In this episode, NAWL Member and Podcast Committee Co-Chair and Microsoft's Senior Managing Corporate Counsel, Jasbir Khalsa, spoke with Nancy King, Chief of Staff and General Manager, Microsoft, and Hossein Nowbar, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. As they discuss their career adventures, they share what it means to be an ally and how they practice meaningful allyship as leaders.
In this episode, NAWL Member and Podcast Committee Co-Chair and Microsoft's Senior Managing Corporate Counsel, Jasbir Khalsa, spoke with Nancy King, Chief of Staff and General Manager, Microsoft, and Hossein Nowbar, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. As they discuss their career adventures, they share what it means to be an ally and how they practice meaningful allyship as leaders.
Hossein Nowbar, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, leads a team of legal, business operations, government, and community affairs professionals that support Microsoft’s worldwide engineering, marketing, and sales organizations, enabling customers in more than 100 countries. He is a key participant in advancing Microsoft’s public policy priorities around the world, in shaping Microsoft’s internal and external approach to earning public trust and adapting to an increasingly complex regulatory environment, and in helping to ensure Microsoft’s business is conducted in a trustworthy and compliant manner.
Prior to this role, Hossein served as the General Counsel for Corporate Legal Affairs for two years, leading the teams responsible for Microsoft’s intellectual property, litigation, compliance and ethics, competition and market regulation, HR and immigration, finance, M&A, business development, and legal operations functions. As Microsoft’s corporate secretary, he oversaw corporate governance and the teams responsible for providing strategic legal counsel to Microsoft’s business leaders on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues.
Since joining Microsoft in 1997, Hossein has participated in or led numerous negotiations—including overseeing the legal strategy for Cloud + AI and Open Source Counseling—resulting in intellectual property and competition law agreements with competitors and governments around the world.
In and outside of work, Hossein is a strong advocate and leader in diversity and inclusion efforts. He is a member of the Pro Bono Institute’s Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board and the Executive Sponsor of Microsoft’s Pro Bono Program, focused on inspiring and empowering Microsoft employees and community partners to create solutions that promote justice for all by providing those in need with access to legal knowledge, resources, and services. In addition, Hossein is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and serves on the Association of Corporate Counsel Global Board of Directors.
Nancy King is a General Manager in Microsoft's Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) department. In her multifaceted role, she serves as the Chief of Staff to Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Vice President, Hossein Nowbar, and supports the Customer Experience & Policy (CxP) organization. She leads the CELA Technology, Operations, and Programs teams, whose mission is to generate opportunities and deepen collective legal, societal, and business impact by driving greater connections across CELA and beyond. This team collectively focuses on improving operational efficiency and effectiveness through innovative tools and streamlined processes. They also lead efforts to optimize legal service provider relationships and drive programs that encourage employee participation in pro bono activities. Previously, Nancy led talent acquisition across various Microsoft client groups including finance and engineering, and has held positions in business development and HR at Robert Half Finance & Accounting and T-Mobile USA. A Seattle native, Nancy holds a Communications degree and an MBA from the University of Washington.