Ascenso Simões

Ascenso Luís S. Simões was born in Vila Real on May 3, 1963.
He holds the PADE – Senior Management Program for Executives from AESE/IESE, a postgraduate degree in Public Auditing from IDEFF, a postgraduate degree in Public Management from UTAD, a degree in Business Sciences with a specialization in HR Management from ISCET, and a Bachelor's degree in Local Government Administration from ISPP/UP. He was the first president of the Academic Association of this polytechnic institution, a position he also held in the late 1970s and early 1980s at the São Pedro Secondary School – Vila Real.
In the 1980s, he was a professional training agent in the areas of public, municipal, and business accounting. In the following decade, he served as a technical advisor to the mayors of Santa Marta de Penaguião and the Assembly of the Republic. At various times during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, he was a senior technician, consultant, and manager in the areas of networks, environment, and energy. He was also a guest coordinating professor at ISEC.
He currently works as a consultant for international humanitarian organizations of a non-governmental nature (pro bono) and as an Administrator at ERSE (the Portuguese Energy Services Regulatory Authority). With his appointment to regulatory and supervisory roles, all business affiliations ceased on May 10, 2010.
He founded and was president (coordinator) of the District Federation of Socialist Youth (JS) between 1982 and 1987, also performing identical functions in the Socialist Party (PS) from 2001 to 2004. He was a member of the National Secretariat of the JS between 1990 and 1994, and of the National Secretariat of the PS between 2004 and 2010.
He was a member of the Municipal Assembly and a City Councillor from 1983 to 2005.
In 2002, he led the PS (Socialist Party) list of candidates in the Vila Real constituency, and was reconfirmed in the following elections. In these elections, the PS won for the first and only time, securing three out of five parliamentary seats. He served as a Member of Parliament, Secretary of the Bureau, member of the Conference of Leaders of the Assembly of the Republic, and Coordinator of Members of Parliament in the Local Government Committee.
He served as Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Secretary of State for Civil Protection, and Secretary of State for Rural Development and Forests in the XVII Constitutional Government, from 2005 to 2009.
He has been and continues to be a member of international and European groups and commissions in the areas of security and regional development. He also participates in the MIBEL Regulatory Council.
He is a speaker and author of technical books, hundreds of articles and academic texts in the areas of public organization, security and defense, environment and energy. He also has published poetry.