Denise Simmons

E. Denise Simmons has spent a lifetime in service to Cambridge. Now in her 13th term on the City Council – which includes three terms as Mayor – she has shaped the civic life of this city for more than three decades: as Executive Director of the Cambridge Civic Unity Committee in the 1980s, as a member of the Cambridge School Committee in the 1990s, and as a City Councilor since 2002. 

In 2008, Denise made history as the nation's first Black, openly lesbian mayor – and the first Black female mayor in Massachusetts. As Mayor, she opened the doors of City Hall in ways Cambridge had not seen before: weekly walk-in hours for constituents, the Mayor’s Parlor made available for public celebrations, and a series of community Town Halls – for LGBTQ+ residents, renters, and senior citizens – designed so that people could speak directly to their civic leaders, not simply be spoken to. She has continued convening these forums well beyond her time in the Mayor’s office. 

On the Council, Denise has fought for ordinance changes that deliver real wage fairness for City janitors and custodians – because the standard a city sets for its own workforce signals what it expects of every employer in town. As Chair of the Civic Unity Committee, she has anchored an ongoing civic dialogue about fairness, equity, and respect – both in the workplace and across the community. That commitment led her to advance legislation establishing an American Freedmen Commission and to open pathways for women and minority entrepreneurs to launch and profit from their own recreational cannabis dispensaries. As Chair of the Housing Committee, she led the successful push to triple the fees that developers must pay toward affordable housing, double the mandatory affordable units required in new developments, and pass the Citywide Affordable Housing Overlay zoning ordinance. Expanding the supply of affordable housing – and making sure Cambridge residents can actually access it – remains central to everything she does on the Council. 

Denise has also been a strong, persistent voice for Cambridge’s seniors, working to protect funding for meal programs and essential services at a time when federal and state cuts threaten the safety net that older residents depend on. She has pushed for expanded outreach, stronger coordination among city agencies, and a greater role for seniors themselves in shaping the policies that affect their daily lives. 

Beyond policy, Denise invests directly in people. She founded the Cambridge Girls Leadership Group, known as G.O.L.D., a mentorship program that gives 8th and 9th grade girls the confidence and skills to thrive in high school and beyond. She is also working to establish a permanent Cambridge History Museum, and she continues connecting residents with resources on how to most effectively search for affordable housing.

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