Miss America 2003 Erika Harold is a distinguished young leader with a future. Her accomplishments so far have provided a national platform enabling her to issue a call to action challenging every segment of American society to take a proactive role in eradicating a pervasive culture of harassment and violence. Her platform, "Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying: Protect Yourself, Respect Yourself" has been the focus of her nearly 100 speaking engagements to date.

As a role model, she encourages young people to abstain from drugs, sex until marriage and alcohol and states clearly "how this commitment helped me protect, respect and define myself." Making reference to the startling experiences she had as a high school student, suffering from racial, sexual and other forms of harassment, Erika gives constructive suggestions to students, parents, and teachers about how to address the harmful effects of bullying and how to discourage violent behavior.