Eric Harris was born in Berkeley, California and grew up in Sacramento. He was born with left congenital hip dislocation, which gave him nerve damage in his left leg, right foot and right ankle. He had a number of surgeries growing up. He spent countless days at Stanford Children's Hospital and Shriners Hospital for surgeries and for new braces, which helped him walk.

Growing up, Mr. Harris played any sport that he could, including baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, and flag football.  He played competitively with his younger brother, Martin, and their friends. While in high school, Mr. Harris found wheelchair basketball and his life changed. He joined the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) in Berkeley, California, where he played on one of the most competitive high school basketball teams in the country. As a 15 year old, Mr. Harris took the train to Berkeley from Sacramento every weekend to practice with his teammates and spend as much time with them as he could.  During the week, he would practice at Sacramento City College with a local adult team.  In his first season, Mr. Harris and the BORP Bay Cruisers went undefeated until the National Championship game in Philadelphia, PA. They would lose that game, but came back the next season more determined.  

In 2004, Mr. Harris and BORP won the National Championship game, the first in the programs history.  He was recruited to play in college and chose to attend the University of Arizona on a wheelchair basketball scholarship. Mr. Harris was selected as a member of the Under 20 USA Wheelchair Basketball Team that played in Brisbane, Australia. His team won the international championship, and he was selected as an all tournament team member.  

Mr. Harris continued to play wheelchair basketball after college with the Golden State Road Warriors and is proud that he was one of the founding members of the Sacramento Rollin Kings. Mr. Harris was voted on by his teammates to be a captain on nearly every team that he played on. He also played wheelchair softball with the San Francisco Wheelchair Giants. Mr. Harris is passionate about adaptive sports and believes that they have the best athletes in the world.

While in college, Mr. Harris focused on public policy and worked for United States Representative Barbara Lee (CA). While in Washington, he worked on policies relating to athletes with disabilities in school. After his experience in Washington, Mr. Harris attended the University of Oregon School of Law. In 2012, Mr. Harris worked at the Democratic National Committee and worked on general policy for the western region and disability policy throughout the country. He spoke to the college democrats at the Democratic National Committee in Charlotte, North Carolina about issues impacting students with disabilities. The next year, he interned at the American Association for People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C.    

Mr. Harris returned to California and worked as a campaign staffer for U.S. Representative Barbara Lee in Oakland and as a staffer for Sacramento City Councilmember Allen Warren. He then worked for the California State NAACP as their only legislative advocate working at the state level. He started to work at Disability Rights California in 2019 as a legislative advocate. He worked in the Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement Unit as a Special Advisor with Tho Vinh Banh from October 2020 to February 2021.  

Mr. Harris has done community work with disability leaders, community members and elected officials throughout the country.  He is a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and attends Bayside Midtown Church in Sacramento, California. Mr. Harris is a member of the State Independent Living Council as a Governor Newsom appointee, and a board member of the Resources for Independent Living in Sacramento.  

Mr. Harris's parents, Mark and Mari, are professors at the University of California at Merced. They also host a radio show called the Family Matters Forum on 97.5 FM KDEE in Sacramento.  His brother is a graduate from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a former college basketball player at UC Merced as well as a wheelchair basketball coach.  

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