Leigh Simons oversees MHA’s priorities related to public health, mental health, and substance use disorder policy. Prior to MHA, Leigh was the Director of Policy for the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals and previously worked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for both the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and the Joint Committee on Public Health.  She began her career working for the ABC News program “Nightline” in both its Washington, D.C. and New York offices; her work there brought her to such diverse places as the Democratic National Convention in Denver, a lobster boat in Maine, and a trauma center in Philadelphia.

Leigh has an MPH, with a concentration in Health Policy & Management, from the Boston University School of Public Health, where she was the recipient of the Leonard Glantz Award for Academic Excellence.  She holds a BA in Political Science from Tufts University.  As an undergraduate, Leigh interned in the Washington and Boston press offices of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.