Simone Gbolo
Simone Gbolo is the executive director of the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Program, a national nonprofit organization that promotes the inclusion and full participation of underrepresented groups in public service. The organization selected the Humphrey School of Public Affairs as host of its national headquarters in 2015.
Gbolo comes to PPIA from the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Office of Admissions, where she served as director of its Pipeline Programs since 2013. In this role, she led the initiatives that assist students from broadly diverse backgrounds to successfully matriculate to medical school. Prior to this, she served as associate program director of the North Star STEM Alliance at the University of Minnesota, where she helped socialize students to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and STEM careers.
Gbolo's professional background includes varied experiences in higher education and nonprofit organizations including Century College, St. Catherine University, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the American Lung Association.
She has a BS, an MEd (youth development leadership), and an MA (multicultural college teaching and learning) from the University of Minnesota, and is currently a doctoral student in higher education at the University of Minnesota, working on a degree in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development.
