Miss World America 2020

Media Innovator | Philanthropist | Alzheimer’s Activist

Throughout her life, Alissa Anderegg has used her voice to inspire others. From appearing on stage and screen as a professional child actress to speaking around the U.S. as one of the country's leading Alzheimer's activists to lending her media expertise to world-renowned companies— and as Miss World America 2020— she has lived by her mission to educate, empower and activate. Building upon these experiences and her unwavering desire to be an architect of change, she is continuing this mission as a digital media innovator to create content that will make a lasting impact.

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On October 16, 2020, Alissa was announced as the winner of Miss World America 2020, the official United States representative of Miss World, the longest-running international beauty pageant. Since its launch in 1951, the Miss World organization has raised more than £1 billion for children's charities that help disabled and underprivileged children around the world. As Miss World America, Alissa was an ambassador for Miss World’s mission of “Beauty with a Purpose,” with a special focus on her personal platform of Alzheimer’s Advocacy.

Alissa emphasizes that with every experience the most meaningful moments always involve connecting one-on-one with others to hear their stories and become unified in their shared journeys. These are the moments that continue to inspire her. As Miss World America— and today— Alissa’s goal is to live by her personal motto of “Educate, Empower, Activate” to encourage others to use their talents to make a difference. She wants to show America— and the world— that no dream is unachievable, and by following our dreams we can change the world.

Growing up with a grandmother with Alzheimer's, Alissa quickly realized that the Alzheimer's community lacked a voice for what she now calls the "forgotten generation" of the disease: the child caregivers. What began as reading a report to her seventh grade class soon escalated to becoming one of the nation's leading young Alzheimer’s advocates, inspiring people across the country with her personal story and mission to empower other young caregivers. Her story has been featured in the Emmy-winning HBO documentary The Alzheimer’s Project, the TV show Young Icons, Maria Shriver’s Women's Alzheimer's Movement national campaign, AOL, The Huffington Post, National Public Radio, Larry King Live, the Alzheimer’s Association Annual Report, her national keynote speaking tour, and her contribution to the publications The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s in America, among others.

Currently, Alissa is a Committee Vice Chair for the New York Junior League and member of the the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Young Professionals Committee and New York Public Library Young Lions. She also recently sat on the National Board of Directors of The Youth Movement Against Alzheimers (acquired by Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity). As Miss World America, she was a National Champion for CaringKind: The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving and was awarded the Beauty with a Purpose award from Miss World CEO Julia Morley at her national pageant. In addition to her Alzheimer's work, Alissa has been a longtime philanthropist, contributing over 2,000 community service hours for more than 100 nonprofits through her involvement with the Miss America Organization, National Charity League, the Alzheimer's Association Junior Board & Social Media Leadership Team, the iMedia Foundation advisory board, the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s national executive board, and more.

As a professional child actress, Alissa grew up in front of the camera and on the stage where she first developed her storytelling skills. At age 10, she earned her Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union cards, going on to appear in commercials, TV shows, and films; lead modeling campaigns for Gap, Old Navy, and Mervyns; and star in several professional theatrical productions - including more than 100 performances of Annie throughout California, the Los Angeles premiere of Parade, the world premieres of Abigail Dreary and Night of the Hunter, as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the famous Pasadena Civic, as Juliet in a special performance of Romeo and Juliet at Francis Ford Coppola's winery, and her three-year contract in the West Coast premiere of An American Girls Revue.  With American Girl, she became one of eight brand ambassadors for Mattel, where she toured to promote the company. 

Now over a decade later, Alissa has built upon these experiences to tell stories from a different perspective. A Dean's List graduate of Duke University, Alissa holds a triple concentration B.A. in Visual and Media Studies, Markets and Management and Theater Studies and a Master of Science from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with an emphasis in digital video content. She has combined her skills in front of the camera— as a fill-in TV host for This Is SF on CBS in the San Francisco Bay Area, Instagram reporter for the digital news site The Ballout, and contributor for the In the Chair with Justin Anderson podcast— with her innate understanding of the media landscape— by crafting unique social media and digital marketing content for such leading companies as J.P. Morgan, NBCUniversal, Tesla, ServiceNow, Atlassian, and the fast-growing hair care company dpHUE. Throughout her years as a digital innovator, Alissa has covered a variety of events and stories including New York Fashion Week, NBA games, the PGA Tour, festivals and more. With every project, Alissa emphasizes how everybody has a story, and effectively communicating that story is essential to success. Now, Alissa is taking on her latest venture as co-founder of Upper East Side Tan in New York City and is excited for the next chapter!