Camara DaCosta Johnson (born November 15, 1982), better known as Yaya DaCosta, is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model. DaCosta eventually went to star in TV series including ABC's daytime drama All My Children (2008), Ugly Betty (2009), and since 2015 stars in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med. DaCosta starred in the Lifetime television film Whitney (2015) as singer Whitney Houston and received praise for her performance.
DaCosta was born on November 15, 1982, in New York City, and is of Brazilian and African-American descent. She was raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. In addition to English, she can speak Portuguese, French, Spanish, and conversational Japanese. She attended the elite Northfield Mount Hermon School during her high school years before attending college where she majored in Africana Studies and International Relations at Brown University.