User:Yvette Simpson/sandbox

President Pro Tem Yvette Simpson is serving her second term on Cincinnati City Council. She is the Chair of the Human Services, Youth, and Arts committee, and serves on the Budget & Finance, Law and Public Safety, Neighborhoods, and Major Transportation & Regional Cooperation committees. Simpson is also a member of the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, as appointed by the City Planning Commission. On Council, Simpson focuses on creating jobs by developing and expanding Cincinnati small businesses, improving the lives and empowering Cincinnati youth, and providing the tools for our neighborhoods to become more vibrant places to live and work. To further these goals, Councilmember Simpson sponsored a motion to create two new commissions, the Small Business Advisory Committee (the SBAC) and the Youth Commission of Cincinnati (the YCC). She is currently the City Council Representative and coordinator of these commissions. Members of the SBAC and YCC include local leaders in the areas of small business and youth, respectively. The commissions are charged with evaluating the state of Cincinnati small business and youth and advising the Mayor and City Council on ways to improve in these areas. Simpson also led the effort to create a new consortium, "Youth to Work" comprised of the departments and organizations using city funding to create summer employment opportunities for Cincinnati youth. In 2012, city employment programs put $814,690 into the community through youth salaries, and the consortium worked together to host the City's first Summer Youth Employment Celebration on Fountain Square. In 2013 and 2014, the consortium again worked together to improve the program and held its annual celebrations in Washington Park. In the future, the Youth to Work consortium will share information and resources to improve the various summer employment programs offered by the City, creating more meaningful work experiences for youth. Councilmember Simpson spends as much time as possible in the community talking directly with her constituents about their ideas and concerns at neighborhood walks/coffees and community council meetings. Since her election to City Council, Simpson has been to nearly all Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, and plans to reach all our communities during her time on Council. Simpson grew up in Lincoln Heights, and after graduating from Princeton High School attended Miami University and the University of Cincinnati College of Law. In 2014, she received her MBA through Xavier University’s Executive MBA Program. Previously, Simpson practiced law at several firms before developing and directing Miami University's first Pre-Law Program. She currently serves as Counsel at Ulmer & Berne LLP. Simpson has held board positions with many community organizations throughout Cincinnati, including the YWCA and the Urban League. She is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter and the Cincinnati Chapter of the Links, Inc. In 2005, she was recognized as one of the Business Courier's Forty under 40 and a YWCA Rising Star. In 2014, Simpson was honored as one of the YWCA’s Career Women of Achievement. Simpson lives in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati.