I know other companies look at Microsoft as a leader. I hope if we exit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, others will join us and use their collective influence to push forward positive action in the climate fight.
ClimateVoices · Episode 64 · 01-20-25
An interview with Van Riker, who has been a marketer at Microsoft for almost 10 years and recently became the Engagement Lead for the company’s 10,000-member, global employee network called the Sustainability Connected Community (SCC) founded in 2018. Most recently, Van was honored as the inaugural winner of the Bill Weihl Award for “Climate Action At Work.” The purpose of these awards is to honor individuals who have used their climate voice and demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advocate for climate policy, both inside their company and in organizing their peers to raise their voices.
Van has demonstrated ongoing leadership by spearheading a campaign to urge Microsoft to leave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and to lead on climate policy. He educated his colleagues about the Chamber’s ongoing climate obstruction and mobilized his peers to sign an Escape the Chamber petition. He raised awareness by posting information through various internal forums at Microsoft and having 1-1 conversations with fellow employees. In addition, Van delivered multiple presentations about this campaign inside the company and helped organize several in-person and online events. These efforts helped spur Microsoft to conduct a public audit of its trade association memberships
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Van Riker
Senior Manager, Consumer Engagement at Microsoft and Volunteer Engagement Lead for Microsoft's Sustainability Connected Community
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