Corporate VP of U.S. Government Affairs for Microsoft – dedicated to job creation, education and innovation. Learn more: https://xitter.cf/t.co/0SyCTLMYau
Joined December 2008
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Initiatives like the Velocity Prize help connect early exposure to technology with real-world skills and career opportunities in cybersecurity.
Supported by @Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, the global Minecraft Education (@PlayCraftLearn) competition gives students ages 13 to 16 an opportunity to develop their coding, computational thinking, and problem-solving skills while exploring how technology can help address real-world security challenges.
Building a safer digital future requires investing in the next generation and creating opportunities for young people to develop the skills and confidence to contribute to a more secure, resilient digital world.
#AIEducation #DigitalSafety
A safer digital future starts with the next generation of problem-solvers.
With the Velocity Prize, @Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit and Minecraft Education (@PlayCraftLearn) are helping students show their computational thinking, coding, and creative problem-solving skills.
ALT A Minecraft-themed image featuring the words 'Minecraft Education' and 'Velocity Prize' in bold, colorful text. The background shows a cave environment with pixelated characters, including a player with a cape and block creatures.
.@Microsoft is deepening our partnership with the University of Washington and welcoming the Global Innovation Exchange to a new home on our campus.
As AI advances, we need more leaders who not only understand the technology, but also know how to apply it in ways that strengthen human judgment, collaboration, and opportunity.
That is what makes this partnership so important. Bringing academia and industry closer together creates more opportunities for students, faculty, and technology leaders to learn from one another and work across disciplines, ensuring AI is built to augment human capability and serve people well.
Proud to see this partnership enter its next chapter.
Last night we opened a door unlike any other. At the heart of Microsoft’s campus, step into the new home of the @UW's Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) and you cross from @Microsoft into the University of Washington. No one has ever put a great research university and a leading technology company under the same roof quite like this. As far as I know, no one has even tried.
The timing matters. Artificial intelligence is advancing fast. The question is whether the people building it understand the world it’s changing. This calls for a new style of education and leadership. We need leaders who understand the technology deeply and see things through other people’s eyes. Leaders who learn by collaborating on real projects with people from different countries and disciplines.
That’s what @GIX_edu is built for. Students will learn from faculty across the UW, take classes taught by Microsoft employees, and be mentored by people from across our industry here in the Pacific Northwest. And it works both ways. Our first cohort of 30 senior technical leaders from Microsoft will spend their evenings here in a mini-MBA program, and our goal is three or four cohorts every year.
This partnership will do great things for our two institutions, for our state, and as a role model beyond Washington. What we have today is strong. But what’s to come will be even greater.
So many people made this possible. Thank you to UW President Robert J. Jones, who saw that this could matter even more in the future than it does today, and to academic leaders across the university. To the incredible Microsoft team for backing and building this from the very beginning. To Redmond Mayor Angela Birney and our state legislators. To Christine Gregoire, who helped find a path forward when we needed one, and to Sean Carr, who has nurtured GIX into what it is today.
ALT Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith and University of Washington President Robert J. Jones smile as they cut a purple ribbon with gold scissors at the opening of the Global Innovation Exchange. Two students in name tags hold the ribbon's ends. Behind them, a purple University of Washington wall and open glass doors lead to a hallway with a large illuminated UW "W" logo.
What I love about @Microsoft's annual Giving Campaign is seeing all the different ways people across Microsoft choose to give back, whether through their time, resources, or support for causes that matter to them. @BradSmi captures it well: those individual acts of generosity add up to a much broader impact.
October is my favorite month at @Microsoft. It’s when employees around the world come together to support the nonprofits and causes they care about most. What starts as personal acts of generosity adds up to extraordinary impact. Last year alone, Microsoft employees contributed $255.6 million, including the company match, volunteered more than 1 million hours, and supported more than 36,500 nonprofits worldwide.
As cyber threats move faster and across organizational boundaries, resilience depends on more than the strength of any one institution. Governments, technology providers, critical infrastructure operators, and other partners need trusted channels to share information, prepare together, and respond quickly when incidents occur.
The latest @Microsoft Digital Defense Report offers a useful look at how these risks are evolving and what governments and partners can do to prepare.
