The prestigious pageant title of Miss Hawai‘i 2025 was bestowed on University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu alumna Emalia Dalire, who graduated in the fall with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.
The Kāne‘ohe resident, 19, was crowned on May 31 at Hawai‘i Theatre by the Miss Hawai‘i Organization, which provides women with the opportunity to promote platforms of community service, share their talents, intelligence, and positive values while serving as role models in our island communities, according to the organization’s website.
“Being crowned Miss Hawai‘i 2025 is an indescribable honor and a dream come true,” Dalire said in an interview with Hawai‘i News Now the morning after being crowned. “I feel overwhelmed with gratitude, knowing I get to represent the beauty, culture, and mana of our islands. This moment is not just mine. It belongs to every person who believed in me.”
Dalire competed as Miss Kāne‘ohe and topped 12 other competitors, called “delegates,” to move on to represent the state at the Miss America competition in September in Orlando, Fla.
It may come as no surprise that the talent Dalire showcased at the Miss Hawai‘i competition was hula. She had just competed and placed third in Miss Aloha Hula at the 62nd Merrie Monarch Festival held in April in Hilo. Dalire dances for Keolalaulani Hālau ‘Ōlapa O Laka under Nā Kumu Keolalaulani Dalire (her mother) and Regina Māka‘ika‘i Igarashi Pascua.
The community service initiative that Dalire will focus on throughout her upcoming Miss Hawai‘i reign is, “K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself.” It’s a platform she holds close to her heart and the same one she promoted when she was crowned Miss Hawai‘i Teen Volunteer 2024 in December 2023.
“ ‘The K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself’ is my message of empowerment to all youth, especially Indigenous people, to be who they are,” Dalire had said in a previous article after winning her Miss Hawai‘i Teen Volunteer title. “In the words of my mother, ‘The best person in life to be like is yourself,’ and learning about my Hawaiian culture and being proud of my Indigenous heritage, I gained the confidence and determination necessary to create my future, my story.”
As a freshman at Damien Memorial School, Dalire also began attending Windward Community College, simultaneously taking high school and early college classes. The dual enrollment enabled her to graduate a year early from high school in 2022 at the age of 16, then in December of that year, receive from Windward Community College two associate degrees — in Liberal Arts and Hawaiian Studies — along with three certificates of completion. Dalire earned her bachelor’s degree in December 2024 from UH West O‘ahu.
