• Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society’s Teacher Training Program (2025-2028)*

• The Courage Fund Award**

• Director’s Residency Fellowship/Visiting Scholar, The Collegeville Institute

• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher Training Program at Brown University***

*Through a rigorous nomination and selection process, Ms. Simmons was invited to join the first cohort of the reconvened Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society Residential Retreat Teacher Training Program, among the most selective and revered lay Dharma teacher formation pathways in the WesternTheravāda tradition. Accepted June 2024; program launched January 2025. https://www.dharma.org/teachers/teacher-training-program

**Ms. Simmons was one of two recipients of the inaugural Courage Fund Award. This biannual award was co-founded by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kamilah Forbes, Salamishah Tillet, Ph.D. and Scheherazade Tillet of A Long Walk Home, Inc., and Ted Bunch and Tony Porter of A Call to Men, Inc. https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/big-ideas/ideas-at-ford/the-courage-fund-with-stephanie-sparkle-edwards-and-aishah-shahidah-simmons/

***Ms. Simmons is part of the first fully funded cohort of 40-individuals in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Training program at Brown University who have a demonstrated track record of serving historically marginalized communities in the Mindfulness field.

• Indigenous Tools for Living Training, Certificate of Completion

• The Garden Initiative for Black Women’s Religious Activism’s Mentorship Program

• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Certificate of Completion of 8-week course

• Visiting Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, Morgan State University

• Spider Weave Flow Fund of the Kindle Project

• Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Authorization in partnership with Sounds True and the University of California’s Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley

• Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness and Advanced Trauma Sensitive Minfulness Certification

• Philadelphia High School for Girls Distinguished Daughters Induction

• Inaugural Unicorn Authors’ Changemaker Authors Cohort

• “love WITH accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse” wins a Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ Anthology

• Soros Media Fellowship*

• The Power of Awareness Certificate from the Awareness Training Institute in association with the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley

*In Fall 2020, Ms. Simmons was one of 19 Soros Media and Justice Fellows selected from a pool of 500 applicants.

• Breakthrough U.S. - Activist Impact Award

• Gloria E. Anzaldúa Award for Independent Scholars, Contingent or Community College Faculty (American Studies Association’s Committee on Gender and Sexuality Studies)

• Visiting Scholar, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania (2018-2020)

• Black Women’s Blueprint Human Rights Defender Award

• 36th Annual Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship, Metropolitan State University of Denver

• Affiliate, The Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse (2016-2020)

• Visiting Scholar, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania (2016-2018)

• Attendee, the first "United State of Women" White House Summit

• Just Beginning Collaborative, NoVo Fellowship (2016-2019)

• Sterling Brown ’22 Visiting Professor of Africana Studies, Williams College

• Erma Taylor O’Brien Distinguished Guest Professorship, Scripps College

• Co-Recipient, with Staceyann Chinn and Fadzai Muparutsa (Coalition of African Lesbians), Black Women’s Blueprint’s Revolutionary Women Speaking the Unspeakable Award

• Contingent Faculty, Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Temple University (2012-2015)

• NO! The Rape Documentary included in Ford Foundation’s JustFilms online archive

• Artist-in-Residence, Emporia State University

• Co-Recipient, with Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Scarritt-Bennett Center’s Ann L. Reskovac Courage Award

• Artist-in-Residence, Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, and Visiting Lecturer, Department of Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago

• Eighth Annual Philadelphia Black Gay Pride’s “Legend Award”

• India International Women’s Film Festival “Best Documentary Award”

• Institute on Domestic Violence In the African-American Community’s “Media Award

• International Federation of Black Prides Award

• NO! designated as the Featured Event during the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s 2007 National Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign

• San Diego Women’s Film Festival “Audience Choice Award” and “Juried Award”DC Rape Crisis Center's Visionary Award

• National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s 2006 National Award for Outstanding Response to End Prevention of Sexual Violence

• Ford Foundation educational marketing and international distribution grant

• World Premiere of NO! The Rape Documentary at the 2006 Pan African Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)

• Leeway Foundation Transformation Award*

• Valentine Foundation Post Production Grant

• Artist-in-Residence, Digital Moving Image Salon, Women’s Research and Resource Center, Spelman College

• ASTRAEA Foundation Interim Grant

*In December 2005, Ms. Simmons was one of twelve women from a pool of over 200 to receive the Leeway Foundation’s Transformation Award recognizing her work using video as a tool for community transformation.

• NO! The Rape Documentary Rough Cut received “Special Mention,” Documentary Section, Long Form, 16th Annual Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival

• Gloria Steinem Fund of the Ms. Foundation for Women

• Prince George’s County (Maryland) Sheriff’s Department Discretionary Grant

• Prince George’s County (Maryland) Council Discretionary Grant

• Amnesty International Women’s Human Rights Program Discretionary Grant

• Denver Pan African Film Festival “Soul Spirit” Award

• Barnard/Columbia Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center’s “Voices of Courage” Award

• Rockefeller Foundation Artist’s Fellowship nominee

• Open Meadows Foundation Post Production Grant

• Valentine Foundation Post Production Grant

• Women’s Way Discretionary Grant

• Bread and Roses Community Fund’s Discretionary Grant

• Cercle des Libres Penseurs de Bruxelles (Belgium) Discretionary Grant

• Groupe du 6 novembre (France) Discretionary Grant

• Bread and Roses Community Fund’s Donor Advised Post Production Grant

• Women’s Way Discretionary Grant

• Pennsylvania National Organization for Women Discretionary Grant

• Valentine Foundation Production Grant

• Delaware Legacy Valley Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation Post Production Grant

• Women’s Way Discretionary Grant

• Bread and Roses Community Fund’s Waters Award for Intergenerational Activism

• Funding Exchange Donor Advised Production Grant

• Valentine Foundation Production Grant

• Bread and Roses Community Fund’s Donor Advised Production Grant

• Rockefeller Foundation Artist’s Fellowship nominee

• ASTRAEA Foundation Production Grant

• Valentine Foundation Research and Development Grant

• NAACP (Philadelphia Chapter) Exemplary Citizen Award

• Audre Lorde Legacy Award of the Union Institute Center for Women

• Finalist, Roy W. Dean Grant of Studio, Film & Tape, Inc.

• Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Discretionary Grant

• ASTRAEA Foundation Pre-Production Grant

• Atlantic City Black Film Festival “Filmmaker” Award

• Philadelphia Gay Pride Grand Marshall Award

• International Election Observer (as part of the American Friends Service Committee’s Delegation) of the first “free and fair” elections in South Africa

• Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association Subsidy Award

• Scribe Video Center Subsidy Grant