Meet Joshua Simmons
Vice Mayor Joshua Simmons was the first African American ever elected to serve the City of Coral Springs.
Joshua has always held service as his highest priority. His mother set a strong example for him to follow through her service in the United States Navy. She instilled values of patriotism, community engagement, and selflessness that established the course of Joshua’s career.
Joshua earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Florida Atlantic University, and during an internship for a law firm, was exposed to the world of political service. A partner at the firm was heavily involved in President Obama’s 2008 campaign and welcomed Joshua to participate, sparking his political aspirations.
When his mother was deployed overseas, Josh stepped up and became the legal guardian of his younger sister, an experience that fostered his love for teaching. After earning a Master’s Degree in Psychology, Josh worked as a mental health therapist providing services to Broward County residents. In 2015, Josh decided to fully embrace his passion for education and became a teacher at Coral Springs High School.
As a Government and Economics teacher, Joshua taught the next generation about the issues that impacted their lives, but he also taught them how they could change those same issues through political engagement. It was Josh’s students that first suggested he should run for the City Commission.
In 2017, Joshua declared his candidacy for the Coral Springs City Commission. During his campaign, he knocked on more than 4,500 doors of city residents and engaged them about the city issues that mattered to them. He ran a campaign that highlighted the multi-cultural diversity of our city and in November of 2018, his efforts proved successful.
Joshua was sworn in as a Coral Springs Commissioner in 2018 and has worked nonstop to improve our parks, support our local businesses, and expand city services. As Commissioner and Vice Mayor, Joshua has led victorious efforts to improve city policing practices, revamp small business partnership programs, create new discrimination protections, and implement new ethics guidelines for elected officials and city employees.
Along his journey serving Coral Springs, Joshua became a loving husband to Cheyenne and proud father of Carter and Caleigh.
Joshua has proven that through hard work, anything is possible. Now he’s ready to continue applying that same work ethic by serving another term as Commissioner in Coral Springs.
