Meet Mike

A PRODUCT OF STRUGGLE & TENACITY

Mike Simmons was born and raised in Lincoln Square on the north side of Chicago. His multi-generational household was one of the first black families to integrate the neighborhood, moving into newly built public housing in 1981. His grandmother held two jobs before injuring her back at work and becoming disabled. Mike’s mom, Ramona, opened her own salon on a gritty block in Rogers Park in 1995 at 31 years old while raising him and his two-year-old younger sister as a single mom. Mike’s dad, Mulugetta, was a refugee from Ethiopia who received asylum in America, arriving in Edgewater in the early 1980s after fleeing political violence.

Mike and his family have overcome countless systemic barriers. Growing up, his family sometimes went without heat, had on-and-off access to health insurance and Medicaid, and regularly navigated bureaucracy with SNAP and food assistance. As a youth, he was assaulted at school by a security guard for being gay and struggled with being bullied for months following the incident. After having to transfer to two schools, he became a straight A student, graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep, and made it to Amherst College on a full ride scholarship where he served as student body president. His mom went back to school at Truman College in Uptown and she and Mike both received their degrees the same year. Mike’s mom passed away suddenly in 2020 but she is his north star. Ramona instilled in Mike the values of compassion, tenacity in fighting for what is right, and a deep appreciation for people from all over the world.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT SHAPED ME

Throughout his career, both in the public sector as a legislative staffer on Capitol Hill for US Senator Richard Durbin and as a social impact entrepreneur, Mike has consistently fought on behalf of disenfranchised communities. While serving as policy director at Chicago’s City Hall, he worked with community organizers to pass ordinances that preserve affordable housing and protect renters in apartment buildings in foreclosure. He also led the fight against banks that were holding on to abandoned buildings by passing vacant property legislation over their fierce objections. He helped get grocery stores built in areas with low access to fresh food. Mike also advocated for black, brown, indigenous, immigrant, and English language learners and their families at Brennemann Elementary School as a Local School Council member.

After taking a one-year self-guided sabbatical in 2016 in Africa and Europe to reconnect with his family’s ancestry, Mike launched his social impact firm Blue Sky Strategies to give everyday people a stronger voice in shaping public policy and to give himself an independent platform to be an authentic agent for change. At his firm, Mike developed an anti-racist policy framework for the Cook County Consolidated Budget Plan, which seeks to rectify historical injustices like redlining in mortgage lending. In 2020, Mike began as Deputy Director for the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance at the Obama Foundation where he managed a portfolio of programs across the country intended to remove opportunity gaps for young men of color, and helped to build violence prevention and restorative justice programs and make them more queer-inclusive for LGBTQ+ youth.

LEADING THE FIGHT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS IN THE STATE SENATE

In 2021, Mike Simmons became the first openly LGBTQ+ person and the first Ethiopian-American to serve as an Illinois State Senator. A vigorous and energetic legislator, he has passed nearly 50 bills into law in just 4 years and championed many more far-reaching pieces of legislation. His proudest accomplishments include leading the fight to create a state-level child tax credit providing tax relief to working families, passing legislation to erase medical debt for 340,000 Illinoisians, passing laws to remove forever chemicals from our water, the landmark Jett Hawkins Act which bans hair discrimination in all Illinois schools, several bills that protect and advance the rights of LGBTQ+ communities, survivors of sexual assault and gender based violence, new laws that make it easier for young people to find culturally compatible mental healthcare, and several bills that make roadways safer for pedestrians and cyclists. He has been an outspoken champion for public transit, libraries free of book banning, and dignified jobs and retirement security for all. Mike has helped pass laws banning assault weapons, protecting gender-affirming care, and protecting our planet and greenspaces.

He and his team have also built a constituent services office that ensures his diverse constituents feel seen, heard, and understood and like their issues have been resolved. Many of Mike’s signature legislative accomplishments have come directly from constituents who needed help. For example, when small business owners approached his Senate office struggling to recover from the pandemic, Mike and his team created a $2.5 million restoration grant for small businesses in partnership with local chambers of commerce.

He also has fought for and secured several million dollars for neighborhood-based organizations tackling youth mental health, housing stability, violence prevention, refugee resettlement, LGBTQ+ health care, and added capacity for reproductive health care facilities. In the last two years, Mike brought back more than $20 million for safety-net hospitals and community health clinics serving vulnerable communities on the far north side of Chicago and northern suburbs. Mike is proud to have actively shaped balanced budgets while closing corporate tax loopholes and investing additional millions into strong public schools, tax relief for working families, equitable pay for mental health workers, additional investments that give survivors of domestic violence the support they need, as well as new investments for arts, cultural organizations, music, and theater venues.

He chairs the Senate Public Health Committee, serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Behavioral and Mental Health Committee, and previously chaired the Senate Human Rights Committee. Mike currently is a member of the Senate’s Transportation, Labor, and Appropriations-Health and Human Services Committees.

Mike lives in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago with his partner, Michael, and their frenetic dog Sasha. Mike is an outdoors person, biking up to 50 miles a week and using his bike, public transit, and walking as his main modes of transportation. Mike and Michael are also avid readers.

In 2020, Mike was named as one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40,” and in 2019 was named one of Crain’s “Notable LGBTQ Executives” for his work with his firm Blue Sky Strategies. He is a 2016 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, and was a Co-Founder of New Leaders Council. He previously served on the board of Equality Illinois. Mike also was named to the “30 under 30” list by Windy City Times. He has received several awards for his legislative work including the Paul Simon Public Service Award, Friends of Rogers Park Award, ACLU of Illinois Legislator Award, Visionary Leadership Award from Active Transportation Alliance, along with recognition for championing LGBTQ+ and mental health legislation from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Community Counseling Centers of Chicago, and Tapestry 360.