Barbara Adolf, Ph.D.

Barbara P. Adolf is a management consultant who has been in the forefront of HR innovation for more than 20 years. She helps employers design and implement strategies to recruit, retain, and develop high potential employees, particularly women and people of diverse backgrounds. Her mentoring programs have been recognized for their rigorous achievement of corporate goals. She conducts manager and employee training on leadership, communication skills, and work/life balance, among other topics. Aspects of her work include research, program development, coaching, and facilitating high performance teams.

Over the years, Barbara has consulted to nearly 100 organizations, including Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies, in a wide range of fields. Examples are: American Building Maintenance, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, Brookstone, DesGrippes Gob‚, MDU Resources, Morgan Stanley, New York Public Library, Pfizer, Towers Perrin and The Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Prior to 1996, Barbara held leadership positions at large consulting firms, including Buck Consultants, Towers Perrin, and Kwasha Lipton. At Buck, she created the first work and family consulting practice at a major consulting firm. She has testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on employer eldercare concerns, consulted to the Business Roundtable (an association of the top 100 CEOs in the U.S.) on their first Child Care Symposium, and hosted a delegation from Korea on issues of working women.

Barbara co-authored the seminal book, The Employer's Guide to Child Care (Praeger, 1985, 1988) and authored articles for journals including Government Finance Review, The Journal of Compensation and Benefits and The Trusted Professional (NYSICPA). She has been quoted in publications such as Working Woman and HR Magazine, has presented to numerous professional organizations, including the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and North American Congress of Employee Assistance Plans, and has appeared on radio and TV.

Barbara received a Bachelor's Degree from Cornell University and a Masters in Education from Bank Street College. She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS). Among her professional affiliations are HRNY, in which she chairs the Women's Issues Special Interest Group, American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP). She is also a founding member of the Alliance for Work-Life Progress.