Adele Simmons is President of Global Philanthropy Partnership, which focuses on sustainability and philanthropy. She coordinated efforts to develop Midwest strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and was Vice Chair of Metropolis 2020 leading their work on sustainability. She co-chaired the taskforce that developed the 2010 Climate Action Plan for the City of Chicago, and at the request of Mayor Emanuel, organized the task force that prepared and implemented Sustainable Chicago 2015. She co-founded the Urban Sustainability Director's Network which includes sustainability officers from 124 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
Mrs. Simmons is currently on the board of the Field Museum of Natural History, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Ceres and the Synergos Institute. She was President of the MacArthur Foundation between 1989 and 1999, launching their global work on climate change. She has served on a number of commissions including President Bush's Commission on Sustainable Development, the Commission on Global Governance, and the UN High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. She was a member of the Marsh & McLennan Board from 1977-2015. Mrs. Simmons was President of Hampshire College, a dean at Princeton and Tufts Universities, and a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. She has lived in Mauritius, Kenya and Tunisia.