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In 1982, Simon was elected president of Makivik Corp., created to administer the funds the Inuit received from development of their lands. The organization now manages tens of millions of dollars in investments, including an ownership stake in Canadian North, a major air carrier in the Arctic.

She would later join the executive council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, now called the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), a non-governmental organization representing approximately 180,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia.

At the ICC, she championed two priorities for Indigenous Peoples of the north: protecting their way of life from environmental damage and pushing for responsible economic development on their traditional territory.

Beginning in 2006, Simon served two terms as president of the ITK. In that role, she delivered a response on behalf of Inuit to the formal apology on residential schools presented in the House of Commons in 2008.

In 2012, Simon founded the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, which provides children in Nunavut with physical and mental health supports.

4 things you should know about Canada's first Indigenous governor general | CBC News