Kathleen Herles (born November 13, 1990) is an American voice actress best known for being the original voice of Dora on Dora the Explorer for the first four seasons from 2000–2007 and Go, Diego, Go!. Herles was born in the Queens borough of New York City. Her parents are from Lima, Peru. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, drama, and voice. She takes piano lessons. She was discovered by talent manager Shirley Grant of Shirley Grant Management at a talent and modeling convention when she was 4 years old. She graduated from Pace University in 2012.