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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lateefah Simon, President". Akonadi Foundation. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. "Three Blacks Named MacArthur Fellows", Jet, Oct 27, 2003
  3. http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Lateefah_Simon.php
  4. 1 2 "Lateefah Simon". MacArthur Foundation. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  5. "Lateefah Simon". Bay Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  6. "Lateefah Simon seeks inspiration in promises made". SFGate. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 "About Lateefah". Lateefah for BART. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  8. "Civil Rights Advocate Lateefah Simon to Deliver Mills College Commencement Address". Mills College. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  9. Simon, Lateefah (5 November 2015). "I Was a Working Single Mom Twice — Here's What I Learned". Medium. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  10. http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-10-21/living/17266313_1_east-bay-young-people-harris
  11. http://eomega.org/omega/faculty/viewProfile/2238c3330352b5f9955bcb520dab1462/

[1]

  1. "Lateefah Simon". Emerge America. Emerge America. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
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