Jamal
Simmons

Jamal Simmons is a strategic communications expert with three decades of experience shaping narratives at the highest levels of government, media, and corporate affairs. As a political commentator on CNN, he analyzes events for a global audience and was previously deputy assistant to the president and communications director to Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.

Jamal has extensive media experience. He was a contributor for CBS News and NPR and a host and interviewer for Hill TV, where he interviewed political and entertainment personalities such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and comedians Chelsea Handler and George Lopez.

Before focusing on his media career, Jamal designed and managed media training, policy rollouts, and issue campaigns at Raben in Washington, D.C. He also co-chaired the Internet Innovation Alliance and co-founded CRVIII (CRATE), a digital media start-up.

Jamal came to prominence as an Obama surrogate on CNN during the historic 2008 presidential primaries. Before that, he was a top communications aide for two presidential primary campaigns, a U.S. Senate race, and the Gore/Lieberman campaign, where he was a spokesman in W. Palm Beach during the Florida recount. Prior to that, he was chief of staff to Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.

Jamal helped produce international charity concerts and set up events for the Clinton White House in Ukraine, the U.K., Namibia, Haiti, and Indonesia. As assistant to U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, he represented the U.S. government in Bosnia & Croatia, Indonesia, Switzerland, Russia, and China.

Jamal has written opinion pieces for Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Politico, and The New York Times. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Jackson House Board of Advisors at the Henry Ford Museum, and the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation Board (honorary). He holds a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a master's in public policy (MPP) degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School.