Bemetra Simmons
About
Members of the Atlanta Fed’s boards of directors play a critical role in helping to formulate monetary policy, and they act as a link between the Federal Reserve and the community. Head office directors also oversee the general management of the Reserve Bank and its branches. The Sixth District’s 44 board members are business and community leaders representing a broad mix of industries and economic sectors. They come from local, regional, and global organizations headquartered across our region.
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Biography
Bemetra Simmons
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tampa Bay Partnership
Tampa, Florida
Appointed: January 2025
Term expires: December 31, 2027
Bemetra Simmons has served as president and chief executive officer of Tampa Bay Partnership in Tampa, Florida, since September 1, 2021. The Tampa Bay Partnership is a coalition of regional business and nonprofit leaders designed to improve the civic quality and economic well-being of the residents of Tampa Bay. Ms. Simmons’s extensive network and relationships throughout the eight-county Tampa Bay region, the state, and the country have informed her successes in convening and activating decision-makers to propel solutions for the area’s greatest needs, including workforce development, education, transportation, and housing affordability.
Ms. Simmons previously served as the chief strategy and operations officer for United Way Suncoast from 2020 to 2021, and she has held leadership and executive leadership roles at Mutual of Omaha Bank, Wells Fargo, and BB&T.
She is a member of the board of directors of the Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She is active in the Tampa Bay community and currently serves on several boards, including the board of trustees for St. Leo University, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, and Visit Tampa Bay. Ms. Simmons is a Leadership Tampa graduate and a member of Leadership Florida Cornerstone Class XXXVIII. She was named as one of the “Most Admired CEOs” in 2025 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and has also been recognized as a 2024 Women of Distinction Honoree by the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. In addition, she is listed as one of the Florida 500 by Florida Trend and is also a member of Delta Signa Theta Sorority Inc.
Ms. Simmons received a BS in business administration from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, and an MBA from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.