Paul Fleming leads the Global Water Program for Microsoft. Paul joined Microsoft to build the its corporate water stewardship program and has helped establish Microsoft as a leader in the corporate water stewardship space over the course of two years. Microsoft has committed to be water positive by 2030, with a goal of replenishing more water the company consumes globally in approximately 40 water-stressed locations around the world and enabling drinking water and/or sanitation access to at least 1.5 million people in seven countries. In addition to driving the company’s operational water commitments, Paul drives collaborative partnerships with other companies and NGOs and serves as the company’s water subject matter expert, advising business groups on go to market strategies. He helped co-found the Water Resilience Coalition, a group of 18 companies focused on collective action to improved conditions in water stressed regions around the world, and serves on the steering committee of the CEO Water Mandate.
Before joining Microsoft, Paul established and led the Climate Resiliency Group, which was one of the first dedicated groups focused on climate change in an US municipal utility, for the Seattle Public Utilities. In that role, he was responsible for building organizational adaptive capacity, developing collaborative partnerships, and assessing the possible impacts of climate change on the utilities’ systems and integrating climate considerations into utility decision making and planning. Paul has a BA in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two daughters.