An introduction
Before you get invested in a blog or any other media source, it is pretty important to know a bit about the creator/author. The quality of the content, insight and is only as valuable as the author, after all.
So, let me tell you a little about myself and my place in Avaya. As I noted in my first post, I am the new Sustainability Business Leader at Avaya. What does that mean? Well I work for our Sustainability Officer, Geoffrey Baird, working to realize our corporate sustainability mission. This mission is to Deliver highly competitive environmentally friendly solutions and position Avaya as a green company supporting its customers to become more sustainable.
We have 3 pillars of our sustainability program
- Products (Be Competitive): Designing products to be environmentally friendly throughout their lifecycle
- Solutions (Be Creative): Designing solutions that redefine the way our customers communicate and make them more sustainable
- Sustainable Company (Be Lean): Becoming a more sustainable company, for example via reducing, re-using and recycling resources
The governance structure in place here is quite strong, starting with the Sustainability Officer. Then there is an Environmental Steering Committee composed of executives that meets every other month to hold the program accountable for goals and metrics and make high level strategic decisions about the direction the company should head in this space. Lastly, there is a cross function Core Team, which I head up, that has respective from across the company. This team drives the program and initiatives forward, across a whole host of topics such as our products and solutions, corporate carbon management, facilities, supply chain, marketing, employee communications, etc.
Before Avaya
Formerly, I worked at Nortel in the Corporate Citizenship group. This was lean part of Nortel’s operations group, and as a result I got work on the same basic range of topics on which the Avaya program is focused. I came to Nortel during my successful pursuit of two masters’ degrees at Duke University, a Masters in Public Policy and a Masters in Environmental Management. This combination of degrees has been a huge asset within the corporate sustainability sector, as I apply the analytical tools taught in the Policy school to topics addressed in great detail via the Environmental Management degree.
I have a persistent love for the outdoors that extends back to a childhood (my parents say it came about the same time I learned to walk). Now, I rarely miss a chance to get outdoors, and love that my home in San Francisco is an ideal base for a wide variety of recreation, including trail runs, bike rides, hikes, climbing and skiing trips. That love of outdoor recreation has fostered an active interest in the environment generally, and it is a privilege to manifest that interest through my job.
If you have ideas about how Avaya could or should be a greener company, please let me know. The best way is to leave a comment, but you can also email me at wilsonko@avaya.com. I look forward to an ongoing dialogue.
Posted by Wilson Korol at 14:26 on February 09, 2010
Denise said..
Posted at 12:12 on February 18, 2010
Hello Wilson,
I'm enjoying your blog and happy to see the efforts Avaya is putting forward to be more green.
I believe being green is something we should be aware of every day, not just in our products/solutions, but in our every day working life. I work in the Highlands Ranch, CO office and have noticed that there is very little recycling effort in our buildings. There are no recepticles on each floor for plastic, glass and aluminum yet we have vending machines on each floor that dispense recycleable plastic bottles. Additionally, there are no real plates being used in the cafeteria, it's all plastic and styrofoam - shouldn't we at the very least be recycling these wares? What about other Avaya office locations? I know we often have Customer visits to our sites - do you think they are curious about our green efforts at 'home'?!