Melissa Atieno Rakiro was born January 29, 1994 in Phoenixville, PA to parents, Kenneth and Deborah Rakiro. Her father, is Kenyan and her mother is German-Irish of Pennsylvania Dutch decent. She was raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia where she began studying music, theater, and violin at the age of nine. In college she continued her vocal studies at the Boyer School of Music in Opera, Jazz and Musical Theater. In her junior year ,she studied at the University of Paris-Sorbonne where she became fluent in French. She hold's a Bachelor's in Acting from Temple University. Melissa has appeared in Film, Television, and Off-Broadway. She is most known for her role of Stephanie's sister in the second season of Marvel's "Luke Cage"