Simon was the first CRO (Chief Resilience Officer) Lagos State (pop. 23m), Nigeria and the Team Leader of the Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO), Lagos State Government. This position was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100RC programme; helping Lagos survive, adapt and grow despite shocks and stresses. He delivered the Preliminary Resilience Assessment (PRA) for Lagos in May 2019.

Simon co-founded the Nigeria Resilient Cities Network (NRCN) in 2016, as a Nigeria-registered NGO forpromoting city resilience and urban governance reform in Nigeria; a network of Nigerian city networks. He champions two key innovations; i) Public-Private-People Partnerships; 4P Urban Governance Model,which bridges the gap between formal and informal land and housing markets in Nigeria, and ii) Viral Mass Housing; self-build housing as a mechanism to meet Nigeria’s affordable housing needs.

Simon has worked for over 10 years as an urban development planner with community, government and international organisations in UK, Australia, and Nigeria. He has a deep understanding of livelihoods, resilience, governance, and engagement: supporting people and communities to support themselves.