Dr. Lynnette Adams is a behavioral and leadership scientist and visionary educator, bold entrepreneur, and joy-centered thought leader who believes in the radical, transformative power of joy in leadership spaces. She is the CEO of The Joy Architect™ and the Founder of The Joy Lab Inc., two arms of a vibrant ecosystem designed to heal, inspire, and reimagine how we lead and live.

​

As The Joy Architect™, Lynnette designs systems that breathe life into people and organizations. Through
personalized coaching, immersive retreats, and soulful strategy, she helps leaders move through burnout,
reconnect to purpose, and build cultures where joy isn’t an afterthought — it’s the standard. She doesn’t
believe joy is reserved for the rich, the powerful, or the already successful. Joy is a right not a reward.

​

That belief fuels The Joy Lab Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit., her nonprofit arm, which brings joy to
communities through accessible programs, healing-centered leadership development, and restorative spaces
that prioritize connection and belonging. Together, The Joy Architect and The Joy Lab Inc form a powerful,
people-centered ecosystem where joy becomes the foundation, the fuel, and the future.

​

Success has always walked beside Lynnette — but her purpose has always walked ahead. At 43, she
made the bold decision to enroll in the PhD program in Global Leadership and Change at Pepperdine
University’s School of Education. Not because she had something to prove, but because she had something to
build. Her desire to lead with vision was shaped in childhood by her mother, who modeled the sacred rhythm
of philanthropy and service. Lynnette learned that giving wasn’t just about money it was about time,
presence, and heart. That belief in service-through-action became the foundation of her leadership.

​

In 2025, amid a politically charged and deeply polarizing year, Lynnette was balancing her roles as a scholar,
a speaker, and an adjunct professor at the University of Denver, where she teaches in the Nonprofit
Leadership program in the College of Professional Studies. At the time, she also served as Director of
Development at a small nonprofit research institution. When that role unexpectedly ended in March, Lynnette
chose not to retreat — she chose to realign.

​

Still teaching and leading with integrity, she saw the shift not as a loss, but as an invitation. An opportunity to
step more fully into community, into her voice, and into the joyful leadership movement she was born to lead.

Lynnette is not just a voice, she's a visionary force shaping the future of leadership and equity, through joy.
She is the creator of The Formula for Joy™, a groundbreaking leadership framework, and the author of “The
Joy Factor,” a peer-reviewed publication in Integrative and Comparative Biology that explores how joy
transforms community connection and scientific culture.

​

In 2024, Lynnette was selected for The 100 Women Pathway, a prestigious leadership program accelerating
diverse women into senior roles in environmental organizations. That same year, she was named a NSF-EPF
Ocean Decade Champion, nationally recognized for her contributions to joyful, justice-centered science
leadership.

​​

Beyond her work, Lynnette champions people, the environment, and education’s power to transform. CITI-trained in human-subjects research, she unites rigorous method with lived experience and community care to build cultures where joy is the standard.

​

A proud Detroit native, Lynnette is deeply rooted in mentorship and service. She serves on the boards of Big
Sisters in Nursing and Illuminate STEM, both aligned with her mission to nurture leadership, equity, and
access. She holds degrees from Eastern Michigan University B.A, Wayne State University MFA, University of Phoenix MBA, and is a graduate of Pepperdine University, where she earned her  PhD in Global Leadership and Change.

​

Now based in Atlanta, Lynnette is on a mission to spread her message across the globe:

Joy isn’t just the outcome   it’s the method, the movement, and the map.

​

​