Robert Simmons

Robert Simmons serves as Managing Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and is responsible for leading the design and implementation of Share Our Strength’s diversity framework, and subsequent goals, metrics, and assessments that support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Robert provides organization-wide leadership and partners closely with staff across the organization, soliciting and utilizing input from others to build a meaningful and sustainable approach to DEI.

Prior to joining Share our Strength, Robert was a teacher, school administrator, school district administrator and tenured professor where his research illuminated the lived realities of historically marginalized communities.

Nominated twice as the Walt Disney National Teacher of the Year, Robert has completed fellowships with the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation and the Fulbright Memorial Fund. Robert continues to teach at American University where he focuses on antiracism, education policy and leadership. As a member of the Diversity Scholars Network at the National Center for Institutional Diversity housed at the University of Michigan, Robert serves on the boards of Black Girls Code and the Latinx Education Collaborative, as well the leadership council for Echoing Green’s Black Male Achievement Fellowship. Robert earned a doctorate in education from Hamline University and is a proud Detroiter.