About the Author
awn Simmons is an advocate for the civil rights and social services of people. She has many years of experience working voluntarily with children, those incarcerated, the elderly and disabled. In addition she has worked in Finance for over 20 years primarily in Derivatives Operations. Ms. Simmons was born and raised in Harlem, New York where she attended The Brearley School and took dance and piano lessons from her family's dance and piano studio each Saturday in the South Bronx. Her parents separated and she, her mother and sister moved to Flushing Queens, where she graduated from Flushing High School. Upon graduation she attended Bryn Mawr College, a semester abroad at the Universite de Paris-IV Sorbonne and then graduated from the University of Southern California. Ms. Simmons holds a Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a Master's Degree in Social Work from Columbia University. Ms. Simmons has held many volunteer positions throughout her career. She worked as a volunteer for the Department of Juvenile Justice, New York City and Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, California, a Catholic Eucharistic Minister, Office for Students with Disabilities where she was an office aide, and a peer counselor. She volunteered for Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) which takes persons with disabilities to events such as the theater, the zoo, and other cultural activities. She also volunteered for the Urban Youth Bike Corps, an Injury Prevention Program through Columbia University at Harlem Hospital for young males 13-17 years of age. She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Ghana building houses and at that time created an English language school and breakfast program for children ages 5 - 16 years old that lasted about 3 years in Nkenkaasu-Ashanti, Ghana. Currently she is working with prisoners through her company, Imperial Imprint LLC, which publishes books and art by prisoners to give them a voice to help stop crime and mass incarceration. Ms. Simmons is on the Community Advisor Board of Harlem Hospital. She was a candidate for City Council in 2017 and is a District Leader for the 70 AD in Harlem. She also is a commentator for the podcast series "From Within" discussing current issues. Professionally, Ms. Simmons has worked for Wall Street firms since 1993. She was also a Math teacher, flight attendant and interned at the Kings County District Attorney's Office in the Counseling Services Unit, as well as working at Columbia University Social Intervention Group. She was a Program facilitator for Project EBAN; a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) program aimed at reducing risk through sexual activity for HIV positive African-American sero-discordant couples while in school for her Social Work degree. Ms. Simmons has since returned to Wall Street where she works in Derivatives Operations in Fixed Income, Equities and Credit and has trained employees in both the United States and India. Ms. Simmons is a firm believer in civil rights, criminal justice reform and a strong advocate for a robust and equal education for children and adults. Ms. Simmons is a firm believer in education through, experience and travel, as she has lived in England, France and Africa, and worked in India, and has traveled throughout the United States and Europe. With education, whether it is academic, vocational or otherwise, Ms. Simmons believes that one can do or be anything they dream to be. Favorite Quote: "There are three (3) types of people, those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that wonder what happened... Which one are you?"
Heru Mossiah Maat also known as Horace Abney Jr. was born and raised in Queens, New York. He grew up in a loving household, the youngest of five children and was a good student. Due to circumstances out of his control, when he was 11 years old, his mother was arrested for a crime that she did not commit and put into jail for two months. During that time he went to live on the other side of town with his aunt, since they lost their apartment. Unfortunately the school system and the people were not the same and Heru got caught up in the lifestyle. To make a positive change in his life, when he about 22 years old, he moved to North Carolina with his infant daughter. Unfortunately the life style was not much better there and he found himself involved in drugs. His girlfriend and his daughter lived with him, however he was arrested on drug trafficking charges (non-violent) and in 2003 was tried in abstensia in South Carolina, that resulted in a 30 year prison sentence, which they labeled as a violent crime, because the amount of drugs they say he had was considered drug trafficking. Despite the troubles that Heru has had, he remains optimistic and has a thirst for learning. He believes in helping others and by co-founding Imperial Imprint LLC with Dawn Simmons, he has created a means for many of the prisoners to have a voice to help the children and adults both inside and outside of the prison walls to make the world a better place. Heru hopes to get out of prison prior to his 2029 release date, as his long-term girlfriend, his two beautiful children and two grandsons are waiting for him to return to society to enjoy their lives together.
