KEVIN F. ADLER is an award-winning social entrepreneur, bestselling author, and street sociologist whose work explores how relational repair can reshape homelessness, strengthen communities, and heal a fractured society.
Adler is the founder and board chair of Miracle Messages, a nonprofit that has reunited more than 1,100 unhoused neighbors with loved ones, pioneered volunteer-based social support models, and launched one of the nation’s first randomized controlled trials of guaranteed income for people experiencing homelessness—a $2.1 million study led by researchers at USC and supported by Google.org.
Adler is the author of When We Walk By, which Publishers Weekly called “a must-read for anyone interested in solving the problem of homelessness,” and Natural Disasters as a Catalyst for Social Capital, which examines how shared trauma can either fracture communities or strengthen them. His writing, research, and advocacy have been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, and PBS NewsHour, and have reached tens of millions of people through storytelling campaigns, viral videos, and his TED Talk.
A sought-after speaker, Adler has presented at TED, South by Southwest, The Commonwealth Club, Google, Clovis Community College, Harvard, and the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services. He has been recognized as a TED Resident, Presidential Leadership Scholar, American Express / Ashoka Emerging Innovator, Occidental College’s 2018 Young Alumnus of the Year, and a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, for which he served one year in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Adler is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and holds graduate degrees from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and the University of Cambridge. Inspired by his late mother’s work in adult education and his late uncle’s decades on the streets, he believes in a future where everyone is seen as invaluable and connected.
Random Tidbits
Had a small speaking role in a Sundance-award winning film.
Uses his middle initial "F" to honor his beloved mom, Joan Farrington, who passed away in 2008 after a hard-fought battle with breast cancer.
Has never tried coffee.
Once was featured in Teen Vogue, but not for being in a dreamy boy band.
Once made Gayle King cry ("a little").
When he was 12, he felt like something was missing in his life, and asked his family to visit local churches. This led to his Christian faith.
His great-grandfather changed the family name from Orzeł (Polish for eagle) to Adler (German equivalent) upon his arrival in America at the turn of the 20th century.
Once had a 20-minute chat with John Cleese, and had no idea who he was. Gems included “Are you British?” and KFA: “What do you do?” JC: “I’m an actor.” KFA: “Me too! I was in The Importance of Being Earnest in high school…”