Biography

Michele Coleman Mayes is the former Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the New York Public Library (NYPL). Ms. Mayes 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, Ms. Mayes 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, Ms. Mayes 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. Ms. Mayes currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board for the Center for Reproductive Rights and Change Chairman to the Chair of the Assurant Nominating and Governance Committee.She also 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 also served as a director for Assurant, Inc. (AIZ-NYSE) from 2004-2007

Ms. Mayes received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.