🔗 Read the more: blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-i…
At Microsoft, we’ve always tried to give back to the communities that have given so much to us. That is why I’m glad to see @Microsoft expand our commitments to these communities through Community-First Grants, which will support nonprofits addressing urgent local needs.
Our Community-First approach is about more than how we build and operate infrastructure. It’s about listening to local priorities and investing in the people and organizations helping communities thrive. Proud to see this next step. #MSFTPolicyInsights
🔗 Learn more: microsoft.com/en-us/corporat…
Today, we’re launching Microsoft Community-First Grants, a new $1 million fund to support nonprofits that are not already directly receiving Microsoft grant funding and are addressing urgent community needs. We’re starting with organizations in King County, Washington, because our responsibility begins in the communities we call home but will expand to other regions of the state in the future.
This is just the latest effort in @Microsoft's ongoing commitment to give where we live. I’m so proud to see the impact Microsoft and our employees made through the $1.9 billion we’ve provided to nearly 13,000 nonprofits statewide.
Learn more about Community-First Grants and encourage any eligible nonprofit to apply!
aka.ms/community-first-grant…
ALT Collage-style image featuring people of different ages participating in community activities. On the left, an older adult wearing glasses and a patterned yellow top stands in a kitchen or community space, preparing food and interacting with another person. In the upper right, a person in a white shirt raises a hand while participating in an outdoor activity on a sports court. In the lower right, two young people crouch together outdoors, engaged in a conversation or group activity. Semi-transparent overlay panels with monochrome imagery are layered throughout the composition, creating a modern, community-focused design. Natural light and warm tones emphasize connection, participation, and shared experiences.
Last week, I had the opportunity to join a panel at the Corporate Counsel Women of Color Annual Conference to discuss AI strategy, governance and responsible deployment. The conference was a valuable forum for leaders to exchange practical ideas, build relationships, and learn from one another as we navigate a rapidly evolving legal and business landscape. Thank you to the CCWC team for having me and bringing together such a thoughtful and engaged community.
#CCWCOrlando2026
As the U.S. works to advance the next generation of quantum technology, strong partnerships across government, academia, and industry will be essential to translating scientific progress into broader economic and national security benefits.
The new @Microsoft quantum research center at the @UofMaryland’s Discovery District is a great example of that collaboration in action—bringing together researchers, government partners, and industry to strengthen the quantum ecosystem and help move promising technology from research toward real-world impact.
Appreciate @GovWesMoore, @President_Pines, and the many partners behind Maryland’s Capital of Quantum Initiative. Microsoft is proud to contribute to this shared effort and to support continued U.S. innovation in quantum.
#MSFTPolicyInsights #Quantum
🔗 Read more here: quantum.microsoft.com/en-us/…
Amid important conversations about how technology can help expand opportunity and strengthen communities, I appreciated the chance to sit down with @DrBenChavis, President and CEO of the @BlackPressUSA, during Congressional Black Caucus Week.
We had a thoughtful conversation about technology, society, and the opportunities ahead. Grateful for Dr. Chavis’ perspective and for the work of the NNPA in bringing important voices and issues into the national conversation.
Looking forward to sharing more from our discussion soon.
#CBCWeek
While in Rome, I was deeply honored to have the opportunity to meet @Pontifex.
One thing I have appreciated in the Holy Father’s approach to AI is his focus on the human questions that sit beneath the technology: what kind of society we want to build, how we protect human dignity, and how we ensure progress serves the common good.
As AI continues to advance, that is a perspective worth carrying with us. The challenge is not simply to build more capable technology, but to make sure people remain at the center of how it is developed and used.
One important finding from @Microsoft's latest Global AI Diffusion Report: as AI adoption grows around the world, how people are using it matters just as much as how many people have access. One particularly encouraging signal is the higher share of education and learning use across the Global South.
That opportunity also reinforces the work ahead. Expanding access to AI needs to go hand in hand with investments in skills, infrastructure, connectivity, and institutions that help people build the judgment and capabilities to use these tools effectively.
That’s how we can help translate broader AI adoption into meaningful opportunity—for people’s education, their work, and their communities.
