Making her grand entrance on June 8th, 1978 in Medford, Massachusetts, Maria Menounos was a shining star at birth. By the time she was a student her sights were set on a career in journalism. Some days, she would even arrive late to school after watching the morning news on CNN for too long. In 1995, by the encouragement of her friends and family, Menounos began to enroll in beauty pageants. The following year, she won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA. Though she did not win the Miss Teen USA crown, her involvement in such a big production helped her gain a lot of experience, not to mention pave the way for her career. In the 2001-02 season, Maria Menounos was named correspondent on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. Her duties include reporting on film, television, music and fashion for the #1 syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in the world. She also serves as host of ET on MTV, one of the highest rated shows on the cable network, as well as ET on VH1. Previously, Ms. Menounos was an international correspondent for Channel One News, the #1 source of news for America's teen students. As a journalist for their 10-minute weekday broadcasts, she reported on a variety of timely and topical issues to more than eight million students. During her tenure, she interviewed President George W. Bush, numerous celebrities, and traveled the world to cover such tragedies as the 2001 earthquake in El Salvador and the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Ms. Menounos began her career with Channel One during her senior year at Emerson College in Boston. During this time she also wrote, produced and broadcast news segments for WERS-FM, one of the largest college radio stations in the country. In addition, she co-hosted and produced a weekly radio talk show on Boston's WNRB-AM. Her experiences as a journalist have compelled Ms. Menounos to spend time off-camera on philanthropic and social issues close to her heart. After witnessing the devastating effects of AIDS in South Africa as a Channel One reporter, she formed Take Action Hollywood!, a charity whose mission is to utilize the power of the entertainment industry and the production medium to educate, empower and raise social awareness.