Earl Simms serves as Director of Policy & Outreach for Missouri at Aligned, where he leads the organization’s legislative advocacy, policy research, and stakeholder engagement efforts statewide. He brings more than fifteen years of experience in Missouri public policy, government relations, and coalition building to the role.

Prior to joining Aligned, Earl served as Public Policy and Advocacy Manager at Paraquad, a St. Louis-based center for independent living, where he led the organization’s legislative advocacy and community engagement efforts on behalf of Missourians with disabilities. Before that, he served in senior policy and advocacy roles across Missouri’s education sector. As Senior Director of Advocacy and Communications at the Missouri Charter Public School Association, he led the coalition effort behind landmark charter school expansion legislation and managed the organization’s legislative strategy in Jefferson City. He subsequently served as the St. Louis Director for the University of Missouri’s Office of Charter School Operations and participated in the fourth cohort of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers Leadership Program.

Earl also founded Missouri Strategies, a political consulting firm advising candidates for state legislative and local offices across Missouri.

Earl holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Public Relations from Murray State University and lives in St. Peters, Missouri, with his wife, three daughters, and two rescue pups.