OUR ORIGIN STORY
In 2011, 14-year-old Nadia Hilton-Adams, a Junior USTA and high school all-region tennis player, won Maria Sharapova’s "Use Your Instinct" essay contest, sponsored by Tennis Channel & Head Racquet Sports. Her prize was a half-day visit and hitting session in Greenville, SC, where Maria traveled to meet her.
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Tennis Channel captured the moment as Nadia, joined by two friends, stepped onto the court with the the grand slam champion. But for Nadia, the experience meant more than just winning. She wanted to thank Maria in the best way she knew how—by giving back.
Between schoolwork, practice and tournaments, Nadia spent the 6 months leading up to Maria’s scheduled arrival leading a fundraiser where she raised $12,000 for Sharapova’s favorite charity.
Shortly after, Nadia worked with local leaders to provide free monthly fitness and self-esteem programs at 4 Upstate SC community centers. In 2014, Nadia accepted a full NCAA Div 1 athletic scholarship at NC A&T State University, where she helped lead the women’s tennis team to winning seasons and back-to-back MEAC Championship invitations but even while balancing college and athletics, Nadia stayed committed to service—working summers as a Nike Tennis Camp Lead Instructor in Florida while hosting free week-long tennis camps in Upstate SC.
By 2016, Power is Giving was officially formed—and today, it continues to serve communities that need it most, carrying forward a mission built on access, wellness and the power of giving.
OUR STRATEGIC PILLARS
​​​1. Culturally Resonant Whole Food, Plant-Based Lifestyle Education
Deliver physician-led, evidence-based whole food, plant-based lifestyle education that addresses the prevention, arrest, and reversal of lifestyle-driven chronic illness. Programs include practical tools, recipes, and resources that make this lifestyle accessible, culturally relevant, and community-trusted.
2. Equity in Access and Delivery
Dismantle systemic barriers by ensuring all programs are free of charge, held in trusted community spaces, and paired with culturally appropriate nutrition and resources. This makes optimal wellness attainable for historically underserved and systemically disenfranchised communities.
3. Expertise with Shared Lived Experience
Engage physicians, chefs, nutrition professionals, and subject matter experts who combine professional expertise with shared lived experiences of the communities we primarily serve, ensuring trust, cultural resonance, and credibility.
4. Intergenerational Wellness and Empowerment
Address childhood obesity through mentorship, movement, and nutrition education for youth ages 5–17, while equipping families and adults with physician-led, whole food, plant-based interventions to sustain health equity across generations.
OUR WHY
Food is Medicine...
Nearly 80% of premature deaths from chronic illness can be prevented through diet and lifestyle. Yet in the U.S., far too many communities are denied access to the fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds that sustain life and prevent disease.
While grocery stores in affluent areas overflow with fresh options, systemic inequities force historically underserved and systemically disenfranchised communities to rely heavily on fast food and processed products that fuel illness.
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Nearly 39.5 million Americans live in low-income, limited-access food areas, a reality that disproportionately impacts those already burdened by lifestyle-driven chronic illness. This is food apartheid -a systemic injustice that restricts access to affordable, health-promoting nutrition.
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Power is Giving’s Charlotte-based programs dismantle these barriers by equipping communities with the knowledge, access, and culturally resonant resources needed to embrace an optimal wellness lifestyle.
Even where access is inadequate and inequitable, we help equip communities with tools, tips, and resources that support the prevention, arrest, and reversal of lifestyle-driven chronic illnesses.
Unlike other popular, trendy diets, a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle is the only one proven to prevent, arrest and reverse lifestyle-driven chronic disease:
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OTHER BENEFITS
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High fiber, low caloric and nutrient-rich
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Lowers inflammation, cholesterol and blood sugar
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Promotes healthy weight management and longevity
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Improves immune function and lowers risk of colds & flus
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Improves sleep, mood and mental clarity
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Prevents and halts the progression of numerous autoimmune diseases
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Prevents, arrests and reverses heart disease and type 2 diabetes
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Prevents and reverses erectile dysfunction
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Under MD’s instruction and supervision, may mitigate the need for many medications
PROGRAM DO'S AND DONT'S
Power is Giving provides evidence-driven, whole food, plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle education, not clinical care or medical treatment.
Instead, we focus on increasing access to culturally resonant WFPB lifestyle education through free programs that support the prevention, arrest and reversal of lifestyle-driven chronic illnesses disproportionately impacting members of underserved communities in Charlotte, NC area.
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While we plan to conduct case studies in the future, our current feedback is based on voluntarily shared participant testimonials as well as pre and post program surveys.
All of our programs are led by certified physicians, culinary experts, nutrition professionals, and subject matter specialists.
