Selene Nava started her career in the environmental health and safety field at age 22 as an EHS engineer at Indorama Ventures. She then worked as the site process safety specialist and was promoted to the EHS manager in the automotive segment.
Nava then joined KI Industries Inc. as the EHS manager and is responsible for "developing, implementing and overseeing the EHS system to ensure a safe and healthy working environment as well as fostering a safety culture based on genuine care and respect." Her primarily goal is to minimize the risks related to workplace safety, health hazards and environmental impacts.
"My team and I work every day to ensure that all personnel go back home the same way they showed up to work or even better through compliance management; policy development and implementation; risk assessment and management; train, retrain, instruct and reinstruct; and incident investigation and reporting, among others," she said.
Throughout her career, Nava has established a culture of safety within the companies for which she has worked, created policies and standards based on local and international regulations, and led the ISO 45001 certification that was achieved with zero nonconformities. She's also a lead auditor for ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.
"I was recognized at my previous job for optimizing processes related to the reports we had to deliver to the federal and local authorities regarding environmental performance. That reduced 60 percent of the time and number of people participating without compromising the quality of the report that was continuously audited without violations," she said.
Nava obtained her bachelor's degree in biochemical engineering with a specialization in environmental engineering from the National Technological Institute of Mexico and MBA from Universidad Latinoamericana. She also studied occupational health and safety from Universidad del Valle de México.
The mold Nava said she is breaking is achieving a management position and growing her professional career without sacrificing her personal life.
"I love being a mom and being married, but also I love what I do professionally. I think it's important to find the life-work balance, and I am proud to see my girls excited when I come home and I tell them what I did that day, and [daughter] Emma telling me that she wants to be an engineer like me when she grows up," Nava said. "Of course, it requires extra effort and a big support net from family and friends, but it is extremely gratifying, and I hope my daughters fiercely follow their dreams as well."