Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973) is an American conservative activist and beauty queen who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at 18 months.

[1] After three years, she caught up with her peers and returned to Alabama to graduate from public high school with a 3.6-grade point average (GPA).

It has five points: positive attitude, belief in a dream, the willingness to work hard, facing obstacles, and building a strong support team.

Since her Miss America win, Whitestone has completed her studies at Jacksonville State University and continued to promote awareness of deaf issues.

A volunteer for Republican causes, she spoke at the party's National Conventions of 1996 and 2000, for GOP presidential nominees Bob Dole and George W.

Whitestone was appointed to the Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in 2002.

In 2003, Whitestone filmed two public service announcements to bring awareness about "Dogs for the Deaf", which is a hearing-dog organization.

Whitestone has written four books called Listening with My Heart, Believing in the Promise, Let God Surprise You, and Heavenly Crowns.

She has also spearheaded the nation's largest multimedia public service campaign to identify early hearing loss, which was created by the Miss America Organization and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.