NADGEENA JEROME

Miss Long Island 2022
Leader of Tomorrow Award Miss

Nadgeena Jerome is incredibly honored to have been awarded the title of Miss Long Island 2022. The 26-year-old Baldwin native is an alumna of George Mason University 's Class of 2017, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Communication. A first generation Haitian American, her ultimate career goal is to be the television daughter of Ellen Degenneres and Oprah Winfrey, with her own daytime talk series. In the past, Nadgeena has been featured as guest speaker for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference.

She currently works as a Talent Manager for a boutique modeling agency and has been a Digital Content Producer at News 12 since 2019. In addition, she contributes her talents as a host of "What’s Hot for Talent Recap, and occasionally writes articles for the Talent Recap website.

Growing up in a family affected by mental illness, Nadgeena was once ashamed of her background, but now turns her PAIN INTO PURPOSE. She volunteers her time as a Crisis Text Line counselor and is a National Alliance on Mental Illness Advocacy Ambassador. One of the most important things that drew her to the Miss Long Island pageant was the emphasis on passion projects.

During her reign as Miss Long Island, Nadgeena plans to promote her initiative #ReverseTheStigma, which aims to turn negative experiences into positive actions within the community promoting mental health awareness. As Miss Long Island, Nadgeena will continue to mentor youth and hopes to implement open forums of communication among today's young women to discuss what they are feeling internally.

Nadgeena has been in the modeling and entertainment industry for over 15 years. As a part-time professional model and actress, she has walked in New York Fashion Week and New York Bridal Fashion Week, been a fit and showroom model for prom and bridal designers. She has also appeared in numerous television productions, television commercials and hosted in-person events.

Nadgeena is not new to pageants and believes she gains valuable skills and lessons every time she competes. She placed first runner up in Miss Virginia USA in 2018. In her free time, she enjoys boxing, working on her fluency in Haitian Creole and listening to dating & relationship podcasts. Every morning, Nadgeena makes it a point to start each day with a grateful heart, and she is so grateful for this opportunity.

JESSICA FUENTES

Miss Long Island Teen 2022

Jessica is overjoyed to be crowned Miss Long Island Teen 2022 and become a member of the sisterhood. Since this was her first time competing in Long Island Pageants, she was thrilled to bring home the crown. But this was only the first stop. Jessica has already initiated preparations to compete in Miss New York Teen USA!! As she takes on the pageant world by storm, she wants to be a role model in promoting mental health awareness, and teaching other women how to feel confident in their own skin. 

Jessica is a senior attending Plainedge High School, where she is the president of the Math Honor Society, a member of the National Honor Society, and a member of the Student Council. She takes pride in maintaining her 4.0 GPA while participating in these prestigious clubs and also playing on the varsity volleyball team. Alongside her achievements in the classroom, Jessica works two part-time jobs as a cashier and a social media manager. She plans on studying marketing in college and hopes to develop a successful career in the business world. 

After going through her own mental health struggles, Jessica became extremely passionate about helping other teenagers who are struggling. She is excited to have the opportunity to use her platform as Miss Long Island Teen 2022 to help other teens and young adults. Living in a world encompassed by social media, she believes it can be difficult to love yourself and know your worth. Her goal is to utilize her personal struggles to help others, and let them know they are not alone. 

Throughout Jessica’s reign, she wants to reverse the stigma that surrounds pageantry, showing others that pageants are much more than physical beauty; the young women who participate in these pageants display courage, intelligence, and integrity. Jessica is ready to live out her pageant dream and make 2022 the best year yet!