Celeste Warren

Celeste Warren is vice president, Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence. As the leader for Merck’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence, she is responsible for working with Merck’s global leaders to advance and embed diversity and inclusion as a strategic approach to maximize business performance and create a competitive advantage.

Warren joined Merck in 1997 and has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility within its Human Resources organization. Most recently, she was Vice President, Human Resources of Merck’s Global Legal, Compliance, Communications, Population Health, Patient Health and Global Public Policy Organizations. Prior to that, she held the role as Vice President, Human Resources for Merck’s Manufacturing Division and Global Labor Relations and US Employee Relations Center of Excellence.

Prior to joining Merck in 1997, Warren worked for nine years in Human Resources at Kraft Foods, Inc. and General Foods and held several positions of increasing responsibility including such roles as Training & Development Leader, Diversity leader, Labor Relations Director and Human Resources Leader for several organizations within Kraft and General Foods. She has been honored with many awards, including Black Enterprise’s “Top Executives in Global Diversity and Inclusion,” Savoy Magazine’s “Most Influential Women in Corporate America,” “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” and Diversity Global’s “Influential Women in Global Diversity.” She serves on the board of RWJBarnabas Health Systems and is also a member of CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council.

Warren attended the University of Kentucky where she earned her B.S. degree. She received her Master’s Degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the wife of John Warren and the mother of two children, Christina-Celeste and John Steven, Jr.