Miss New Zealand World was founded in 2002 by four families as "a pageant designed to celebrate culture, beauty, fashion and talent and cherishes it’s new theme “Beauty with a Mission”, which embodies the true spirit of the crown by helping and supporting disadvantaged children in New Zealand."
To be eligible contestants must be between the ages of 17-25. In addition to competing in the pageant, contestants are required to attend training sessions for the 12 saturdays leading up to pageant weekend. These training sessions include social media and leaderships training, leadership development, presenter platform and various motivational workshops in addition to catwalk training.
The Miss New Zealand pageant board says that "Although Beauty and Form are important considerations for a Miss World Winner, never-the-less Beauty With a Purpose is the core value of the Pageant."