Lateefah Simon

Lateefah Simon
Born	Lateefah Aaliyah Simon 1/29/1977
Birthplace	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, civil rights advocate
Known for	Youngest woman to receive a MacArthur Fellowship (2003); first legally blind member of U.S. Congress
Education	University of San Francisco (MPA)
Children	2
Awards	MacArthur Fellowship (2003), Jefferson Award
Website	http://simon.house.gov/

Lateefah Aaliyah Simon (born January 29, 1977) is an American politician and civil rights advocate serving as the U.S. representative for California's 12th congressional district since January 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, Simon is the first member of Congress known to have been born legally blind in both eyes and the first Muslim member of Congress from California and from outside the Midwestern United States. Before entering electoral politics, Simon built a career in nonprofit leadership and community advocacy in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2003, at the age of 26, she became the youngest woman to receive a MacArthur Fellowship for her work leading the Center for Young Women's Development (now the Young Women's Freedom Center), an organization serving young women affected by the criminal justice system in San Francisco. Simon has served on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board of directors, the board of trustees of the California State University system, and as president of the Akonadi Foundation, an Oakland-based organization focused on racial justice. She succeeded Barbara Lee in representing the 12th congressional district, which encompasses much of the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.

Early Life

Lateefah Aaliyah Simon was born on January 29, 1977, in San Francisco, California. She was born legally blind in both eyes, a condition that has shaped her life experiences and her perspective on disability rights and accessibility.

Simon grew up in San Francisco and became involved in community activism at a young age. As a teenager, she encountered the challenges faced by young women in the juvenile and criminal justice systems, experiences that would profoundly influence her professional trajectory. Her early exposure to the struggles of marginalized young women in San Francisco's Tenderloin and other neighborhoods drew her into advocacy work before she had completed her formal education.

By the age of 19, Simon had begun working with the Center for Young Women's Development (CYWD), a San Francisco-based organization that would become central to her early career. The organization, which later became known as the Young Women's Freedom Center, was founded in 1993 and became one of the first nonprofits in the country to be led by and for young women who had been involved in the criminal justice system, the street economy, and the foster care system. Simon rose through the organization's ranks and eventually became its executive director, a role in which she would gain national recognition.

Education

Simon earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College, a historically women's college located in Oakland, California. She subsequently earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of San Francisco. In 2017, Mills College invited Simon to deliver its commencement address, recognizing her contributions to community leadership and social justice advocacy in the Bay Area.

Career

Nonprofit Leadership and the Center for Young Women's Development

Simon's career in nonprofit advocacy began with the Center for Young Women's Development (CYWD) in San Francisco. She became the executive director of the organization, which served young women who had been incarcerated, had experienced the foster care system, or had been involved in the street economy. Under her leadership, CYWD developed programs that employed young women as peer health educators and advocates, providing them with alternatives to incarceration and the criminal justice system.

Her work at CYWD brought her national attention. In 2003, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded Simon a MacArthur Fellowship — commonly known as a "genius grant" — for her leadership of the organization. At 26 years old, she became the youngest woman ever to receive the fellowship. The MacArthur Foundation recognized her for developing an innovative model of youth development that placed formerly incarcerated and system-involved young women at the center of advocacy and policy reform efforts.

Simon also received a Jefferson Award for her public service work in the San Francisco Bay Area, further establishing her reputation as a community leader.

Akonadi Foundation

Simon served as president of the Akonadi Foundation, an Oakland-based philanthropic organization focused on racial justice. The foundation supported organizations and movements working to eliminate structural racism and promote equity in Oakland and the broader Bay Area. In this role, Simon directed the foundation's grantmaking strategy and worked to deepen community investment in racial justice initiatives.

Other Philanthropic and Institutional Roles

Beyond the Akonadi Foundation, Simon held leadership positions at several other institutions. She served as a trustee of the San Francisco Foundation and as president of MeadowFund, a community investment fund created by Patricia Quillin, the wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.

Simon also served on the board of trustees of the California State University (CSU) system, one of the largest public university systems in the United States. In this capacity, she participated in governance decisions affecting the system's 23 campuses and nearly 500,000 students.

BART Board of Directors

Simon served as a member of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board of directors, representing District 7, which covers portions of the East Bay including parts of Oakland, San Leandro, and surrounding communities. During her tenure on the BART board, she focused on issues of equity, accessibility, and public transit as a tool for economic mobility. Her service on the BART board provided her with experience in regional governance and transit policy, which informed her later congressional campaign.

