Olivia Williams of Burlington, N.C., was crowned Miss Davidson County 2027 on Oct. 3, 2026, at T. Austin Finch Auditorium in Thomasville.
Williams takes the title with a community service initiative that started inside her own family. Five years ago she watched her mother go into anaphylactic shock from an allergy nobody had yet identified. The diagnosis was Alpha Gal Syndrome, a tick-borne allergy that causes reactions to mammal products, and My Alpha Gal Family is built around the distance between how common the condition is and how rarely the people treating it recognize it.
“Alpha Gal Syndrome is the #1 cause of anaphylaxis in adults and adolescents. Yet 78% of providers are not knowledgeable on it,” Williams said. “My goal is to educate healthcare providers and first responders to spread awareness.”
Williams is a second-year Nursing student at Piedmont Community College and will graduate as a registered nurse in May. Her plan from there is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and then a doctorate as a certified registered nurse anesthetist. She carries out the initiative with the Alpha Gal Alliance, and takes it to the audiences that meet patients first. In the talent category she performs a vocal number, “Something to Shout About,” from BOOP! The Musical on Broadway, chosen for her love of musical theatre and for what it says. “Even at a young age we as a generation can use our voices to make a difference in our world and communities,” she said.
One presentation at a local fire department came back to her a month later. Someone in that audience who had stayed behind to ask questions recognized his own months of symptoms, went to his doctor and asked for the test, and was diagnosed.
“This story showed me that the work I was doing was really making a difference in the lives around me,” Williams said.
She held the title of Miss Thomasville’s Teen 2026, her first year in the Miss America Opportunity. “Preparing for Miss NC Teen gave me a lot of confidence in myself and a greater ability to communicate with people around me,” she said.
Williams will represent Davidson County at the Miss North Carolina competition in High Point in June 2027.
Williams can be followed on Instagram at @missdavidsoncountync.
