Brent Adams

Brent Adams has been a licensed attorney since 1997 and has experience as a litigator, lobbyist, political organizer, teacher, and policy advocate. He began his career as a litigator for one of Chicago’s largest law firms. In 2002, he pursued his passion for nonprofit advocacy and became a policy associate for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and later became the Policy Director for Citizen Action/Illinois. At Citizen Action, he authored the Payday Loan Reform Act of 2005. In 2009, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed him the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation. In that capacity, Brent served as the State’s top regulator, overseeing most of the state’s professions.

In 2016, he joined Woodstock Institute and is currently its Senior Vice President of Policy & Communication. Brent is one of the State’s top advocates and experts in consumer financial reform. He is one of the leading architects of the Predatory Loan Prevention Act, which set a 36% cap on consumer loans in Illinois, and the state Community Reinvestment Act, which requires state banks, credit unions, and nonbank mortgage companies to invest in, serve, and lend to lower income communities. In 2021, he received a proclamation from the Illinois State Senate for “his exceptional career fighting on behalf of Illinoisans.” Brent received his B.S. and M.A. in Rhetoric from Northwestern University, and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.