Donald R. Bradley was born in Detroit, Michigan at Herman Keefer Hospital. He attended Detroit Public Schools and graduated from Mackenzie High School. As an impressionable adolescent, Donald witnessed one of the golden ages in Detroit’s history with the rise of the automotive industry, the influence of the Motown Sound, and the economic prosperity of the city.

“Too many people are living in the hardship of poverty.
There are too many under-funded plans, unemployed people,
and unfulfilled American dreams of prosperity that have gone unrealized for far too long. We cannot wait for someone to come and rescue us. We have to charter our own steps and map out our own quests.”

Donald’s parents emphasized the importance and power of education and influenced his intense interest in learning. They also instilled in him the basic core principles and values of persistence, perseverance, and an unyielding belief in attaining personal goals. He excelled in the sciences, attended Wayne State University, and received his medical degree from Wayne State School of Medicine.

Over the next 25 years Donald enjoyed the fruits of a successful practice, delivering over 5,000 babies while engaging in Obstetrics/Gynecology healthcare administrative policy through his involvement in grassroots community outreach initiatives and leadership positions.

Donald is proud of the city of Detroit and the hard-working, resilient attitude of its people. However, in the spring of 2006, his feelings of pride were tested. After reading about the response time delays for emergency medical services within the City of Detroit, Donald experienced, first-hand, the devastation of an untimely response for emergency services when a family member suffered a heart attack and died. In 2008, Donald endured another family tragedy when his fifteen-year-old cousin was gunned down on the streets of Detroit. Donald’s experiences refocused his resilience and perseverance into a new direction for himself and for his city.