Colton Simmons’24 MPA’28, from Mount Carmel, Tennessee, is a senior in the Department of Politics pursuing certificates in American Studies and History and the Practice of Diplomacy. In 2023, Simmons interned at the Tennessee Justice Center, supported by the Pace Center’s Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) program, where he worked directly with poor and working clients to help them gain access to Medicaid coverage. Prior to that, he spent his gap year in 2021 working as a Legislative Correspondent for U.S. Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, where he managed the environmental policy portfolio and worked on various others including health and labor policy. He was also a 2020 John C. Bogle Fellow and worked as an Intern Coordinator for a U.S. House campaign, promoting youth engagement in the electoral process. Simmons spent fall 2022 studying European politics at University College London. His research experience includes his Junior Paper, “Working-Class Representation in Congress,” which analyzed the consequences of working-class underrepresentation in Congress, and his upcoming senior thesis, which focuses on the barriers that disproportionately prevent workers from running for office. On Campus, Simmons is a Head Fellow for the Scholars Institute Fellows Program. He also serves as a Community Living Advisor for Rockefeller College and Member of the Department of Politics Undergraduate Committee.