) has named Michele C. Meyer-Shipp vice president and chief diversity officer. In this role, she will be responsible for leading and directing all diversity and inclusion initiatives for the company, and for ensuring ongoing compliance with federal and state equal employment opportunity/affirmative action laws and requirements. “Prudential has a proud heritage of embracing diversity and inclusion as a key part of our business strategy,” said Sharon Taylor, senior vice president, Human Resources. “Advancing our work in this important area requires strong leadership, and Michele is ideally suited for this role. She has a unique blend of experience in the diversity and inclusion and EEO/affirmative action space, as well as a recognized passion for this work.” Meyer-Shipp joined Prudential in April 2010 as vice president and counsel in the Employment and Labor Law Group. In this role, she provided legal advice, counsel, training and investigative support to several lines of business on a variety of employment and human resources related matters. Prior to joining Prudential, Meyer-Shipp served as General Counsel of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, an Instrumentality of the States of New York and New Jersey. Previously, Meyer-Shipp spent four years at Merrill Lynch. In her last role, she led the diversity and inclusion efforts of the Global Wealth Management business. Before Merrill Lynch, Meyer-Shipp served as Director of the State of New Jersey's Division of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action. Prior to joining the ranks of public service, Meyer-Shipp was in private practice with the law firms of Collier, Jacob & Mills, P.C. and Lowenstein, Sandler, P.C. in Roseland, N.J. She also served as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law.