Biography

Michele Coleman Mayes is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the New York Public Library (NYPL). She joined NYPL in August 2012 after serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Allstate Insurance Company since 2007. Prior to Allstate, she served as a Senior Vice President and the General Counsel of Pitney Bowes Inc. from 2003 to 2007 and in several legal capacities at Colgate-Palmolive from 1992 to 2003. In 1982, Michele entered the corporate sector as managing attorney of Burroughs Corporation. After Burroughs and Sperry Corporation merged, creating Unisys Corporation, she was appointed Staff Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Worldwide Litigation. From 1976 through 1982, she served in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in Detroit and Brooklyn, eventually assuming the role of Chief of the Civil Division in Detroit. Michele received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She currently chaired the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession from 2014-2017 and is a Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel.

Ms. Mayes served as a director for Assurant, Inc. (AIZ-NYSE) from 2004-2007; member of the Audit Committee and chaired the Nominating and Governance Committee.