Merritt Simon

Prior to joining BGS, Ms. Simon worked as a research analyst at the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies where she analyzed links between transnational organized crime networks and terrorism in Latin America. Ms. Simon previously spent a summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she worked for a local political consultancy firm, performing economic and geopolitical risk analysis for multinational corporations investing in Argentina.

Before moving to Washington D.C., Ms. Simon worked as a Capital Markets and Compliance Analyst at Equity International, a Chicago-based private equity firm investing in real estate platforms in emerging markets. Ms. Simon performed market analysis on a variety of real estate sectors and regions and managed anti-corruption and anti-money laundering compliance for several portfolio companies based in Latin America and Asia.

Ms. Simon graduated with General Honors from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. In 2018, she received her M.A. in International Economics and Latin American Studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). During her time at SAIS, Ms. Simon served on the Board of Global Women in Leadership and helped launch SAIS Europe’s inaugural Women in Peace and Security event.