The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, Hawaii’s oldest food festival, recently announced the appointment of Jeannè Kapela as its new Miss Kona Coffee scholarship competition executive director. Duties of the new director include overseeing recruitment of contestants, event management and chaperone details.
Kapela has Kona coffee in her DNA.
She was born in Kona and raised on a small coffee farm in Captain Cook. She competed in pageants locally, statewide and on a national level. Kapela was the 2014 Miss Kona Coffee, went on to win the Miss Hawaii crown in 2015 while capturing the swimsuit and talent awards. She competed that year in the Miss America pageant and won the Miss Congeniality title. A graduate of Konawaena High School, she currently is pursuing a graduate certificate in social justice from Harvard University.
“The mission of Miss America is to prepare great women for the world, and to prepare the world for great women,” Kapela said. “My goal as executive director is to not only perpetuate the time honored traditions of Kona coffee, but to also shape and empower young female leaders of tomorrow. I aspire to teach young women to use their voices to make change in our community and to believe in the beauty of their own dreams.”
Since winning the Miss Hawaii crown in 2015, Kapela went on to coach numerous candidates for Miss Hawaii, Miss Hawaii’s Outstanding Teen organization, Cherry Blossom Festival Pageant, Narcissus Festival & Pageant and many others. As an accomplished performer and choreographer, she produced the 2018 Miss Kona Coffee competition and is currently a teacher at Kona Dance and Performing Arts.
“The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Board of Directors is very excited to have Jeanné come aboard as executive director of the competition,” said festival president Valerie Corcoran. “Her experience and organizational capacity match up with new pageant standards. We look forward to seeing the Miss Kona Coffee scholarship competition blossom under her leadership.”
UCC Hawaii is the long-time title sponsor of the Miss Kona Coffee competition. It proudly supports the scholarship competition and provides each newly crowned Miss Kona Coffee with an all-expense trip to Japan to promote Kona coffee at coffee trade shows and many UCC coffee shops throughout Japan .
When asked about her commitment and excitement to lead the Miss Kona Coffee competition, Kapela is excited.
“For any young woman who strives to go to college, to be involved in our community or make memories that will last a lifetime, being apart of the Miss Kona Coffee organization is an opportunity you won’t want to miss!” she said.
Interested competitors are encouraged to contact Kapela via phone at 854-1148 or email misskonacoffeeorg@gmail.com.