KPMG LLP has appointed Michele Meyer-Shipp, an accomplished executive and attorney with significant experience in inclusion strategy and employment law, as Chief Diversity Officer. She succeeds Sue Townsen, who returns full-time to the firm’s Advisory practice.
Meyer-Shipp, who joins as a principal, will lead the national Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) team and oversee its strategy and objectives, including growing diverse leaders and collaboration; inspiring broad perspectives and innovative client solutions; and fostering an inclusive, accessible, and vibrant workplace. She will work closely with KPMG’s leadership teams to advance its inclusive and diverse culture, which has earned the firm recognition as a top workplace by FORTUNE magazine, Fair360, formerly DiversityInc, Working Mother, and The Human Rights Campaign.
“Companies with inclusive and diverse cultures are better positioned to adapt, grow, and thrive — and we take great pride in embedding these values into our programs and actions,” said Darren Burton, KPMG’s Vice Chair of Human Resources. “Our national diversity networks engage nearly half of our 30,000 people in professional development, mentoring relationships, and community service activities. Michele’s skills and experience will help us continue to enhance our efforts to recruit, develop, and retain diverse talent.”
Meyer-Shipp comes to KPMG from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she served as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. She led the deployment of a firmwide diversity strategy, including building out infrastructure and ensuring that the firm’s foundational principles of inclusiveness and diversity were reflected in all of its policies, work, and practices.
She also previously worked at Prudential Financial, initially as Vice President and Counsel and then as Chief Diversity Officer.
She earned her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. She has been a member of various diversity-focused boards and professional organizations, including Twitter’s Inclusion Advisory Council, Working Mother Media’s Multicultural Women’s Advisory Board, the National Organization on Disability Board, and the Center for Talent Innovation Diversity and Inclusion Council.
