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Meet Simone Brooks: Assistant City Manager

Post Date:05/15/2023

Simone Brooks' experience in leadership and passion for inclusivity helps to address disparities and enhance livability for all Hillsboro residents. We asked Simone to share what makes her work so meaningful and impactful.

Simone, tell us more about yourself.

Simone Profile photo

I was born and raised in northeast Portland. I'm incredibly close to my parents and sister. My parents even have license plates that say "Four-B" and "B-Four" to represent the four of us. Our family grew with the addition of my two children, Kaeshon and Sadella, who are now in their 20s.

I graduated from high school when I was 16 and left Oregon to attend Hampton University in Virginia, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine and Environmental Science. I initially pursued a master's degree in Fisheries Science, but decided it wasn't the right direction.

I returned to my family's staffing business to manage a couple of short-term projects and ended up staying for two years before joining an environmental consulting firm. After five years, I returned to our family's business, where I eventually became president of the company.

In 2018, I used a beautiful summer in the Pacific Northwest to explore new career opportunities, including joining the City of Hillsboro, and eventually moved here in 2019.

What led you to work for the City of Hillsboro?

I learned of this opportunity with the City from a recruiter after a brief phone conversation. After learning more about the role, including the City's commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to engaging employees and the community and how people focused it was — I was sold.

Who or what inspires you?

I'm inspired by the idea that we can all show up — each of us with our differing identities — and add value. I appreciate that we each bring different lenses to identify opportunities to better serve our community. I know that we are better when we are inclusive. When we step back to allow others to step in — so their voices are heard, too — the best solutions are discovered.

Tell us a good story about your job

I recently presented with CeCe Ridder (Public Engagement Division Manager, City of Beaverton) to the Northwest Women's Leadership Academy about our partnership with Latricia Tillman (Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, Washington County) and a multijurisdictional effort related to community engagement.

We discussed our commitment to engaging historically and currently marginalized communities to address socioeconomic disparities. We also discussed the importance of uplifting each other as women of color. Our collaboration helped lead to an intergovernmental agreement (IGA), which was approved by all three jurisdictions on the same night. The IGA committed funding to work with culturally specific community-based organizations to identify American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding priorities and community engagement best practices. Further, it will recommend a funding model to build organizational capacity for engagement.

Thinking about our many inspired conversations and the collaboration with each of our jurisdictions' leadership, and our elected officials, was reinvigorating. In a sector where women are underrepresented in leadership positions, and women of color are even further underrepresented, it is a powerful and empowering story.

What is it like to spend a day doing your job?

When I'm lucky, I get to have coffee or tea with community members or fellow employees to learn more about each other and how I can support them. I spend a lot of time in meetings and responding to emails, which may seem uninspiring, but there is a lot of variety and a lot of progress on important topics throughout the day.

I get to work with knowledgeable, passionate people. On any given day, I could be discussing and making decisions about the Workplace Climate Survey, the Strategic Equity Plan, the 17^th Avenue Shelter Project to address homelessness, how to connect library initiatives to broader City efforts, or how best to incorporate community voices in a project.

How does your job directly benefit Hillsboro community members?

I work with others across the City to address the disparities that exist within our community across numerous socioeconomic measures. The portfolio I oversee is broad, but I see the overarching goal as achieving equitable outcomes for our community by increasing access. Access to economic opportunity. Access to shelter. Access to knowledge. Access to information. Access to power.

Tell us something people wouldn’t guess about you?

Most people would not guess that I get up at 3 am and talk to my dad at 5:30 am. It's just weekdays, but it allows me to fit a lot into the day, including yoga and meditation.