Carol Adams

As a police officer, advocate, and survivor, Carol Adams is a true Game Changer. Her personal experience with domestic violence drove her decision 30 years ago to join law enforcement to protect families and hold offenders accountable. When she was a teenager, Ms. Adams’ father killed her mother after years of escalating violence and an ineffectual response by law enforcement. Ms. Adams knew what survivors needed from law enforcement and knew she could make a difference in their lives.

In 2014, recognizing that survivors’ needs extend far beyond a criminal justice response, she established the Carol Adams Foundation to provide emergency assistance to adult and child victims of domestic violence. The foundation not only helps survivors secure transitional housing and supplies them with food and basic household goods, it provides them with emotional support and connects them to counseling and job placement services.

In addition to her work as a police officer and direct service provider, Ms. Adams is a nationally renowned expert and trainer on domestic violence. She has trained law enforcement, prosecutors, and multidisciplinary professionals across the United States and the Virgin Islands. Ms. Adams has worked as a consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).

This work is her life’s mission – to ensure survivors get the care and holistic help they deserve. Carol Adams tells law enforcement, “The number one priority is to be a human being – to make survivors feel comfortable and to feel safe and to be there for them.”