Eric Adams, MPA was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn NY, earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Marist College, and decided on a life of public-sector service, starting with many years in law enforcement in New York City.  He co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an advocacy group that rose to nationwide prominence addressing issues of police brutality, racial profiling, and departmental diversity.  He served for a time as president of the Grand Council of Guardians, a statewide fraternal society for African-Americans in law enforcement.  He served four terms in the New York State Senate and in 2013 became the first person of color to serve as Brooklyn Borough President.

As Brooklyn Borough President, Eric is now on a mission to tackle one of the most stubborn health problems in the country:  chronic disease in the African American community.  African Americans are heavier and sicker than any other group in the U.S., with nearly half of all Black adults suffering from some form of cardiovascular disease.  After Eric woke up with severe vision loss one day in 2016, along with symptoms of nerve damage in his hands and feet, he learned that he was one of the nearly 5 million Black people living with diabetes -- and, according to his physician, he would have it for the rest of his life.

Having been a police officer for more than two decades, Eric was a connoisseur of the fast-food dollar menu.  Like so many Americans with stressful jobs, the last thing he wanted to think about was eating healthfully.  Fast food was easy, cheap and comfortable.  His diet followed him from the squad car to the state senate, and then to Brooklyn Borough Hall, where it finally caught up with him.  However, Eric was not ready to become a statistic, despite the pessimistic initial recommendations of his physicians.  There was a better option than merely automatic dosing of medication and shots of insulin:  nutritious food and lifestyle change.

Within three months of adopting a whole food plant-based diet, he lost 35 pounds, lowered his cholesterol by 30 points, restored his vision, and reversed his diabetes diagnosis.  He then embraced a mission of health empowerment against chronic diseases, first impacting the well-being of his own mother, and proceeding to reach out not only to fellow residents of the Borough of Brooklyn, but also to African Americans across the country.  He has published the book “Healthy at Last:  A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses”, in an effort to advance public health while donating any profits to charitable causes, and he has become a member of Non-editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention.