People

Kayla Y. Lim joined the Simons Foundation in 2025 as a program coordinator for the Science, Society & Culture division. She manages the strategic planning and execution of the division’s Presidential Lecture series, which aims to foster discourse, discovery and a sense…

Karsen McCord joined the Simons Foundation in 2026 as a program coordinator for the Science, Society, & Culture (SSC) division. She supports program development and grantmaking for the division from proposal review to due diligence and general grants administration. She also assists…

Ivvet Modinou has been working in public engagement with science for over two decades. In her role as Senior Vice President of Science, Society & Culture, she leads public engagement for the Simons Foundation, including strategic oversight of Science Sandbox, a flagship…

Elizabeth Simolke joined the Simons Foundation in 2019 as the outreach coordinator for the President’s Office, and transitioned to the Science, Society & Culture team in 2021.

Rachel Stram joined the Simons Foundation in 2025 as an administrative specialist for the Science, Society & Culture division. She previously managed human resources and administrative functions at an international research lab at Boston College. Additionally, she has experience working across the…

John Tracey joined the Simons Foundation in 2014 as part of a team to improve public engagement with science. As program director, Tracey works with the senior vice president of Science, Society & Culture to develop and execute funding strategy.

Kelsa Trom is a senior program manager who oversees special initiatives to support Science, Society & Culture awardees’ boundary-breaking work – and to propel new creative projects.