Miss Mississippi 2025 Anna Leah Jolly made her first official public address since winning the crown earlier this month as the featured speaker at the June Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Vicksburg Convention Center on Wednesday.

During her address, which was aimed at conveying how her time as Miss Mississippi will be spent and what issues are close to her heart, Jolly said she is passionate when it comes to children in foster care. So much so, she has already written two books, “Theodore: The Little Bear with Big Feelings” and “Anna Leah: The Limitless Ballerina,” both of which are geared toward helping children and families connect.

“I think something that we’re seeing right now in our foster care system is the reason we’re not connecting,” Jolly said. “We are not listening to the trauma; we’re not listening to the background of the child.”

Jolly said she knows from personal experience what it’s like to be in the foster care system and how hard it is to make connections. She was an orphan in Ukraine before being adopted at the age of 11 by Brandon residents Jay and Kelly Jolly.

“When I was five, my mom decided that it would be fun to drop me off at the gates of a Ukrainian orphanage and at five years old, I just remember not understanding what was happening to me,” Jolly said.

Jolly said she was adopted by parents who knew how to handle a child that had been through so much trauma.

“My parents were properly equipped with dealing with a child that was coming from abuse,” she said. “They knew how to listen, and they were able to handle it with love and care, and they didn’t try to make me adjust to their brand-new family. It was a partnership, and I think a lot of families miss that.”

In order to help children who have had similar experiences, Jolly said she has partnered with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Mississippi as part of her Community Service Initiative, Limitless, which she said grew out of her own story.

“So, I can use my pain, and God can use my brokenness and something that (was) meant for evil and turn it around for good and I started to share my story,” she said.

In writing “Leah the Limitless Ballerina,” Jolly said she wanted to convey that life is about “God’s timing and also your ability and your willingness to walk through that plan.”

Jolly is set to speak during the National CASA/GAL Associations’ Gala, which will be held in December. She was originally asked to speak at the organization’s 30^th anniversary event in September, but at that time she will be competing for the national title. The Miss America Competition will kick off Sept. 1 in Orlando.

“And they were so sweet to even say that if I don’t win, they still want me there and they still want me to share my story, which is something that is so touching. And I think at that moment I started realizing that, ‘wow, this is more than just a crown and a sash. This is truly a chance to use my story to change someone,’” Jolly said.

As Jolly works to prepare for the Miss America Competition, she asked that the community keep her in their prayers.

“I’m working right now to prepare for Miss America, to represent Mississippi the best I possibly can, and I just want to encourage you to truly pray because everything that I have gone through in my life has been based on prayer and miracles. And if this is something that God has for me, I just pray that you put me in your prayers, and you truly just give it to God, and I pray that if Miss Alabama can win Miss America, so can Miss Mississippi.”