Charlotte Ayanna (born Charlotte Lopez; September 25, 1976) is a Puerto Rican American actress and former Miss Teen USA. Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending sixteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after her children. In 1994, at age 17, she was adopted into a foster home. She has since become a spokeswoman for foster children.