Simone Marstiller, J.D., is an accomplished jurist, executive, attorney, and public servant who has held prominent leadership roles in Florida’s judicial and executive branches.
Her distinguished career includes six years as an appellate judge Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. During her tenure on the court, she was appointed to serve on the District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountability Commission and as vice chair of the District Court of Appeal Budget Commission, helping lead adoption of a new collaborative approach to managing and allocating budget resources equitably among the state’s district courts.
In Florida’s executive branch, Simone served as Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the state’s chief healthcare policy and planning agency. There, she oversaw Florida’s $38 billion Medicaid program—serving approximately 5.6 million Floridians primarily through contracted managed care organizations—and advanced initiatives to improve quality, cost-efficiency, and transparency across the state’s healthcare system.
Before leading AHCA, Simone served as Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice. She directed the department’s continuum of prevention, detention, education, rehabilitation, and probation services for youth involved in—or at risk of entering—the juvenile justice system. She also implemented detention-policy reforms to better protect children in the department’s care, which were upheld in subsequent federal class action litigation.
Simone’s other executive leadership roles include Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation; Interim Secretary of the Department of Management Services (DMS); State Chief Information Officer; Associate Deputy Attorney General; and Executive Director of the Florida Elections Commission.
Her legal experience spans both the public and private sectors. In government, she served as Assistant General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor; General Counsel for DMS; and Chief Appellate Counsel for AHCA. In private practice, she was Of Counsel with the Gunster Firm for several years in its Healthcare, Government Affairs, and Appellate practice groups.
A member of Leadership Florida Cornerstone Class 21, Simone is also a graduate of the Council of State Governments, Southern Regional Conference, Center for Advanced Leadership Skills Program. In 2022, she was named among City & State Florida’s “Florida Health Care Power 100” and “Florida Women Power 100.”
Born in Monrovia, Liberia, Simone grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1988 from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996 from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.