🔗 See more findings from this year’s report: aka.ms/AIDiffusionGlobal
#MSFTPolicyInsights #AIDiffusion
The @CBCFInc has been an important part of my own journey in Washington, and I always value the opportunity the Annual Legislative Conference creates to reconnect with leaders, colleagues, and friends committed to expanding opportunity across our communities.
Congratulations to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on 50 years of bringing people together around these important issues. Grateful to be part of another meaningful week of dialogue, partnership, and shared purpose.
Microsoft applauds the House of Representatives for passing the Ratepayer Protection Act. As energy demand grows, this legislation helps protect American families from rising electricity costs. Microsoft was proud to be the first company to endorse this bipartisan legislation, which reflects our belief that data center providers and all large-load energy users should take a community-first approach and cover the full cost of the power and energy infrastructure needed to support their operations, ensuring local communities are not burdened. We thank House leadership, Chairman Guthrie, Chairman Latta, Congressman Evans, and Congresswoman Castor for advancing this important legislation.
The story of Quincy reminds us that the impact of infrastructure is measured over decades, not just in what gets built, but in what it helps make possible for a community.
Over the past 20 years, @Microsoft and Quincy have grown together. That growth has meant jobs and new opportunities, but also stronger public services, community investment, and a deeper connection between our employees and the place they call home. What we’ve learned in Quincy helped shape Microsoft’s Community-First AI Infrastructure Initiative.
As we bring that approach to communities across the country, the goal is simple: build and operate responsibly, listen to local priorities, and grow alongside the communities that make this progress possible.
#MSFTPolicyInsights
Fred Humphries retweeted
Students, educators and families deserve AI that protects privacy and keeps people in control. @Microsoft and @AFTUnion have established the National AI Safety & Privacy Standard for schools, creating legally enforceable protections for AI in education.
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ALT Cover page introducing the National AI Safety & Privacy Standard, a joint initiative from Microsoft and the American Federation of Teachers focused on responsible AI use in education
ALT Schools remain in control
ALT Student data is not Ai training data
ALT Students are not products. The standard emphasizes privacy, safety, and responsible use of technology in educational settings
On National Voter Registration Day, we are reminded that civic participation starts with access to reliable information. And as more people turn to AI and other digital tools to find answers, helping them navigate that evolving landscape is more important than ever.
That's why I'm glad to see @Microsoft launch the next phase of Check. Recheck. Vote., a nonpartisan effort focused on helping voters access AI-generated election information with confidence. It's one part of Microsoft's broader work to support the security and resilience of U.S. elections, while helping people connect with trusted information and resources.
When people are equipped to participate, communities are stronger and our democracy is stronger.
#NationalVoterRegistrationDay
Learn more about the initiative here: aka.ms/Elections2026
Grateful to have attended the Fourth Fratelli Tutti Synodal Meeting in Rome, which brought together leaders from government, business, labor, academia, and civil society for an important discussion on the responsible development and use of AI. Thank you to the @AFLCIO and the @VaticanNews for the invitation and for helping convene such a thoughtful range of voices.
The conversation gave me time to reflect on an increasingly important principle that is also at the heart of @Microsoft AI’s new Code of Conduct: as AI advances, people must remain at the center. These technologies should expand human potential and opportunity while remaining firmly under human direction and control.
As we navigate this period of rapid technological change, keeping that human-led approach at the center of how AI is developed and deployed will be essential.
#ResponsibleAI
Protecting the essential services communities rely on requires sustained collaboration and action across government, industry, and critical infrastructure operators.
Project Watershed 250 will bring together operational expertise and advanced cybersecurity capabilities to strengthen the resilience of water systems and help communities prepare for evolving cyberthreats. Proud to see @Microsoft joining leaders from the @ONCD, @WhiteHouse, @GregAbbott_TX, and @TXCyberCommand to develop practical approaches that can help communities better prepare for evolving cyberthreats.
#Cybersecurity #ProjectWatershed250
Honored to be named one of D.C.’s Tech Titans by @washingtonian and to be included alongside such a strong group of leaders across the technology community. It’s a real privilege to work with colleagues at @Microsoft who bring such thoughtfulness and expertise to everything we do. Grateful for all that we’re able to accomplish together.
Check out the list and article here: washingtonian.com/2026/09/08…
