Lisa Jackson was yesterday promoted to the role of Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple. In a memo to Apple employees, obtained by The Washington Post, Tim Cook writes:

There’s much more to do, not just on the environment, but on other issues we value such as human rights, education, and accessibility of our products to those with physical or developmental challenges. Apple can and will play an important role in each of these areas. Already, we are actively working with 114 schools in the U.S. through our ConnectED program. We are putting more accessibility tools in the hands of our wonderful app developers. And we have made our voice heard on public policy issues that affect us including clean energy and equality. These issues are critical not only to us, but to our customers, our shareholders, and in the communities where we all live and work.

So I’ve asked Lisa to lead our work in these areas and to take on a broader role as vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. Lisa will apply her passion and her unique skill set to integrate teams across Apple and make our impact even greater. As part of her new role, Lisa will also take over management of our worldwide Government Affairs function. Lisa already interacts regularly with governments around the world so she is a natural for this new role leading our public policy teams.

You can read Tim Cook’s full memo at The Washington Post.

Jackson joined Apple two years ago, taking the position of Vice President of Environmental Initiatives after serving as the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for four years. Jackson accompanied Tim Cook and Eddy Cue on a recent trip to China last month.