Major League Baseball has announced Michele Meyer-Shipp as the organization’s new Chief People & Culture Officer.
What We Know:
- Meyer-Shipp, who joins the organization from accounting firm KPMG LLP, where she served as chief diversity and inclusion officer, will oversee all of MLB’s human resources activities. This includes all talent processes and programs, activities focused on workplace culture, and diversity and inclusion within the organization. She will also lead all off-field office operations.
- Meyer-Shipp shared she decided to leave her role at KPMG after two years in a move to continue to grow and develop her career, sharing she is excited to take on this new position and all of its potential challenges. “I will have the opportunity to use all of the skillsets that I have developed over my 25-year career to lead not only Diversity & Inclusion, but also all human resources, culture, and operations activities at the League.”
- While at KPMG, Meyer-Shipp led all firm programs and initiatives relating to diversity and inclusion in the workforce, workplace, and marketplace as well as consulting with clients on building diverse and inclusive workplaces. Previously, she had held diversity roles at Prudential Financial and for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She also served on industry and association task forces and committees. These include Twitter’s Diversity Advisory Council, Working Mother Media’s Multicultural Advisory Board, National Organization on Disability, and Rutgers University’s Student Affairs Executive Advisory Council, in which she is an alumna.
- Meyer-Shipp was recently recognized by Diversity MBA as one of the “Top 100 Women of Influence.” She has also been recognized throughout her career as a “Top Executive in Corporate Diversity” by BLACK ENTERPRISE.
- MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. said he is excited about the addition to the organization. “I am very pleased that Michele is joining us to fill this vital role for Major League Baseball,” Manfred shared. “Michele’s outstanding record of accomplishment will be a valuable addition to our senior leadership team, the hiring and development of our employees, and industry initiatives.”
- The league has a poor record of diversity. In April, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, released its annual Major League Baseball Racial and Gender Report Card in which the MLB overall scored poorly. While there was a slight uptick in racial diversity hiring, there was a decline in the hiring of women. Similarly, in a sport that in 1991 had 18% of the players on the field being African American, that number today has drastically dropped to 8%. The TIDES report also noted that the MLB Central Office currently has the lowest gender diversity among all the major sports leagues.
- Meyer-Shipp shared her goal for her time at MLB is to build “a best-in-class human resources department in which diversity and inclusion are embedded into all processes and functions.” She also shared plans to create a culture “wherein every employee can bring their full selves and together, with the power of our diversity, advance the league’s vision and mission.”
Meyer-Shipp is expected to begin her new role as Chief People & Culture Officer with the MLB this October.
