Esmeralda Simmons
2023 ALI Fellow

Esmeralda Simmons brings to ALI more than 40 years of experience fighting for human and civil rights at the federal, state, and municipal levels.  As founder and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, she grew and led a community-based racial justice advocacy center focused on legal work and research on civil rights, domestic human rights violations, and equity in public education, voting, policing, and the child welfare system, all while providing community organizations with legal counsel and research assistance. Esmeralda previously served as first deputy commissioner at the New York State Division of Human Rights, as an assistant attorney general for the State of New York, and as a member of several major public boards in New York City government, including the city’s Board of Education and its Districting Commission.