America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to improving the lives of youths, recently announced the election of Zartashia Javid, 20, to its Alliance Trustees for a two-year term.

Javid, a Fort Smith native, is currently enrolled as a biology major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Selected out of roughly 100 applicants from 31 states and Washington, D.C., Javid will attend her first trustee meeting in October.

With a passion for education policy and reform, she has served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member working as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programmer for homeless youths in Little Rock and received a research grant from NASA to study effective STEM education methods.

Javid also holds a position as an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) tutor. She plans to work in the education sector after graduating.

America’s Promise models youth involvement by having two youth leaders on both its board of directors and Alliance Trustees. Each is considered a full voting member of the leadership body and plays a valuable role in the strategic direction of the organization.