HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2025--
APQC, the benchmarking and best practices authority, has elected Salima Lin, Managing Partner, Strategy, M&A, Transformation, and Thought Leadership for IBM Consulting, to its board of directors.
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“Salima Lin is the ideal candidate for the APQC board of directors at this point in its evolution,” says Carla O’Dell, APQC’s chairman of the board. “She is a fierce advocate for both benchmarking and thought leadership as strategic business capabilities in any organization that wants to remain competitive in this AI era. That’s especially appropriate as APQC builds out its new Global Thought Leadership Institute (GTLI), which has been launched to help drive standardization and value delivery, along with building performance benchmarks for thought leadership producing organizations.”
IBM, a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI and consulting expertise, is focused on helping clients capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, and gain a competitive edge with innovations in AI, quantum computing, and industry-specific cloud solutions. IBM and APQC have a long history of collaboration in the development of the Open Standards Benchmarking Collaborative. Lin also oversees the IBM Institute for Business Value, which is a founding member of the GTLI, is ranked #1 in thought leadership quality by Source Global, and has won multiple awards for its evidence-based studies.
“It is an honor to serve on APQC’s Board of Directors,” Lin says. “I am eager to support the Center’s efforts to advance the use of benchmarking as a strategic competence and competitive advantage, and I am equally as excited about the opportunities offered through the GTLI.”
Lin has more than 25 years of management consulting and leadership experience, advising numerous Fortune 500 companies in developing and executing business and operating strategies, driving transformation, developing new business models, and operationalizing process improvements. She has a master’s degree in health policy and administration from Harvard and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and biology from Simon Fraser University.
About APQC
APQC helps organizations work smarter, faster, and with greater confidence. With over 45 years of experience, it is the world’s foremost authority in benchmarking, best practices, process and performance improvement, and knowledge management. More than 1,000 member organizations worldwide across 60 industries rely on APQC for the information, data, and insights organizations need to support decision-making and develop internal skills. Learn more at www.apqc.org.
APQC Names Salima Lin, Managing Partner, Strategy, M&A, Transformation, and Thought Leadership for IBM Consulting, to Board of Directors
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.
Four apartment buildings were damaged in the bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Power company DTEK said two of its energy facilities suffered significant damage. The company said that 10 substations that distribute electricity in the Odesa region were damaged in December alone.
Russia has this year escalated its long-range attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. In recent months, as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor approaches its four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.
From January to November this year, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier this month. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.
Russia’s sustained drone and missile attacks have taken place against backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with the heads of European governments supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.
The ongoing attacks, meantime, are inflaming tensions.
The overnight Odesa strikes “are further evidence of the enemy’s terror tactics, which deliberately target civilian infrastructure,” Kiper, the regional head, said.
Moscow has alleged that Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia with 91 long-range drones late Sunday and early Monday. Ukrainian officials deny the claim and say it’s a ruse to derail progress in the peace negotiations.
Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed Wednesday that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.
It was not possible to independently verify the reports.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Wednesday called the Russian allegations “a deliberate distraction” from the peace talks.
“No one should accept unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians since the start of the war,” Kallas posted on X.
Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Romania and Croatia are the latest countries to join a fund that buys weapons for Ukraine from the United States. The financial arrangement, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, pools contributions from NATO members, except the United States, to purchase American weapons, munitions and equipment.
Since it was established in August, 24 countries are now contributing to the fund, according to Zelenskyy. The fund has so far received $4.3 billion, with almost $1.5 billion coming in December alone, he said on social media.
Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 127 drones at the country during the night, with 101 of them intercepted by air defenses.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.
The Ukrainian attack started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, but it was quickly put out, local authorities said.
This story has corrected the day of the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian president’s residence to late Sunday and early Monday.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
