Concluding an amazing year of professional and personal achievement in which she was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and re-elected as Everett’s Ward 4 city councilor, Holly Garcia was selected America’s Civic Miss in a national pageant.
In addition to claiming the crown in the Ms. Division, Garcia was awarded the Gold Service Award for volunteering 250 hours within the past year and the Rock Your Crown Award for her involvement in the Girls Scouts as a Troop Leader in Everett and a National Council Delegate for Eastern Massachusetts.
Garcia, 35, said she was excited to capture the title.
“The values of the America’s Civic Miss Pageant are what interested me in entering to compete for this system,” said Garcia. “It is very focused on community service. What I really try to stress with my titles is that pageantry is so much more than glitz and glamour. I use my crown as my hardhat and I’m out there working hard to help others.”
Garcia was judged in the America’s Civic Miss pageant in four separate categories.
“The pageant was fully remote, so I had to submit videos walking in an evening gown (which was filmed in Lt. Joseph Wehner Park) and self- expression, which was a one-minute and 30- second video where I spoke about all of my community involvements,” related Garcia. “I also had to create a scrapbook highlighting my service through the year. The final phase of competition was a 10- minute zoom interview with the judges.
A highly successful
pageant career
The America’s Civic Miss title was Garcia’s fifth national crown. She has won 12 Massachusetts titles and three New Hampshire titles while she was a student at Southern New Hampshire University. She has also held numerous local titles.
Garcia competed in her first pageant at the first annual Little Miss Hampton Beach pageant in 1996.
“I was five years old at the time and was first runner-up,” recalled Garcia. “I went to every event at the beach with my crown and sash. They didn’t host that pageant again until 2009 and I was there as National American Miss New Hampshire Teen to crown the successor. That is where I got my start. It was something I really wanted to do so my mother signed me up for my first pageant in New Hampshire. I’ve continued to stay involved with that system as a volunteer judge for the Little Miss, Junior Miss and Senior Miss pageants.”
Garcia credits her mother, Debbie Garcia, for the tremendous support of her pageant career.
“My mother signed me for first pageant in New Hampshire where we spent a lot of summers on the beach,” said Garcia. “My older sister was involved with John Casablanca’s Modeling at the time, but I was too young, so this was an alternative for me.
“National pageants have taken us all over the country. I’ve competed in Nashville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Hartford, and Portland Maine,” added Garcia. “I worked for a pageant system for two summers in college, where I traveled to Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Virginia, Michigan, and New York.”
A year of achievement
The year 2025 was a momentous one for Garcia, who was announced as the winner of the pageant on Oct. 26, one day before she was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar as an attorney. A week later on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Garcia was re-elected as city councilor for Ward 4. She celebrated her 35th birthday on Dec. 7 with family, friends, and colleagues in city government at a party at the Village Hall Bar & Grill.
“This past year (2025) set the standard for what is possible and has truly been my best year yet,” said Garcia proudly. “I was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, I earned the trust of my community by winning my re-election, and I was honored to win my fifth national pageant title. These were three goals that I set out at the start of the year, and I was able to accomplish them all within the span of nine days.”
Garcia said she has begun to focus on a career in the legal profession.
“I plan to continue working in public service,” said Garcia. “Family and Probate Law and Juvenile Law have always been areas of interest, and I hope to work in an advocacy focused role.”
Garcia said she has been inspired by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 to 2020.
“She [Justice Ginsburg] was a trailblazer for women in the legal field,” said Garcia. “I faced a lot of hardships in law school and with the bar exam, but giving up was never an option. I would love to one day become a judge and maybe that would take me to follow in her footsteps as a future justice for the Supreme Court.”
Garcia is looking ahead to a productive term as Ward 4 councilor and working with newly elected Mayor Robert Van Campen.
“Mayor Van Campen was a great colleague on the council, and I know he’ll be just as great to work with in his new role as chief executive of our city,” said Garcia.