david adame

Vice Chairman, AARP Foundation Board of Trustees

David Adam, of Phoenix, Arizona, is President and CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., one of the nation’s largest Hispanic community development corporations.

Since Adame was named to the top job in 2015 by a unanimous vote of CPLC’s Board of Directors, CPLC has experienced significant growth and expansion, reaching more than 378,000 people a year in Arizona, Nevada and in New Mexico.

CPLC, which was established in 1969 to fight injustice in Phoenix schools, provides direct services through economic development, education, housing and health services through its nonprofit enterprises and for profit.

Born and raised just south of downtown Phoenix, Adame is aware of the challenges that Latinos and underserved communities still face in terms of opportunity, education, and equity. Although he has been with CPLC since 2008, serving as COO and CFO before becoming President and CEO, his roots at CPLC run deeper. Adame made his professional debut at CPLC in 1985 after graduating from college, serving for two years as CPLC’s Director of Economic Development before moving on.

Returning to CPLC, Adame built an impressive leadership career in business, non-profit organizations and boards of directors, including an extensive resume in real estate and development projects.

Adame served as Vice President of Arizona Operations for McCormack Baron & Salazar from 2003 to 2008, overseeing the company’s role in Henson Village, a HOPE VI project in Phoenix. Funded in part by a $35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the 611-unit mixed-income/mixed-finance residential development had a total development cost of $150 million.

As senior deputy director of Fannie Mae’s Arizona partnership office from 1997 to 2003, Adame worked in tandem with the director to implement “HouseArizona,” a five-year, $15 billion investment plan for fund affordable housing across the state.

Adame was a program officer in the Phoenix office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), from 1994 to 1997, where he managed the HOMESTART program, a $1 billion affordable housing development project for sale.

He worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (then called Bank One Arizona) for eight years, including as a business banking associate and then as assistant vice president of the Retail Business Loan Center. He was responsible for managing and underwriting residential and commercial loans, before leaving in 2004.

Adame holds a BS in Commerce from Arizona State University (ASU) and an MBA from ASU School of Global Management. He received an honorary doctorate in human letters from the University of Arizona and an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM, or the National Autonomous University of Mexico).

Over the years, Adame has served on numerous boards including: the Greater Phoenix Economic Council; the AARP Foundation; the National Association of Asset Builders of the Latin American Community; the Arizona-Mexico Commission; Maricopa Community College Foundation; UnidosUS; the United States Community Reinvestment Fund; the Phoenix Health Sciences Presidential Advisory Board at Creighton University; and the Arizona Housing Commission.

Recent honors include the Individual Hero of Education Award from the Maricopa Community Colleges and Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation, and the Asian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award. from Arizona.