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.

Rashanna has done over 2,000 hours of community service with Girls, Live, Love, Laugh Inc. and she also serves as an Ambassador for the organization. Rashanna also volunteered at many local community events such as the Newark Beth Israel Hospital Annual Women's Health Fair, and Programs for Parents Children’s and Family Annual Fair just to name a few. Rashanna has been sought out to be a youth panelist for the City of Newark's Status of Girls. Her prior experience as a panelist was for the Abbott Leadership Institute, where she talked about ‘healthy cliques’ within high schools. Rashanna was invited to recite a poem at the Philadelphia District Missionary Society Virtual Event, "Hear Me Now" for the New Visions CME Church. She also recited poetry for the Newark NAACP, Commissioner of the Status of Women, and is in the process of publishing her first poetry book entitled: ‘The Black Unicorn: A Daughter From Newark’ due to release Summer of 2024. Rashanna was also a keynote speaker for Hear My Cries, an organization that advocates against Gun Violence.

Rashanna received the "Scholar Athlete Award" from University High School, along with the "Lamp of Knowledge" Medal. She also received the "Videography Academy Award" from the Youth Media Symposium program. Rashanna was also a member of the Honor Society and has consistently been on the honor roll since the 5th grade, achieving a 4.0 or higher GPA. She plays volleyball, and is a great debater.

As a determined student, intelligent, with a bright future in sight, Rashanna aspires to attend a Historically Black College/ University to become a social worker and a criminal justice attorney. Rashanna had a “15 mins of fame” moment when she was featured on News 12 NJ, where she shared her story of overcoming adversity. Rashanna has proven she has the ability to move forward without letting drawbacks block her potential to achieve her goals, this is what makes her unstoppable.