Naima Mora

Naima Mora is an American fashion model best known as the winner of Cycle 4 of the reality television series America's Next Top Model. Born on March 1, 1984, in Detroit, Michigan, she grew up on the city's northwest side near West McNichols and Schaefer. She has established a varied career that includes print and runway modeling, acting, music, television appearances, and writing.

Mora comes from an artistic family. She is the daughter of jazz vocalist and entrepreneur Theresa Mora and jazz percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett. Her mother is of Irish and African-American descent, while her father is of Mexican and African-American heritage. Mora was named after the John Coltrane song "Naima." Her paternal grandparents were the Mexican muralist Francisco Mora and the artist Elizabeth Catlett, who created a 2001 black marble bust of Mora titled Naima. Mora has five sisters, including an identical twin sister, Nia, who works as a photographer, and an older sister, Ife Sanchez Mora, a singer-songwriter.

In her youth, Mora attended Bates Academy for middle school and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 2002. She was a serious ballet student, training at Detroit's Ballet Renaissance and taking part in the American Ballet Theatre's Detroit summer program. Mora practices Nichiren Buddhism and is an active member of Soka Gakkai International. In 2013, she presented a TEDx Talk about her upbringing and the role of Buddhism in her career.

Mora gained national exposure on Cycle 4 of America's Next Top Model. During the competition, she was voted Covergirl of the Week ten consecutive times, won four challenges, and earned two first call-outs in Cape Town, South Africa. After surviving one appearance in the bottom two, she was selected as the winner over runner-up Kahlen Rondot. Mora later returned for guest appearances in Cycle 5 and Cycle 6 of the franchise.

Following her win, Mora pursued an extensive modeling career. She appeared in print for CoverGirl, ELLE Magazine, Fuego Magazine, Us Weekly Magazine, Radar, In Touch, Star, Teen People, and Split Clothing, as well as covers for U&U, Uzuri, and Vicious magazines. Her runway work includes shows for Christopher Deane, Gharani Strok, Carlos Miele, Walmart and ELLEgirl, Fashion Comedy Style, New York Fashion Week 2007, and Joe Farris on Project Runway. Over her career, she signed with agencies such as 301 Model Management, Basic Model Management, and EMG Models.

In addition to modeling, Mora expanded into television, film, and music. She appeared on The Tyra Banks Show, Veronica Mars, and in a CoverGirl commercial alongside Yoanna House. She served as a Trophy Girl at the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards and judged the 2005 Miss Teen USA Pageant. Her screen credits include the film Sarbanes-Oxley and TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me" music video. As a musician, she sang for the bands Chewing Pics and Galaxy of Tar.

Mora is also an author and playwright. In 2012, she released the iBook Naima Mora's Model Behavior through Possibility Publishing & Entertainment. She co-wrote the play The Amazing Adventures of a Woman in Need with director Marishka S. Phillips, participating as narrator in an Off-Broadway production announced by MPTP Productions for October 2021.