Maria Simon
Chief General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Maria Simon is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, managing legal affairs, coordinating Board governance, and overseeing corporate and regulatory compliance. Maria brings a lifetime of experience to Catholic Charities, having spent over 18 years as in-house counsel with The Art Institute of Chicago, which encompasses both a world-renowned art museum and a nationally recognized art and design school. Before her Art Institute role, Maria spent 10 years as a federal government litigator, first with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and later with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. Maria began her legal career with clerkships for the Honorable David J. Tatel and the Honorable Abner J. Mikva on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and later served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. Maria earned her JD from Columbia University Law School and her BA from Harvard University.