Aug. 28, 2026, 11:51 a.m. ET
The newly topped Miss USA has deep Indiana roots.
Justus Kelley, a 31-year-old Cathedral Excessive College and Indiana College alum, took dwelling the title Aug. 27 in Miami. Now primarily based in Arlington, Virginia and competing as Miss Virginia, Kelley made historical past as the primary spouse and mom to be named Miss USA within the group’s 75-year historical past.
Kelley graduated from Cathedral in 2013. She attended IU and earned a bachelor’s diploma in neighborhood well being in 2017 and a grasp’s in public well being administration in 2019, serving as chapter president for IU’s Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority throughout her time as a pupil. Kelley additionally appeared in a industrial highlighting sports activities broadcaster and fellow IU alum Sage Steele’s profession.
In 2020, whereas primarily based in Bloomington, Kelley was topped Mrs. Indiana within the Mrs. America circuit – a parallel competitors to Miss America for married girls.
After incomes her grasp’s, Kelley landed a job because the development officer for the Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio division of the Make-A-Want Basis. She relocated to Virginia in 2021 to function the regional growth officer on the basis’s Blue Ridge division. Kelley is now the senior philanthropic advisor at St. Jude Youngsters’s Analysis Hospital and founding father of Foster Footprints, a non-profit supporting foster kids within the DMV space.
Kelley, a licensed foster dad or mum alongside along with her husband, turned the primary married lady and mom to win Miss USA after the group relaxed eligibility necessities to permit wives and moms to compete in 2023. Miss USA famously excluded married girls and moms for a lot of its historical past, even stripping the 1957 winner of her title after it was revealed she was married with kids.
Kelley will compete for the title of Miss Universe in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November.
Morgan Evans and Anthony Robledo contributed to this report.
Contact IndyStar Pop Tradition Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@indystar.com. Comply with her on X @hmb_1013.
