Simoné has been a resident of Washington state for more than 30 years, and she’s an alumnus of Kentlake High School. Prior to PDA, she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with a double major in Community Psychology and American Studies from the University of Washington Bothell. She also graduated from Antioch University Seattle with a Masters in Couple and Family Therapy in 2016.
She started her career delivering mental health services through Multicare Behavioral Health in Puyallup. In addition to her child and family therapy duties, she managed the mental health program in the Eatonville School District. Having learned the value of meeting people where they’re at, Simoné started subcontracting for Working Choices Inc. where she would provide in-home services to families who were referred by the Department of Children Youth and Family Services (DCYF) with the goal of increasing child safety. Those services included Family Preservation Services (FPS), Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Triple P Parenting, and Crisis Family Intervention (CFI).
While continuing her mental health private practice, Simoné started making a career transition to project management by getting her Professional Project Management (PMP) Certification. Next, at Harborview Medical Center, she was the Health Educator at the Madison Clinic, which is one of the largest providers of HIV primary care in the Pacific Northwest. In that role, Simoné provided harm reduction education to patients and staff. She also led the Community Advisory Board (CAB) which is a group where people living with HIV meet with staff to work on clinic improvement projects. This was her favorite part about the role as she strongly believes in the importance of community collaboration.
Simoné was drawn to PDA because of the organization’s commitment to public safety and racial equity. Like many, she believes it takes a village, so she likes LEAD’s approach of working with a variety of different community partners.
In her free time, Simoné enjoys weightlifting, learning how to speak Finnish, and watching scary movies. She adores animals and will happily show you photos of her two cats, Harper and Gilda, and her dog, Hank. Although she likes camping, she still isn’t a fan of hiking, despite her partner’s best efforts.