Miss NJ USA
Jabili Kandula
Jabili is a first-generation Indian American, she was born in London, Canada, and moved around a bit before settling in New Jersey for the last 14 years. She speaks Telugu at home, a South Indian language, and takes pride in her Indian heritage.
She is a private pilot and an aviation journalist for Aviation for Women magazine at Women in Aviation International. Jabili also sits on the Editorial Advisory Board for Business Aviation Insider magazine. She is an alumna of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, where she studied for her B.A. in journalism and media studies.
Jabili followed her childhood inspiration, Amelia Earhart, by attending flight school while in college, receiving her private pilot license at 20 years old from American Flyers flight school in Morristown, NJ.
The 24-year-old is currently working on her instrument rating and commercial pilot license at Air Fleet Training Systems at Caldwell Airport in New Jersey. She is an M.S. student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, studying Aeronautics with a specialization in Space Operations.
Jabili is planning to use the Miss New Jersey USA title to expand her work with Women in Aviation International, the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to empowering more women to enter aviation and aerospace.
Within the aviation industry, less than 7% of pilots are female, and less than 1% are women of color. She uses her voice to promote higher education and career explorations for young girls to succeed in all facets of aviation and aerospace.
Shortly after her crowning, she was headed to Capitol Hill on behalf of the National Business Aviation Association, to speak to members of Congress on how to improve the aviation industry from topics like workforce development and aviation sustainability.
She has hosted many Girls in Aviation Day events around the world including Florida, California, and New Jersey. But the most memorable one for her was in Visakhapatnam, India, her family’s hometown. She was able to spend a day with thirty girls teaching them aerodynamics and how to read an aviation sectional chart.
Jabili looks forward to representing her state of New Jersey at the 2024 Miss USA pageant on August 4th, in Las Angeles, California – LIVE on the CW network!
Fun Facts
- I spent the summer of 2017 in Washington D.C. to study AP Comparative Governments at Georgetown University through JSA’s summer program.
- I was the first female president of the Rutgers Aviation Club in 2022.
- In 2022, I was selected as one of the sponsored students to attend the Women in Aviation International conference.
- I worked for Women in Aviation International as the Associate Editor of Aviation for Women and Aviation for Girls magazines.
- I am a published journalist with over 20 articles. My first cover story was on Dr. Patty Chang Chien, Vice President of Boeing Research and Technology.
- In June 2024, I was selected by FedEx Air Express for the Professional Asian Pilots Association (PAPA) Scholarship.
- My favorite book/movie series is The Hunger Games.
- I love to paint and draw; I once painted a 7’x7’ Roy Lichtenstein pop art mural in my college house.
- I love going to the movies, I even have an AMC movie pass. My current favorite is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
- I have the biggest sweet tooth, my favorite food is chocolate thunder ice cream in a waffle cone with rainbow sprinkles on top from Zita’s in Berkeley Heights!
