Lateefah Simon
Lateefah Simon (born January 29, 1977 in San Francisco) is the president of the Akonadi Foundation and an advocate for civil rights and racial justice.[1] In 2003, she became the youngest woman to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, for her leadership of the Center for Young Women's Development (CYWD) from age 19.[1][2][3][4]
Under San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris, Simon led the creation of San Francisco's Reentry Division, with Back on Track, an advocacy program for young adults charged with low-level felony drug sales.[1] Simon has been the executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and the program director of the Rosenberg Foundation.[1]
She was elected to represent the seventh district on the Bay Area Rapid Transit District board of directors in 2016.[5] Her motivations for running included her reliance on BART, as someone legally blind and unable to drive.[6]
Simon studied social entrepreneurship at Stanford University and public policy at Mills College,[7] where will be the 2017 Commencement speaker.[8] She is the mother of two children[7] and has written about the difference in how she was treated as an unwed mother and as a widowed mother.[9]
Awards
- 2003 MacArthur Fellows Program[4]
- 2007 Jefferson Award [10]
- 2005 "California Woman of the Year" by the California State Assembly [11]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Lateefah Simon, President". Akonadi Foundation. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ↑ "Three Blacks Named MacArthur Fellows", Jet, Oct 27, 2003
- ↑ http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Lateefah_Simon.php
- 1 2 "Lateefah Simon". MacArthur Foundation. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ↑ "Lateefah Simon". Bay Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ↑ "Lateefah Simon seeks inspiration in promises made". SFGate. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- 1 2 "About Lateefah". Lateefah for BART. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ↑ "Civil Rights Advocate Lateefah Simon to Deliver Mills College Commencement Address". Mills College. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ↑ Simon, Lateefah (5 November 2015). "I Was a Working Single Mom Twice — Here's What I Learned". Medium. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ↑ http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-10-21/living/17266313_1_east-bay-young-people-harris
- ↑ http://eomega.org/omega/faculty/viewProfile/2238c3330352b5f9955bcb520dab1462/
External links
- "An Interview with Lateefah Simon", CYD Journal, Sarah Raskin
- "Lateefah Simon Q&A", Independent Lens, PBS
- "Commencement Address", San Francisco State University, 2010
- ↑ "Lateefah Simon". Emerge America. Emerge America. Retrieved August 3, 2016.