As Deputy Assistant Secretary, Ms. Adams provides strategic advice and guidance to the OPIA Assistant Secretary, Secretary, Undersecretaries for Health, Benefits and Memorial Affairs, and all other VA staff offices by fostering and enhancing government partnerships and acting as liaison between VA and the White House, federal, state, county, municipal, tribal, insular and international governments, rural and faith-based communities.
Prior to being named Deputy Assistant Secretary, Ms. Adams served as Director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from June 2019 thru December 2022. She was the first woman Veteran in Michigan history to be appointed to a governor’s cabinet position.
In 2006, after eight years of enlisted service in the U.S. Army, National Guard and Reserve, Adams was medically discharged with honor. During her time in the military, Adams served as a Joint Counter Narcotics Task Force Agent for the National Guard. Prior to her appointment to the MVAA, she was an attorney at Williams Hughes PLLC, assisting Veterans with compensation and pension appeals.
Adams has consistently demonstrated leadership through service and board membership. She is the former President and founded WINC For All Women Veterans. She recently served on the advisory board for Fisher House Michigan and as a board member for the USS Silversides Submarine Museum, Mercy Health Physician Partners and Challenge America. She was also an appointed member of the VA’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Workgroup.
In 2021, Adams was named a Women Veteran Trailblazer by the VA’s Center for Women Veterans. She also recently told her story for a VA’s Million Veteran Program documentary, which was recently submitted for a regional Emmy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia College and a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan Cooley Law School, where she also taught veterans’ law as an adjunct professor. She has been married to Joseph Adams, an Army Veteran for over 23 years and has 6 children (including 2 sets of twins).
