Back in August it was announced that KPMG’s head of diversity and inclusion, Michele Meyer-Shipp, would be leaving the firm to join the big leagues. No, not Deloitte, the actual big leagues—Major League Baseball—as its new chief people and culture officer.
It took a while but today KPMG announced Meyer-Shipp’s successor, Elena Richards, who left PwC in the dust to get that sweet promotion and nice C-suite office:
KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, has appointed Elena Richards, an accomplished HR, talent management and diversity professional with deep knowledge of the professional services industry, as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. Richards, who joins as a principal, will lead the firm’s national Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) team and work closely with the management team and board of directors to advance KPMG’s Accelerate 2025 initiative.
“At KPMG, our commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion reflects our values and is foundational to our culture,” said Paul Knopp, Chair and CEO, KPMG LLP. “We’re thrilled to welcome Elena, a well-respected and experienced leader who will work closely with me and our firm’s leaders to make meaningful progress against our I&D priorities.”
Richards also will partner with KPMG’s leadership teams to enhance the organization’s inclusive and diverse culture, which has earned the firm recognition as a top workplace by Fortune magazine, DiversityInc, Working Mother, The Human Rights Campaign, and more.
Richards comes to KPMG from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) where she most recently served as a Managing Director on PwC’s national diversity team. In that role, she worked to design and execute strategic diversity and talent management initiatives for the organization’s employees in the United States.
She earned her B.A. in criminal justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and is a Certified Professional Coach. She also has served as an Advisory Board Member for Howard University’s Center for Accounting Education and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ National Diversity & Pipeline Commission.
While she wasn’t quoted in the press release, Richards posted on LinkedIn and tweeted the following message:
Excited to announce that I've joined @KPMG_US as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer! KPMG is well known for its inclusive culture and being a great place to work, and I’m looking forward to working with everyone to advance the firm’s D&I priorities. https://t.co/ReIPp7Q8uY
— Elena Richards (@ElenaRichards_) November 10, 2020
Richards spent more than 21 years at Papa Whiskey Charlie, according to her LinkedIn profile, with stops beforehand at Inroads and Allstate.
[KPMG]
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Is it a requirement that each Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer be black, or possibly a under-represented minority?