2024 Congressional Campaign

In 2023, Simon announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 12th congressional district, seeking to succeed Barbara Lee, who vacated the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. The district encompasses a significant portion of the East Bay, including Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, San Leandro, and other communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Simon's campaign received notable endorsements, including from California Governor Gavin Newsom. In the March 2024 primary election, Simon commanded a significant lead over other candidates in the race. She went on to win the general election and took office on January 3, 2025, succeeding Barbara Lee as the representative for the 12th congressional district.

Congressional Tenure

Simon began serving in the 119th United States Congress in January 2025. Her election was historic on multiple fronts: she became the first member of Congress known to have been born legally blind in both eyes, the first Muslim member of Congress from California, and the first Muslim member of Congress from outside the Midwestern United States.

During her time in Congress, Simon has focused on issues including education, government accountability, voting rights, and the needs of working families in the Bay Area.

Legislative Activity

In early 2026, Simon's "Information Quality Assurance Act" passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The legislation aimed to enhance federal information quality standards.

Simon also secured a federal grant of over $1 million for Samuel Merritt University's new Oakland campus, a funding allocation aimed at enhancing student resources and expanding educational opportunities in the East Bay.

Advocacy on Education and Disability

In October 2025, Simon joined Representatives Mark DeSaulnier and Lucy McBath in leading 117 House Democrats in opposing the Trump administration's policies related to special education. The congressional letter condemned what the representatives described as attacks on special education programs.

Government Shutdown Response

In October 2025, during a federal government shutdown, Simon held a roundtable discussion with Bay Area workers impacted by the closure of government services. The event focused on the economic effects of the shutdown on federal employees and contractors in the East Bay.

Impeachment Advocacy

In January 2026, Simon publicly called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, citing concerns over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions and leadership failures within the department.

Bipartisan Votes

In early 2026, Simon voted with the Republican majority to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena related to the congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The vote was notable as Simon was among a small number of Democrats to break with party leadership on the matter.

Relationship with Kamala Harris

In March 2026, former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at an event in Oakland alongside Simon. The two discussed voting rights, the importance of listening to young people, and their decades-long relationship. Harris, who began her own political career in the Bay Area, described the Trump administration as "corrupt" and "callous" during the Oakland event.

Personal Life

Simon has two children. She resides in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the district she represents in Congress. Simon has been open about her experience living with legal blindness since birth, and her disability has informed her advocacy for accessibility in public transit and government services.

Simon is Muslim, making her election to Congress in 2024 a historic milestone as the first Muslim member of Congress from California and the first from outside the Midwestern United States, where previous Muslim members of Congress — including Keith Ellison and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — had been elected.

She has also been affiliated with the Working Families Party in addition to the Democratic Party.

Recognition

Simon's career has been marked by several significant honors and awards. Her most prominent recognition came in 2003, when she received a MacArthur Fellowship at the age of 26, making her the youngest woman to receive the award at that time. The fellowship, which comes with a no-strings-attached financial award, recognized her innovative approach to empowering young women affected by the criminal justice system through her leadership of the Center for Young Women's Development.

She received a Jefferson Award for her public service contributions in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Simon was nominated as a Visionary of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle in the 2014–2015 cycle, which highlighted her work advancing racial justice through her leadership at the Akonadi Foundation and other organizations.

In 2017, Mills College recognized Simon by inviting her to deliver the institution's commencement address, an honor reflecting her standing as a graduate who had achieved distinction in public service and community leadership.

Her election to Congress in 2024 brought additional recognition. As the first legally blind person known to have been born with the condition to serve in Congress, and as the first Muslim member of Congress from California, her swearing-in on January 3, 2025, was covered as a historic event in both local and national media.

Legacy

Simon's career spans community organizing, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and elected office. Her trajectory from a young advocate for incarcerated and system-involved women in San Francisco to a member of the U.S. Congress reflects a path rooted in the Bay Area's traditions of social justice activism. Her early work at the Center for Young Women's Development, now the Young Women's Freedom Center, helped establish a model for youth-led advocacy organizations that center the experiences of directly impacted individuals in policy reform.

Her MacArthur Fellowship in 2003 brought national visibility to the issues facing young women in the criminal justice system and validated peer-led models of community development. Through her subsequent roles at the Akonadi Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and MeadowFund, Simon directed philanthropic resources toward racial justice work in Oakland and the broader Bay Area.

As a member of Congress, Simon's presence has brought representation for communities that have historically been underrepresented in the federal legislature. Her status as the first legally blind member of Congress born with the condition has raised the profile of disability rights and accessibility in legislative discussions, while her identity as the first Muslim member of Congress from California has expanded the geographic and cultural diversity of Muslim representation in American government.

Her continued engagement with the Young Women's Freedom Center, decades after her initial involvement with the organization, underscores the long-term nature of her commitment to the communities and causes that launched her public career.