Kevin Simmons has worked in Chicago and abroad as a program strategist, project designer, and consultant for diverse cultural, environmental, and philanthropic initiatives. A former AmeriCorps*VISTA member and Site Director for LIFT, he studied housing and education policy at Princeton University, Russian language and Slavic literature at the Nevsky Institute in St. Petersburg, attended the Davis School of Russian at Middlebury College, holds a certificate in Conservation Finance from a short program at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, and was an NAI-certified interpretive guide in Panama. Institutions for which he has worked in development, communications, or program management capacities include the UNDP/Global Environment Facility, Audubon Society, ANAI, ArtBasel (Basel), the Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). He served as Board Chair for Opera Cabal, for over ten years on the Board of Directors of Mother Jones magazine, and for nearly fifteen years on the Board of Molly Shanahan / Mad Shak Dance Company.