About Runa Lucienne
Runa Alyse Lucienne (born August 6, 1988 in Washington D.C.) is an American model and actress. Beginning her career in her late-teens, Lucienne has appeared in numerous magazines, music videos, fashion shows, and national ad campaigns.
Runa Lucienne became the first African-American Playboy Bunny to work at the Playboy Club Macao in November 2010 and has made promotional appearances on behalf of Playboy since, including being a featured guest on Sirius/XM's Playboy Radio Morning Show. Lucienne appeared in Season 5 of Project Runway as Keith Bryce's model who left the competition then returned in the finale to walk at New York Fashion Week 2008 for Suede, another Season 5 designer. She was the runner-up in Miss New York USA 2010.
Runa Lucienne has been featured on television shows including How I Met Your Mother, Hot in Cleveland, Hart of Dixie, Up All Night, Fox Sports NFL Sunday Pre-Game Show, MTV's Total Request Live, MTV's Suckerfree Sunday, and KTLA Morning News. She has appeared in music videos including “Falling in Love” by Taio Cruz and “We Got Hood Love” by Mary J. Blige ft. Trey Songz, and been featured in magazines such as Elle, Cosmopolitan, King, and Slam. Her national ad campaigns include Mandee clothing store, Outre, and Regis Hair Salons.
In 2012, Runa Lucienne became the first African-American Monster Energy Girl, traveling to various events on behalf of Monster Energy including appearances in Anaheim, Ft. Hood Army/Air Force Base, and Ft. Bliss Army/Air Force Base.
Runa Lucienne was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Toledo, Ohio, where she graduated from St. Ursula Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. While in high school, Lucienne participated on the basketball and track and field teams, as well as in the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS). During her senior year, she set her school’s record in high jump (5’4”) and later placed 12th at the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division 1 Track and Field Championships. After high school, she moved to New York City to study mechanical engineering at Hunter College and later City College, in addition to pursuing her modeling and acting career. While a freshman at Hunter College she ran track and field, where she won the indoor and outdoor conference championships in high jump, and competed at Madison Square Garden in the annual Colgate Women’s Games where she placed 3rd in high jump in the collegiate division.
During the Spring of 2009, Runa Lucienne completed a 15-week mechanical engineering internship with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX where she assisted with the research and development of upgrades to the low-fidelity Orion cockpit mockup.
As of November 2024, Runa has amassed 346,000 followers on her Instagram platform.
