ABOUT NANA

Born on May 24, 1985, Nana Meriwether, Miss Maryland USA 2012, is an accomplished athlete, student and humanitarian.

Early Years

Nana grew up in Maryland and attended, from K-12 th grade the prestigious Sidwell Friends School that has on its record alumni and current students: Chelsea Clinton, Al Gore Jr, the Obama daughters, the Biden’s grandchildren, and the Roosevelt and Nixon children.

In high school, she participated in Varsity Volleyball, Basketball and Track and Field. Nana is one of a few Sidwell students to ever earn 12 varsity letters, having played a varsity sport all throughout her high school career.

Volleyball Career

Following Sidwell Friends, Nana attended Duke University where she was a member of the Women’s Volleyball Team. Despite her NCAA Division I athlete responsibilities, Nana made the Duke’s Deans List in the fall semester she attended the prestigious university. Her father was the first African American to be admitted and graduate from Duke University.

Nana transferred to UCLA in the winter of 2004 and continued playing volleyball there. By graduation she was a decorated 2 Time All American NCAA athlete, CVU player of the year and managed to break 3 national NCAA Women’s Volleyball records. Nana was the first NCAA women’s volleyball player to simultaneously lead the nation in two statistical categories. She lead her team to an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2006 and following she played professionally in Puerto Rico then trained for the 2008 Olympics in Colorado Springs.

Like her father who was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1971 for the sport of track and field, Nana was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine in 2006 and several other prominent volleyball magazines.

Education

Now ranked the 11 th best university in the world, Nana obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a focus on international relations from UCLA. She was constantly recognized on the UCLA Director’s Honor Roll and gained NCAA and Pac-10 All Academic team honors several semesters in a row. Following her undergraduate studies, Nana was admitted as a post graduate student at The University of Southern California where she studied as a post baccalaureate pre-medical student. She is currently applying to medical school looking to gain entrance in the fall of 2012.

The Meriwether Foundation

Inspired by the 8 years of pro bono medical and community work her father and mother did in Southern Africa in the 1980s, Nana co-founded a 501(c)(3)international nonprofit organization, The Meriwether Foundation. Seeking to support and sustain AIDS/HIV orphanages, schools, rural clinics, and community and agricultural projects, The Meriwether Foundation has grown to operate in 5 countries in Southern Africa ( South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique). Nana is co-founder, director and chairman of The Meriwether Foundation and has spent up to 3 months living in Southern Africa cultivating the many Meriwether Foundation projects present in several remote villages.