Marilee Adams, Ph.D. is an award-winning author and pioneer in the fields of inquiry-based coaching, leadership and organizational culture. She is CEO/Founder of the Inquiry Institute, a solutions and performance-focused company providing consulting, coaching, training, keynotes and eLearning. She is an affiliate instructor for Weatherhead Executive Education at Case-Western University and a former Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University in the Key Executive Leadership Program. She is faculty for the Institute for Life Coach Training and Expedition Coaching and an ACC with the International Coach Federation. She is also a Fellow at the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University

Dr. Adams’ published works include books, book chapters, and articles. Her newest book is "Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 12 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching and Results", 4th edition (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2022), along with a first time workbook Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: Mastering Your Mindset Using Question Thinking (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2022). "Change Your Questions, Change Your Life" is an Amazon #1 Bestseller in Learning in Organizations and Business and has sold almost 400,000 copies in 24 languages.

Dr. Adams' other two books are: Teaching that Changes Lives: 12 Mindset Tools for Igniting the Love of Learning (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013) and "The Art of the Question: A Guide to Short-Term Question-Centered Therapy" (John Wiley & Sons, 1998). Her book chapters include “The Practical Primacy of Questions in Action Learning” in Action Learning and Its Applications, Present and Future (2010) and she co-authored, with Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Marge Schiller, “With Our Questions We Make the World” in "Advances in Appreciative Inquiry—Constructive Discourse and Human Organization". She also co-authored with Dr. Cynda Rushton, an article in Advanced Critical Care Nursing entitled "Asking Ourselves and Others the Right Questions: A Vehicle for Understanding, Resolving, and Preventing Conflicts between Clinicians, Patients, and Families."

Dr. Adams works and speaks in the private and public sector, healthcare, education, and professional associations. These include: Georgetown McDonough School of Business; Ameriprise, AREVA, Inc., Booz Allen, Brother Int’l, DHL, DuPont Global, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Merck & Co.; the Federal Reserve Board, the Department of Commerce, the Social Security Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy, FBI, Department of Health & Human Services, NASA Goddard, the National Defense University (NDU), U.S. Departments of Treasury, Homeland Security and Education, Brookings Institution, SUBMEPP Activity, and the Council for Excellence in Government; Princeton University, Harvard University, Kansas State University, Kent State University, Humber University, New York University, George Mason University, Columbia University Teachers College Workplace Learning Institute; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin, Hamilton Health Sciences, and Christiana Care Hospital, Bayada Home Health Care, National Training Laboratory, International Coach Federation (national and local), Tony Robbins coaches, Systems Thinking in Action Conference, Learning Forward, Organizational Development Network, International Coach Federation, Society for Human Resource Management, American Society of Training & Development, the Global Forum for Action Learning.

Prior to 1998, Dr. Adams was a psychotherapist in private practice working with individuals, groups, couples, and families. During that time, she founded and led several public seminar companies.