Antonina Simeti

Antonina works on projects aimed at creating new models for inclusive and sustainable economic development. She has spent years successfully leading multi-stakeholder initiatives and designing infrastructure for collaboration, expertise which she now uses to support U3’s growing Anchor Strategy portfolio.

Antonina is trained as an urban planner and has worked with organizations from community-based organizations to public sector agencies and private corporations to cultural and educational institutions. Since 2012, she has been in leadership positions working to launch or to re-launch initiatives including the Western NY Environmental Alliance, Groundwork Buffalo and The NYC Community Learning Schools Initiative. Most recently Antonina served as the inaugural director for the Buffalo Purchasing Initiative where she helped fourteen corporations and institutions in the Buffalo / Niagara region increase the purchase of goods and services from under-represented minority-owned businesses.

Antonina also has experience in design research and strategy, building and campus planning and programming, program and organizational design and public policy research. She launched her own planning consultancy, Timbre Consultants Inc., in 2015.

Antonina brings energy, curiosity and resourcefulness to her work, and thrives in contexts that rely on a diversity of people, activities and skills. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from Tufts University and Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also passionate about food, food culture and food systems, and currently serves as Chair of the Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County.