Jim Simon - Oceana Brasil
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Jim Simon

President

Executive Committee

Jim Simon is Oceana’s President and General Counsel. Since 2003, he has helped to lead Oceana’s evolution from a start-up to an accomplished policy advocacy group with more than 250 major victories and campaigns in 12 countries.

Simon’s responsibilities include overseeing fundraising, which has grown tenfold. He supervises the law department, as well as finance, human relations, and IT. He oversees country teams in Canada, the Philippines, Chile, Brazil, and Peru. Simon also leads Oceana’s efforts in diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Before joining Oceana, Simon worked as a lawyer in city and federal government and in nonprofits. His experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company helped him bring a business-like approach to Oceana’s nonprofit mission. As an attorney for the City of New York, he brought litigation on behalf of the city, including suits to prevent water pollution, obtain compensation for hazardous waste pollution, and address racial discrimination in housing. As a Senior Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Simon led a team of lawyers and scientists suing to hold corporate and government polluters throughout the United States accountable. As a political appointee at the Department of Justice, Simon worked as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division, where he was responsible for management, litigation, and policy.

Simon is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review, and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University.  He is an avid runner and sailor, falling in love with the ocean when he started sailing his first small boat, Vivere, when he was 12 years old.