in always had a talent portion of the competition,” Berkley explains. “Talent always stood out to me and really sparked my interest. But also, my mom competed in pageantry back in the day.”

Berkley’s mother, who is currently battling stage four metastatic breast cancer, made it a priority to have Berkley serve alongside her, gently mentoring her through her early pageant years. “To think that she’s been my inspiration throughout this entire journey has been really special. I serve for a reason; I serve for a purpose. And I know that God has His hand on her throughout this entire journey… She inspires me every single day to get up, and make a difference, and put a smile on someone’s face.”

Living her life as a testimony and witness to the goodness of God is something Berkley has learned from both her mother and father. “I feel very blessed to have two parents in my life that have invested those skills and that ability in me to share His light with others because they’ve been that light for me throughout my life.”

When her dream of being accepted to Clemson University was realized as a young adult, Berkley fully embraced campus life as a member of the dance team, a campus tour guide, and by joining a sorority, each step giving her unique opportunities to invest in future generations of Clemson students.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing with a minor in biological sciences, Berkley discovered a passion for sales, specifically in the healthcare space. Through her studies she found she especially enjoyed the process of pitching. “That’s kind of where pageantry came into play for me too. I found that I had a skill set that was unique.”

But Berkley didn’t want to just compete in beauty pageants; she was looking for something more substantial.

When the Miss Volunteer America organization held its inaugural competition in 2022, they were determined to select winners based more on merit, talent, and intelligence rather than outward appearance. Focusing instead on Scholarship, Education, Responsibility, Volunteerism, and Empowerment (S.E.R.V.E.), the organization works to engender self-esteem and a spirit of service in all their competitors.

“What really stood out to me about Miss Volunteer America was the heart,” Berkley shares. This was a big reason that she chose to participate in their competition over other available pageants. “I think that the heart for service has really fallen flat in a lot of organizations, and so for us, it’s really become the priority.” Their national partnership with The Salvation Army, as well as a healthy fundraising partnership with the St. Jude’s Research Hospital, are evidence of this commitment to service.

The partnership between Miss Volunteer America and The Salvation Army was established just over a year ago thanks to the efforts of Major Jerry Friday while serving in his capacity as area commander of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. “The missions of our two organizations really do align so perfectly,” Berkley explains. Both want to encourage and empower young people to get involved and serve others in their communities.

“One of the things I always talk about with people when I talk in schools or when I’m at a fundraising event is just how much you get when you give. To me, that’s a message that young people need to understand at an earlier age.” And in her capacity as Miss Volunteer America 2025, Berkley has had many opportunities for service, especially in partnership with The Salvation Army.

In one of her first trips after being crowned, Berkley visited and served at New York’s Harlem Temple. “I was able to feed over 400 individuals that day. The homeless, veterans, everyone in that line really inspired me to know my purpose and to know why I was given this incredible blessing and opportunity. There was a reason it was me. There was a reason that I was the smiling face that they got to see that day.”

One of Berkley’s biggest goals as National Brand Ambassador for The Salvation Army is to encourage other Miss Volunteer title holders to get involved in service with their local Salvation Army, not just at Christmastime, but all year long. She was inspired by just how many people from the Miss Volunteer organization jumped into bellringing and fundraising over December 2024. “I wonder how many people that instance inspired to volunteer next year, or to volunteer next month. To know that they were making that impact in their communities around the country… To see that leveraged throughout the country was really beautiful to watch.”

She herself had the opportunity to ring alongside Commissioner Kenneth Hodder for the National Commander’s Red Kettle Challenge. “To be there with him and ring the bell was a very special and unique experience.”

Berkley has made it her mission to use her platform as Miss Volunteer America to show others how important serving in their community truly is. Citing her father’s military service as inspiration, she says she relies on the core values of the Air Force as pillars in her life, engendering within her a spirit of servant leadership: “Integrity first, service above self, and excellence in all we do.” She urges young people to, “get involved, find something you’re passionate about, find a purpose. I think that having a partnership with The Salvation Army is one way to get your foot in the door and find that purpose.”

“Lead by example. Be the role model that you needed when you were younger. And approach every day with that mindset,” Berkley encourages. “That’s how I try to live my life, not just as Miss Volunteer America, but just as Berkley. To be a light for the Lord and to really inspire [others] to do the same.”

This May, Berkley joined Bernie Dake on Words of Life to share her story, her heart for serving others, and how she has partnered with The Salvation Army. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel. You can learn more about Berkley, the Miss Volunteer America organization, and their partnership with The Salvation Army by visiting missvolunteeramerica.net.