Get to know Michelle

Founder of RootedNSoul, Michelle Jones Simms is a change agent dedicated to identifying and building partnerships with organizations that share her vision of creating economic and equitable opportunities that push for culture change in communities of color.

Michelle’s drive to create a hub for wellness and social change developed during the global pandemic. After navigating many life transitions, Michelle paused and re-examined what family, career, and happiness meant to her. In turn, she reconnected with her love for nature, plants, and other holistic forms of healing to identify new self-practices, rituals, and remedies that could nurture her mind, body, and soul. This inspiration led Michelle to explore entrepreneurship and ways she could be more intentional with the companies she worked with, as well as how she could give back what she learned to her community. From this birth, RootedNSoul LLC.

Michelle has a proven record of leading cultural strategies and solutions around diversity, equity, and inclusion for national non-profits, start-ups, and academic institutions. In the past, she’s developed, spearheaded, and produced special programs, initiatives, and events for the Children’s Defense Fund California, The Riordan Programs at UCLA Anderson School, and TIME’S UP. 

Michelle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master’s degree in Counseling from Hampton University.