Dame Melinda Veronica Simmons (born 1966) is a British diplomat, who serves as Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Ukraine since 2019.

Early life and education

Simmons, who is of Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian heritage, was born to Jewish parents in the East End of London. She was educated at the

City of London School for Girls (''O Lord Direct us'') , established = 1894 , closed = , type = Independent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmistress , head = Jenny Brown , r_head_label = ...

, before reading Modern Languages (French and German) at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

, where she graduated as

BA (Hons) Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1988. She then pursued further studies in European Politics at the

University of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

, receiving a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1995. Dame Melinda is a Fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an Trade association, association for human resource management professionals. Its headquarters are in Wimbledon, London, England. The organisation was founded in 1913 - it is the worl ...

Career

From 1990 to 1992, Simmons was Head of International Department/Associate Director at the Register Group (International marketing and advertising research). She then became International Marketing Manager at Primesight International (outdoor advertising) from 1992 to 1994. From 1994 to 1998, she was Public Affairs Officer at International Alert (conflict resolution NGO) and from 1998 onwards she held roles at the

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

(DfID). From 1998 to 2003, Simmons held various positions including working with businesses to develop an ethical trademark; managing land restitution in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

; developing global policy on conflict prevention and resolution and setting up the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP), bringing together the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO),

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD) and DfID to collaborate on conflict prevention/resolution programmes in South Asia and the Middle East, becoming Head of the Africa Team, 2500 Unit (2003–05). From 2005 to 2008, Simmons was head of DfID's Southern Africa office in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. She then became Deputy Director, Middle East and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

(2008–09); Deputy Director, Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (2010–11), then Head of the Europe Department (2011–13). From 2013 to 2016, Simmons worked at the FCO as Deputy Director of the Conflict Department. She was the Head of the National Security Secretariat (Joint Programme Hub) from 2016 to 2017 and National Security Secretariat Director (Joint Funds Unit) from 2017 to 2018. After undertaking full-time language training (in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

) with the FCO from 2018, in 2019, Simmons was appointed British Ambassador to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. She departed Kyiv on 19 February 2022 and finally left Ukraine, under advice, on 7 March 2022 following the Russian invasion, returning to her office at the British Embassy in Kyiv at the end of April 2022.

Honours

Simmons was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honou ...

(DCMG) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to British foreign policy.

Personal life

Simmons is Jewish and is a member of

Finchley Reform Synagogue Finchley Reform Synagogue, a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, is a synagogue in North Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. Its clergy are Senior Rabbi Miriam Berger, Cantor Zöe Jacobs, Rabbi Deborah Blausten, Rabbi Howard Cooper ...

in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Melinda 1966 births Living people 20th-century British Jews 21st-century British Jews Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of North London Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Ukraine British Reform Jews British women ambassadors Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Diplomats from London English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish women People educated at the City of London School for Girls