2025 Determined To Educate, Inc.
James ‘Talent’ Harris
Comedian
Renée Neufville
Singer / Songwriter
Renée Neufville is one of the founding members of the platinum-selling group Zhane. As the group’s hit songwriter, Neufville penned the eternal global classics, such as “Hey Mr. DJ,” “Sending My Love,” “Groove Thang,” and “It’s A Party,” to name a few. Most recently, Renee Neufville is a 2025 inductee of the National Museum of African American Music. This Brooklyn Native has been covered by many modern-day icons, including Childish Gambino (2020), Beyoncé’s protege duo Chloe & Halle (2019), Aaliyah, and Common, to name a few. In June 2025, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation presented Renee Neufville with its very first “Soul of the Nineties” Musical Achievement Award.
In 2024, the singer-songwriter received Recognition and honorarium from the NYS Comptroller / US House of Representatives for her lasting contributions to the fabric of Soul Music and Culture.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Neufville joined the late, revered jazz aficionado Roy Hargrove and toured globally with him for fifteen years as the lead vocalist and pianist in his collective RH Factor. The group performed at jazz festivals worldwide, from Shanghai, China, to Rotterdam, and the list goes on. They recorded three long-playing albums on Verve Records that garnered two Grammy Award nominations.
As a result of her extensive touring career on the Jazz circuit with Hargrove, Renee Neufville became globally known outside of her work with Zhane, and for that, she is forever grateful. Subsequently, Neufville’s performance resume is quite extensive. She has performed with Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Robert Glasper, the late great Gil Scott Herring, legendary bassist Ron Carter, and has appeared at the Monterrey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Umbria Jazz Festival, and Black Sea Jazz Festival, among others.
Neufville’s music and voice have been featured in several TV productions, including those backed by OWN Networks (Oprah Winfrey), Overbrook Entertainment (Will Smith), Issa Rae, AMC TV, and Michael B. Jordan (2022). Her on-screen debut was in 2000 when she was cast by the legendary movie filmmaker John Singleton in his remake of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, and Vanessa Williams. Most recently, Neufville co-starred in the short film “Boxed In” and was featured in the recent documentary about the global cultural icon Sister Nancy.
Rashid Pinckney-Littlejohn
Founder & Executive Director, The Green Campaign Inc. (501c3)
Vice President, Anti-Negro Defamation League (ANDL) (501c3)
Chairman, New Negro Republic Lineage Society LLC
Director of Pedagogy, Black Gotham Experience
Visionary Architect of the 34th Degree: Freed Negro Orientation & Glow Ascension Framework (book coming soon)
Rashid Littlejohn is a devoted Bushwick community leader, youth development advocate, and proud graduate of Buffalo State College. He is the Founder and Executive Director of The Green Campaign Inc., a nonprofit organization born from his lifelong commitment to service and social innovation. Rashid’s journey began in 2008 when he founded GCAMP (Genuinely Care About My Planet), an environmental education initiative in his hometown of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Through GCAMP, he coordinated community workshops and educational programs that empowered young people to reinvest in their neighborhoods through the transformative lens of “Going Green.”
Over the years, Rashid has led programming across New York City public schools as a DOE Vendor, partnering with institutions like The Salvation Army and the Bushwick Campus. An AmeriCorps alumnus and graduate of the Community Resource Exchange’s High Performing Manager’s Institute, he later served as Program Director for several NYCHA community centers, earning multiple awards and acknowledgments for his leadership before the global COVID-19 pandemic reshaped his mission.
In 2021, Rashid launched Guns For Grants, a restorative justice and youth empowerment program in partnership with St. Francis College, designed to combat the rise of gun-related incidents among NYC youth. In 2022, he co-founded the Anti-Negro Defamation League (ANDL), a national advocacy organization dedicated to advancing Federal Reparations and promoting improvement for the American Negro across all areas of human activity.
In 2023, Rashid formally incorporated The Green Campaign Inc. as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and began fundraising to establish the Bushwick Safety Zone & Education Center, a transformative community hub located at the former Audrey Johnson Learning Center. This safe space model integrates youth mentorship, workforce training, and civic engagement to cultivate leadership, safety, and opportunity within Brooklyn’s next generation.
Beyond his local impact, Rashid serves as Director of Pedagogy for the Black Gotham Experience, where he leads the learning strategy for Council 400, a public humanities series commemorating 400 years of Black presence in New York. As Chairman of the New Negro Republic Lineage Society, he continues to merge scholarship, spirituality, and community through all. His upcoming book, Freed Negro Orientation: From Miracle to Mastery is releasing in 2026.
Donald M. Ruff, Jr.
President & CEO, The Eagle Academy Foundation
Donald M. Ruff, Jr. is the President & CEO of The Eagle Academy Foundation (EAF),
where he leads transformative initiatives that serve young men of color across the
nation. For the past 28 years, Donald has been dedicated to preparation, activation, and
success of youth across New York City. His expertise spans youth development, college
access, and widening opportunities for historically marginalized and underserved
communities. Under his leadership at EAF, the Eagles Soaring Beyond program has
expanded support in college readiness, workforce development, and financial
empowerment. Donald is the architect of the All-Male College Fair & Career Pathways
Expo reaching over 8,000 youth in NYC and through the Eagle Institute, 2,000
educators have been trained directly impacting over 40,000 young men across 65 cities.
Previously, he served as Director of the Scholars Program at Sponsors for
Educational Opportunity (SEO), where he helped students gain admission to
top-tier colleges. His life’s work has earned him honors like the National
Fellowship for Black and Latino Educators – Power 50 (2025), City & State’s
Responsible 100 (2024) & Above & Beyond Innovators (2023), and Crain’s
Notable Black Leaders (2022). A graduate of Oberlin College, Donald holds a
dual degree in History and African American Studies and executive certificates
from Columbia Business School. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate of Public Service from St. Thomas Aquinas College.