Featuring Esmeralda Simmons, Founder/Director, Center for Law and Social Justice
Esmeralda Simmons is considered one of our nation’s leading social justice leaders. She is an accomplished lawyer and public servant who has spent decades fighting for human and civil rights on the federal, state, and municipal levels.
As the Founder of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, Esmeralda has developed a a community-based racial justice advocacy center that focuses on legal work and research on civil rights and domestic human rights violations. She served as Executive Director for 34 years until her recent retirement.
Esmeralda earned her B.A. from Hunter College, City University of New York, and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She has used that education to be an advocate on a range of legal and education related concerns.
Throughout her career, Esmeralda advocated for equity in public education, voting, policing, and the child welfare system. She provided community organizations with legal counsel and research assistance on a range of concerns. She has served as counsel or co-counsel on numerous major federal Voting Rights Act cases and election law cases and has secured victories before the United States Supreme Court.
Before founding and directing the Center for Law and Social Justice, Esmeralda served as First Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Division of Human Rights. In that role, she developed and led the implementation of policy in support of New Yorkers’ human and civil rights. She also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York. In addition, she has served on several major public boards in New York City government, including the NYC Board of Education and the NYC Districting Commission.
In addition to her work with the Center, Esmeralda also volunteers on several boards, including the board of directors of UPROSE, a climate justice organization; the Council of Elders for African Cultural Heritage; and Little Sun People, an African-centered early childhood education center. Previously, she has served on several boards of national organizations: the Applied Research Center (now “Race Forward”); Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center; the Child Welfare Fund; and, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC).
Esmeralda’s lifetime of social justice work has made a tremendous impact in New York and has been a model for many in other states.