Decorated Youth Advocate In Newark Launches Bid For School Board

NEWARK, NJ — She’s gotten accolades for launching one of Newark’s most beloved nonprofits Girls; Live, Love, Laugh, Inc. She’s overcome domestic violence, tragedy and homelessness. Now, Allison James-Frison is setting her sights on a new goal: getting elected to the Newark Board of Education.

James-Frison kicked off her campaign for the school board last week. Learn more about her qualifications and platform here. Watch her campaign launch video here.

The Newark Board of Education election will take place on Tuesday, April 19.

James-Frison is no stranger to adversity. While growing up in poverty in the Stella Wright Housing Projects of Newark, James' father was murdered in a violent stabbing attack, leaving her mother to raise eight children on her own. But instead of letting those traumas and adversities define her, James used them as inspiration to fuel her drive for a better life.

After creating Girls; Live, Love, Laugh, Inc. (GLLL) in 2009, James-Frison used the nonprofit as a platform to work with underprivileged girls around Newark, giving them an outlet to let their inner talents shine. She has mentored more than 1,200 youth since then – and earned several awards for her efforts.

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But her efforts to boost the community go far beyond that, according to her campaign team. James-Frison, a certified social worker with the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, also serves as a parent supervisor who observes court-ordered parents' visits with their birth children to help determine if reunification is possible.

And her quest for a board of education seat is personal, she says.

“I completed my elementary and high school education in Newark, graduating from Central High School, with a learning impairment while experiencing mental health challenges,” she said. “These issues remained undiagnosed until I enrolled at Rutgers University-Newark at age 49.”

“I don't want this to be the story of our children,” James-Frison continued. “The Newark Board of Education must improve its assessment tools for our children's learning abilities and mental health. We must stop being afraid to have difficult conversations with parents, children and members of our community.”

It’s not just lip service for James-Frison, who says she’s a happily married adoptive parent of a freshman at University High School who was valedictorian of her class in 2021.

But according to James-Frison, sadly, not all children have the loving home her daughter has found. And if a social media post on her campaign profile is any indication, her background with GLLL is something that she’s planning to apply if she’s elected to the school board.

According to James-Frison:

“Our children come to school for many reasons–comfort, love, hope, nutrition, learning, and more. For too many of them, school is the only place they may find these things. As a home away from home, schools must be equipped with the staff and resources needed for taking care of the overall well-being of our children. This includes creating strong partnerships with community-based organizations.”

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