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This month, we are pleased to spotlight Michael Steinberg, HSE Health & Medical, Community Health & Partnerships at Chevron. 

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Please share a brief description of your current role. 

Michael began his career at Chevron in 2008 and currently works from their San Ramon, California offices within the Health & Medical, Health, Safety & Environment function. Michael oversees various health projects and programs that support the health and safety needs of the company’s 40,000 plus employees as well as communities the company operates in.

Michael has progressively advanced through various Health & Medical wellness, productivity, public health and well-being positions that includes a two-year embedded position in Angola; as a member of the Corporate Pandemic Response Team; Chair of the San Ramon Health, Environment and Safety Committee; several board positions, and represents Chevron as Co-Chair in multiple partnerships. In his current role as Community Health & Partnerships Advisor, Michael manages multiple global projects and programs that include health risk assessments; public health communications; health social investment and partnerships; and infectious disease prevention and management.  

Chevron was one of the earliest companies to develop internal policies, programs, and partnerships to improve access to HIV and AIDS health care for your employees and the communities you serve. Why has investing in HIV been a priority for Chevron?

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Over four decades ago, we began to see the effect AIDS was having on our employees, their families and communities, especially in our then headquarters region near San Francisco. And a few years later, Chevon began noticing that some of our largest operations were in areas where the grip of AIDS was growing rapidly, such as Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, and Thailand. 
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Chevron took action by developing accurate and evidence-based education materials to address stigma, misinformation and discrimination. Additionally, we launched several partnerships around the globe to help educate communities, prevent new infections, and improve access to care and support. 
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Our response evolved. In 2005, we were the first oil and gas company to institute a global comprehensive HIV/AIDS Policy and Program for employees, including confidential access to HIV testing and treatment for employees and their dependents. In 2018, we began taking steps to ensure that our employees and qualified dependents have appropriate access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) resources. 

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What is Chevron most proud of so far in regard to your work to address HIV?

From my personal perspective, the company took a holistic, progressive and comprehensive approach, had strong leader support, and implemented programs, resources, policies, and partnerships enterprise wide. Our communications, capacity building, and messaging have been available across the organization. 

When I speak to people, I have heard a consistent theme around “I had no idea Chevron did so much in this space…”. I am proud to share our history, and it brings me hope that there are so many organizations and people doing amazing work for the betterment of people and societies.  

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Why do you believe it's important for businesses to play a role in our nation's efforts to end the HIV epidemic?

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Personally, I believe multiple entities have a role in health protection. At Chevron, we believe that business success is inextricably connected to the health and prosperity of the communities where we operate.

And through partnerships, the company has supported programs and projects that aim to strengthen health systems, improve health security, and empower sustainable interventions for preventing disease in our workplace and communities. These aspirations are often aligned with others and the collective impacts of the business community can have compounding and lasting outcomes.  

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Why is it important for Chevron to be part of the U.S. Business Action to End HIV coalition?
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We want to share our learnings and continue our collaborative learning, best practice sharing, and relationship building with organizations supporting workforce and community health efforts in regions where we operate. Through collaboration and partnerships, like with the Coalition, we can often be more effective with stronger, more sustainable impact and outcomes. 

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What advice would you give to other corporate leaders considering taking action on HIV?

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- Understand and assess your risks, goals, gaps and the “why”. 
- Identify and leverage the intersections with existing bodies of work, focus areas, and strategies. 
- Leverage partnerships, best practices, and data for decision making.
- Be authentic in your messaging. 

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What personally motivated you to become involved in working to address HIV?
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I have always studied or practiced in some area of health that focuses on helping others to know the facts, understand the value of prevention, change behaviors, and improve the systems that enable the best possible health outcomes.