Rashanna E. James-Frison, a Newark, NJ resident, is currently a member of the Essex County Young Democratic Committee, and serves as the Vice Chair of the High School Caucus. She attends Bard High School Early College-Newark, University Middle School, and graduated as the Valedictorian of her 8th grade, Class of 2021.

Rashanna is engaged with many different organizations; to name a few - Rutgers University- Newark Pre College Program Youth Media Symposium, and its Abbott Leadership Institute where she helped conduct a website named "The Pandemic Project: Newark Stories Unmasked.” This website was based on COVID-19’s impact on different individuals throughout the city of Newark. Rashanna also was a “Write to Lead” Intern for the Butterfly Dreamz organization, where she wrote a short story on police discrimination towards a young black girl. During the Summer of 2020, Rashanna successfully completed courses on Self and Social Change and Biological Sciences at W.E.B DuBois Scholars Institute located at Princeton University.