I’m delighted to share the news that Melanie Nakagawa will join Microsoft in January as our new Chief Sustainability Officer. Reporting directly to me as a Corporate Vice President, Melanie will partner with teams across Microsoft and take on the leadership role for our company-wide environmental sustainability work.

Melanie brings to Microsoft almost two decades of environmental sustainability experience at the nexus of policy, business and technology, which will be vital as we continue our sustainability journey. She most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy on the National Security Council at the White House, one of several roles she has held in the U.S. government. At the White House, Melanie played a leadership role on international and domestic climate initiatives, as well as energy issues that included the international energy response to the war in Ukraine.

Especially for a company like Microsoft, with our focus on helping the world’s organizations innovate through technology, our climate-related role could not be clearer. Cloud-based digital services, the better use of data, and rapid advances in AI will create new opportunities for us to help every organization achieve more progress in addressing the world’s climate and energy needs.