News Contact: Chris McLaren
LSU News Service
225 388-3870
[email protected]
BATON ROUGE -- "Do the best you can with the job you have at any given time. This philosophy has gotten me a long way from barefoot in Swaziland," said Azurix CEO Amanda Martin.
Martin refuses to set goals for herself. Instead, the Swaziland native and LSU grad chooses accepting new challenges and following whichever path life takes her.
This philosophy has proven successful for Martin, who, at 38, is president of Azurix-the- Americas, an Enron affiliate, headquartered in Houston. Azurix, with total assets of nearly $4 billion, is the only U.S.-owned global water and wastewater manager providing water solutions to communities throughout the world.
Martin said she is blessed to take the leadership role in providing quality water supply to the global community. With the tremendous momentum toward privatization and outsourcing of water resources, Azurix is poised to increase its global presence by exponential amounts in the future. "Water and wastewater management is viewed as the last global privatization opportunity," Martin said.
Taking the lead in Azurix is the most recent accomplishment in a long list of career successes for Martin. Her accomplishments have taken here from her father's sugar farm in Zimbabwe to the University of Natal, located in the South African city of Durban, to LSU, where Martin holds a juris doctorate and was a member of the 1984 Law Review.
Martin attributes LSU's agriculture research program and the Louisiana sugarcane industry to her discovery of LSU and the Hebert Law Center.
"My father had strong ties with LSU's agronomy program and their sugarcane research facilities," she explained. "This was the connection that brought me to LSU." Martin said all of her family's friends and acquaintances recommended that she study at LSU, which was the only place she applied for law school.
"It was a huge culture shock after arriving in Louisiana because it was my first time in the States," Martin said. "But the generosity of spirit and the great memories of the friendliness of LSU is something I treasure."
After graduating from LSU, Martin joined the Houston-based law firm of Vinson and Elkins. From there, in 1991 she joined Enron, the largest wholesaler of natural gas and seller of electricity in North America. By 1995, Martin was operating and managing Enron's worldwide assets through the Enron Capital and Trade Resources, where she served as managing director and through Enron Global Power and Pipeline, where she served as senior vice president.
Working at Enron is all about merit and how a person's hard work and determination will prove her success with the company. Neither race, sex, creed nor religion are important to being successful at Enron or Azurix, Martin said. Success comes from dedication, and it has been a pleasure to work in that type of environment, she added.
Martin has also been active in civic interests, including being a member of the LSU Law Center Advisory Board, the LSU Foundation, the Board of Trustees for the Post Oak School in Houston, as well as and director of the Texas Water Foundation. In 1998, she was named Houston's top businesswoman in the city's thriving energy industry. "I've always followed whatever path became available to me. Often times I was in the right place at the right time with the right talent," Martin said.
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