Michael Peel joined ghSMART in early 2018 as Senior Advisor and the initial member of our Chairman’s Advisory Board. In this capacity, Mike brings important external perspective gained from serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer of iconic and award-winning organizations in both the private and non-profit sectors, as well as significant public company board experience. His distinguished background in building leadership depth and organizational excellence make him a highly valued sounding board for our team as we continue to create the most trusted and admired consulting firm in the world.
Mike recently retired from Yale University, where he worked directly for the President of the University for the past nine years, serving as Chief Human Resources Officer while also heading a wide range of other major administrative activities. During his time at Yale, Mike is widely recognized for achieving the longest period of labor peace in the turbulent union relations history of the University, for transforming the University’s talent formation and succession processes, and for more than doubling the diversity of its top 4,000 leaders. Prior to joining Yale in 2008, for more than 17 years Mike was the Chief Human Resources Officer for General Mills, creating one of the most respected Human Resources organizations in the nation and winning more than 200 workplace honors (including regularly being selected for Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list as well as one of their “10 Most Admired Companies in the World for Developing Leaders”). Mike joined General Mills after 14 years in senior Human Resources roles at PepsiCo, including serving as CHRO for two of their largest and most successful operating divisions. For his contributions to the Human Resources profession, Mike was elected by his peers in 2003 to be a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, the profession’s highest honor.
Mike’s leadership on a wide range of public company and non-profit boards has been equally compelling. Since 2003, Mike has been a board member of the Sleep Number Company (SNBR) and has served as Chair for both their Compensation Committee and Nominating & Governance Committee. Since 2014, Mike has been a board member of Pier 1 Imports (PIR) and currently serves as Chair of their Compensation Committee. He is the past Vice-Chair of the Human Resources Policy Association, the past Secretary-Treasurer of the National Academy of Human Resources, the past Vice-Chair of the Walker Art Center board, and past Vice-Chair of the Leadership in Education organization.
Mike is married to Susie Coelho and splits his time between their homes in Los Angeles and New York City. Mike and Susie have four children.
