Cordelia Cranshaw graduated from West Potomac High School in the Belle Haven, Virginia, United States in 2010. From 2012 to 2014, she attended George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and from 2014 to 2015, she attended the University of Maryland Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, USA where she earned a master’s degree in social work.
Cranshaw was unplaced at Miss District of Columbia USA 2016. She was fourth runner-up both to Miss District of Columbia USA 2017 Kara McCullough and Miss District of Columbia USA 2018 Bryce Armstrong.
On December 8, 2018, Cranshaw competed against 15 other Miss District of Columbia USA 2019 candidates at the Theatre of the Arts of the University of the District of Columbia in Northwest, Washington, D.C., United States and won the title. On January 19, 2020, she crowned her successor Cierra Jackson at the Carpenter Theater in Richmond, Virginia.
Miss District of Columbia USA 2020 results
| beauty pageant: Miss District of Columbia USA national membership: Miss USA |
| edition: 65th date: January 19, 2020 venue: Carpenter Theater, Richmond, Virginia, United States candidates: 20 |
FINALISTS
| PLACEMENT | NAME (HOMETOWN/TITLE) |
| Top 20 | Jacinta Render (Charm of Northwest) Maura Deegan (Chevy Chase) Renata Sandoval (Downtown) Shannon Lynch (H Street Corridor) Chesney Garnos (Navy Yard) Hadeel Ghaida (Northwest) Vinielle Acha-Morfaw (Penn Quarter) Shawna Melvin (Woodley Park) |
| Top 12 | Faith Porter (Brookland) Sophia Ramsel (Capitol Hill) Kelly Seibold (Dupont) Lily Donaldson (Embassy Row) Keandra Forte (Georgetown) Yashvi Aware (Mount Vernon) Tamara Smith (Southwest) |
| Top 5 | Jesaura “Jessy” Peralta (Bloomingdale) Cierra Jackson (Capital City) Sasha Perea (Center City) Alexis Becton (Fort Dupont) Chelsie Stevens (Northeast) |
SPECIAL AWARDS
| AWARD | CANDIDATE |
| Miss Congeniality | Faith Porter Brookland |
| Miss Photogenic | Cierra Jackson Capital City |
WINNERS
| PLACEMENT | 2020 | 2019 |
| 4th runner-up | Sasha Perea Center City | Bilikisu Adeyemi |
| 3rd runner-up | Chelsie Stevens Northeast | Cierra Jackson |
| 2nd runner-up | Jessy Peralta Bloomingdale | Samantha Joy Fay |
| 1st runner-up | Alexis Becton Fort Dupont | Destani Huffman-Jefferson |
| Miss District of Columbia USA | Cierra Jackson Capital City | Cordelia Cranshaw |
CONAN Daily 