After doing everything they could from the inside, Holly and Will Alpine sent their resignation letter from Microsoft, spoke publicly for the first time, and officially launched the Enabled Emissions campaign to push for change from the outside.

Environmental nonprofit As You Sow filed a shareholder resolution at Microsoft’s AGM, urging the company to report on the risks of its work with the fossil fuel industry. The proposal garnered 10% of the votes, which represents $220Billion in shareholder value.

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Another meeting was held with Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of energy Darryl Willis, to discuss the principles. In the meeting, Mr Willis committed to providing employees with updates and analyses, as well as sharing a plan to transition Microsoft’s energy business towards the low-carbon transition. Despite some follow-up meetings, these promises were never fulfilled.

In response to the employee campaign, Microsoft released a series of principles guiding its future work with the energy industry. This felt like a step in the right direction but included significant loopholes.

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Holly, Will and a small group of employees from the Sustainability Connected Community crafted an 8-page memo for Microsoft’s leadership, bringing attention to the link between climate change and the company’s fossil fuel business, and making recommendations for the company. They held a meeting to discuss the memo and discuss their recommendations.

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The Microsoft Sustainability community raised their concerns and tried to influence Microsoft to give up AI contracts that aimed to boost productivity, cut costs, and / or increase production.

Holly Alpine co-founds Microsoft’s Sustainability Connected Community, an employee-led grassroot effort, to help the company achieve its sustainability commitments. The community would grow to 10,000 and 40 chapters around the world

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