Devon Simmons
“I believe that in order to reach a world free of racial inequity and discrimination, we must train everyone throughout the African diaspora to embrace their Blackness in pursuit of unifying to impede the conceptuality of white supremacy. ”
Devon Simmons is the co-founder and project director of the Paralegal Pathways Initiative at Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change. He conceived the program in collaboration with students and faculty to leverage the talents of people who have gained legal skills while incarcerated. The program is designed to hone their skills and connect them with employment opportunities in the legal field, while simultaneously enabling law students to challenge their assumptions and engage with directly impacted people prior to entering a courtroom setting through Experiential Learning. He is a 2019 Soros Justice Fellow, 2017 David Rockefeller Fund Fellow and Vice-Chair of the Canary Impact Fund.
In 2012, while incarcerated at Otisville Correctional Facility, Devon enrolled in John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Prison-to-College Pipeline program. Soon after his release following fifteen and a half years of imprisonment, he obtained his AA (with honours) from Hostos Community College, becoming the first graduate of the program. Subsequently, he graduated summa cum laude from John Jay with a BS in Criminal Justice.
As an International Ambassador for Incarceration Nations Network, Devon has traveled to South Africa, Cuba, Jamaica and U.K., in support of efforts to establish Prison-to-College Pipeline programs internationally. He is also a curator for the Writing on The Wall Installation.