In honor of contributions made by Asian-Pacific Americans, Macy’s celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month this May at select locations nationwide with a special series of events. To kick off the month-long celebration, Macy’s will host Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, for a series of appearances in six markets across the country geared towards highlighting and celebrating the unique influence of Asian-Pacific Americans.

Davuluri is a pioneer as the first Miss America (and Miss New York) of Indian descent, a culture which she is just as proud of as being an American. Davuluri’s candidate platform has been “Diversity Through Cultural Competency” since she first competed for the title of Miss New York. Her commitment to this platform was clearly in evidence when proclaimed during her final question at the competition that, “The girl next door is evolving.” Inspired by her experience of dealing with the subsequent social media backlash of winning the crown, Davuluri responded with a campaign of her own, #circlesofunity, inviting her followers to tweet her posts and pictures about what it means to be culturally aware, in hopes to elevate and inspire a social media conversation about the value of social and economic diversity.

“Miss America 2014 is a reflection of the changing fabric of American culture, which is ethnically diverse and culturally rich. By partnering with Miss America nationally, Macy’s is not only celebrating Davuluri’s rich cultural heritage, but is also providing an empowering forum for women and young adults to learn about how Davuluri broke barriers and redefined the concept of the girl next door,” said Dineen Garcia, Macy’s vice president of Diversity Strategies.

Each city will host a live performance with Indian Bollywood dancers followed by a Q&A session with Davuluri. Following the Q&A session, guests are welcomed to shop the latest trends. Guests that make any $25 Macy’s purchase during the event will receive a photo with Miss America.

For complete details on Macy’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month Events, please visit www.macys.com/celebrate. ‘)}