WAYNE BALTA
LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SUSTAINABILITY
In sporting terminology , Wayne S . Balta is a one club man . However , while some sporting stars lose their edge if they stay put , Balta ’ s 40-year career at IBM has only seen upticks in his energy and innovation levels .
Balta is a legend in the world of big business sustainability : his face is instantly recognised by his peers and his ideas are received with respect .
Having joined IBM in 1984 , when the likes of Ronald Reagan , Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl were world leaders and George Orwell ’ s novel was no longer the future , Balta settled in for the long haul .
The fork in the road At first , Balta ’ s IBM career was as a real estate and construction project manager . Within five years , he became executive assistant to the corporate vice president of global real estate .
Then , in 1989 , came the fork-in-the-road moment .
IBM ' s CEO raised the then-unheralded subject of environmentalism and Balta ’ s boss turned to him for assistance .
Balta dived headfirst at the challenge and , in 1990 , he presented a portion of a proposed strategy , which included a recommendation to establish a corporate environment team .
He said : “ I was so captivated by the breadth of the strategy we developed that I decided I wanted to be part of that new corporate staff we were recommending .”
Onwards and upwards The move was to become a careerdefiner and Balta ’ s upward trajectory was unstoppable .
He soon became IBM ’ s Director of Corporate Environmental Affairs and , in 1997 , helped IBM become the first major multinational company to earn single global registration to the ISO 140001 standard for environmental management .
Speaking to Carnegie Mellon University , Balta said : “ Our management system is what guides IBM employees all over the world , over 300,000 of them , to keep environmental leadership in mind as part of whatever their daily job may be .
WAYNE BALTA
TITLE : VICE PRESIDENT , CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND PRODUCT SAFETY AND CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER
COMPANY : IBM INDUSTRY : TECHNOLOGY LOCATION : UNITED STATES
Responsible for global environmental affairs , energy efficiency , toxicology and chemical management , product safety and related hardware compliance functions at IBM , Balta is dedicated to growth that drives innovation and shifts in business and technology . For nearly 40 years , Balta has been an integral leader at IBM .
24 May 2024