Charles Claudio Simpkins graduated magna cum laude with a BA in philosophy from the City College of New York in 2006. Upon graduation he was bestowed the Joseph H. Flom Award for Academic Excellence, the highest award given to a City College graduating senior. In 2005 he was selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholar for his commitment to public service. He was also a Jeannette K. Watson Fellow. During college he interned with The Conference Board, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institute of International Education in Budapest, Hungary, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice.

In 2004 he attended both the Democratic and Republican National Convention. He regularly volunteered with the New York Urban Debate League—an organization which forms policy debate teams in underprivileged high schools. In 2003 he traveled to Havana, Cuba to study Cuban political philosophy. He is now pursuing his JD at Harvard Law School. He spent his first summer working on race and gender discrimination in employment as a litigation associate at civil rights scion Julius Chambers’ firm in Charlotte, NC. He now works as a summer associate at New York firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, LLP.

Claudio had been an active volunteer on the Mike Huckabee for President campaign and worked in Iowa and New Hampshire. He is now active in the John McCain for President campaign.