Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant

The Miss Black Ohio USA Executive Board is comprised of accomplished pageant veterans and successful business persons who bring a wealth of expertise and drive to the pageant. They are primarily responsible for the pageant operations and administration, and the annual production of the event. This Board is passionately committed to revitalizing the mission and the governance of the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant while strengthening its core values of excellence, scholarship, integrity, diversity and community involvement.

President
Vanessa King

Vanessa King was elected as the Director of the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant in October 2005. She also serves as the official spokesperson for the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant and oversees all operations including finance, production and media relations. Ms. King has an Associates Degree in Business Management from Columbus Business University, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Management from Oakland City University and has completed almost one year of classes towards her MBA through the University of Phoenix.

Vanessa is a former professional model and she began her pageant career in the late 70s, competing in the Miss Columbus (USA) Pageant and the Mrs. Ohio America Pageant in 1980. After several years not competing, Ms. King returned to pageantry in 2000 and received her first national tile, Ms. Lady U.S. Beauties 2002. She has gone on to win several state and national titles for both live and online competitions including Midwest's Fit Ms. 2007, Ms. Woman of Color 2006, Ms. African-American United 2005, Ms. Petite Indiana (Universal) Woman, Ms. Buckeye State Ultimate Queen, Ms. Ohio and Ms. Midwestern U.S. American Elegance Woman, and Ms. Indiana Worldwide. Ms. King has judged, directed and produced other pageant competitions.

Vanessa volunteers throughout the community for several organizations. She has served as an official fundraiser, lead volunteer, and Committee Chairperson for A Special Wish Foundation, Inc. Other organizations she has volunteered with are First Night Columbus, March of Dimes, and the PKD Foundation of Ohio. She is presently employed by a local grocer and owns a home-based catalog gift business. Ms. King is the mother of Cassandra Ripberger and grandmother to Austin Ripberger who reside in Indianapolis. Her philosophy is "Live each day to its fullest for there is no guarantee for tomorrow."

Chairman of the Board
Tony Binford

Tony Binford was elected Chairman of the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant in October 2005 and also serves as the Producer. He is no stranger to pageantry, as he had directed and produced the Ohio Cinderella Scholarship Program and the Miss Greater Columbus (Miss America) Scholarship Program. He was a talent scout for the World Championships of Performing Arts.

Mr. Binford is recognized as a leading pageant photographer for award-winning competition portfolio, headshot and composite prints, and live event photography. He has served as the official Photographer for numerous events and pageants including The World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood, the International Cinderella Scholarship Pageant in Las Vegas, Florida Cinderella, Washington Cinderella, Ms. American Elegance, Mrs. Ohio, Ohio Hawaiian Tropic, the Miss Greater Columbus (America) Scholarship Program, WATME-Winning Magazine, and Pageant World Magazine. Tony also designs and hosts many pageant and modeling websites, including the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship website. Mr. Binford works fulltime as IT Manager for the State of Ohio.

Director of Pageant Relations
Alva Matthews

Alva Matthews was elected the Director of Pageant Relations in December 2005. Ms. Matthews is responsible for organizing and overseeing community events for the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant. Alva is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker King Thompson, specializing in residential properties. She has been licensed and serving the central Ohio area for 5 years. Alva has been helping people to accomplish their goals and achieve their dreams with the highest degree of integrity, competence and professionalism. She strives to model this approach in all of her endeavors. Her garnered skills in real estate marketing, promoting, planning, and negotiating, enables her to position and promote real estate in the most advantageous way possible.

Alva was raised in San Diego, California but has resided in the Columbus area for 10 years. Within this time she has also owned a day care center and was a co-owner of a model agency. She served on the Board of Directors for the first two years of the Miss Greater Columbus Pageant, and sat on a panel of judges for several Cinderella Pageants. Alva has also had the opportunity to work with the Women o f Color Pageant in Wichita Kansas.

Alva attends the University of Phoenix where she is working towards a business management degree. Her real estate education is ongoing, as she works towards certification programs by the National Association of Realtors.

Production Manager/Volunteer Coordinator
Ocipare "Key" McKinley

Ocipare McKinley was elected Production Manager of the Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant in August 2006. Ocipare has 32 years of stage experience as performer and 19 years of pageantry experience. She has performed on countless stages throughout the East coast, South, Midwest and she started performing professionally at the age of 7.

Ocipare has held the titles of Ms. Capital Community Technical College, Ms. Petite Aruba International, Ms. Black Sophisticate Connecticut, Ms. Columbus State Homecoming Queen and she is the reigning Mrs. Columbus International preparing herself for the Mrs. Ohio International Pageant on January 3, 2009. Ocipare's volunteer work with Hope Street Kids, Autism Speaks, Franklin County Board of MR/DD Special Olympics and the MBOUSA Scholarship Pageant keeps her busy all year round!

Ocipare attends Franklin University where she plans to obtain her Bachelors of Science in Business Management in 2009. She then plans to obtain her MBA from either The Ohio State University or Ohio Dominican University. Ocipare is an A/R clerk at Panacea Products Corporation and she resides in Columbus with her husband Markus and their two children Edward and Ca-Nefer.

*The Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant, Inc. is a non-profit corporation recognized by the Ohio Secretary of State. The Miss Black USA Pageant and Scholarship Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit corporation, recognized under the 501 (c) 3 code of the Internal Revenue Service.

For information email missblackohiousa@aol.com or call 614-638-5531