Nicole Karlebach

Assistant General Counsel for Responsible Business Practices, Microsoft

Nicole Karlebach is Assistant General Counsel for Responsible Business Practices at Microsoft, where she leads work focused on integrating human rights and responsible business considerations across technology, business operations, corporate strategy, and global supply chains. She also engages with the broader human rights community on emerging issues at the intersection of technology and society.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Nicole spent more than a decade building and leading teams focused on responsible business practices, sustainability, and human rights across the technology and consumer goods sectors. Her experience includes leadership roles at Mars, Verizon, and Yahoo, where she helped drive the integration of human rights and sustainability considerations into products, services, operations, governance, and corporate strategy.

Earlier in her career, Nicole worked on international human rights and accountability matters in roles spanning private practice, civil society, and international institutions, including Human Rights First and the United Nations.

A frequent speaker on business and human rights, sustainability, and technology policy, Nicole also serves as an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law, where she teaches Corporate Sustainability and Transnational Business and Human Rights.

She received her LL.M. from New York University School of Law, her J.D. from Boston College Law School, and her B.A. from Brandeis University.