Devon Simmons Paralegal Pathways Initiative
Devon Simmons is the Co-Founder and Associate Director of the Paralegal Pathways Initiative at Columbia Law School. He conceived the program in collaboration with law students and faculty in pursuit of leveraging the talents of people who have gained legal skills while incarcerated. The program is designed to hone their skills in hopes of connecting them with employment opportunities in the legal field, while simultaneously enabling law students to challenge their assumptions and engage with formerly incarcerated people prior to entering a courtroom setting through Experiential Learning. He is a Global Atlantic Fellow, Salzburg Global Fellow, 2019 Soros Justice Fellow, and 2017 David Rockefeller Fund Fellow. As the International Ambassador for the Incarceration Nations Network, he has traveled to South Africa, Cuba, Jamaica and U.K. in an effort to help establish Prison-to-College Pipeline programs internationally. He is also a curator for the Writing on The Wall Installation.