Tasha de Vasconcelos

Tasha Sandra Mota e Cunha de Vasconcelos (born 15 August 1966) is a Mozambican-born Portuguese-Canadian model, actress and humanitarian ambassador. She is also the ambassador for the Institut Pasteur. She has just been appointed as a UN Women Global champion for Planet 50-50 by 2030. Biography Childhood De Vasconcelos was born in Beira, Mozambique to a Portuguese Angolan father (her paternal grandparents were from northern Portugal) and a mother of British ancestry. Her family was forced to flee from two revolutions: a first, in that country, when she was 8 years old, and then a second at 14 from Rhodesia. They moved to Canada in 1980, where de Vasconcelos studied International Relations at the University of British Columbia. Modelling career At the age of 19, de Vasconcelos was discovered by a scout from Elite Model Management and began her modelling career. She started in New York City and adopted the name Tasha on the suggestion of her agent. She worked for many different brands, including Dolce & Gabbana and Van Cleef & Arpels, and notably for Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.