Jeff Simon L’22

Jeff wants to eliminate barriers to human flourishing in marginalized and immigrant communities. After receiving a BS in Chemistry at the University of Michigan and a MS in Chemistry at Stanford University, Jeff joined Teach For America. He taught chemistry and forensic science for three years at Passaic High School in Passaic, New Jersey. After seeing that many of his students were the first in their families to graduate high school and attend college and faced challenges getting to and through higher education, Jeff developed a passion for college advising and spent four years at iMentor, a nonprofit that matches students with volunteer mentors and supports them on the path to postsecondary education and college completion.

After his first year at Penn Law, Jeff interned at the Tahirih Justice Center in Atlanta, which advocates for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. He continues to be a strong advocate for immigrant rights, serving as a Co-Director of the Penn Law Immigrant Rights Project. He also serves as an Auction Co-Chair for the Equal Justice Foundation and as a Mentoring Co-Chair for the Student Public Interest Network. He is pursuing a concurrent MPA degree with the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs, and after graduating plans to engage in immigration or civil legal aid and policy advocacy to destroy barriers, legal or otherwise, to education and opportunity.