Stericycle, Inc. - Female Executive of the Year

Company: Stericycle Inc., Bannockburn, IL
Company Description: Stericycle, Inc. is a U.S.-based business-to-business services company and leading provider of compliance-based solutions that protect peoples and brands, promotes health and well-being, and safeguards the environment. Stericycle serves customers in the U.S. and 17 countries with solutions for regulated waste and compliance services, secure information destruction and patient engag
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Business Services –More Than 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Cindy J. Miller

Cindy J. Miller is a highly accomplished senior executive with 30 years of global leadership experience in transportation, logistics, and operations. Currently serving as Stericycle's President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, Ms. Miller oversees more than 15,000 team members in 17 countries. She became the first female CEO of a publicly-traded waste company in May 2019 after joining Stericycle as President and Chief Operating Officer in October 2018.

Prior to joining Stericycle, Ms. Miller enjoyed a successful career at United Parcel Service (UPS), where she worked her way up the organization from truck driver to President of UPS Europe, a $7 billion-dollar business unit with 45,000 employees, before finishing her career at UPS as President of Global Freight Forwarding.

Ms. Miller received a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and completed the Senior Executive Leadership Programme from the London Business School. Recently, Ms. Miller was recognized as a 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50 Woman in Business.In its inaugural year, the Forbes list recognizes entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and creators who, after the age of 50, are achieving their greatest accomplishments and making their biggest impactwhile shattering age and gender norms.

Ms. Miller’s key accomplishments include:

-Centralizing processes, standardizing procedures, and modernizing operations while driving organic revenue growth and operational efficiencies.
-Increased Stericycle’s stock price from $46.38 as of May 1, 2019, (when Ms. Miller became CEO) to $70.81 as of July 21, 2021, a market cap increase of approx. $2.2 billion.
-Achieved double-digit, year-over-year improvements on key safety metrics, lost workday incident rate (improvement of 25% over 2019), and vehicle incidents (25% improvement over 2019)
-Evolved the leadership team, adding six new executive officers.
-Decreased credit defined debt leverage ratio from its height of 4.45 times to 3.28 times as of March 31, 2021.
-Leading an organization through a global pandemic, providing essential services to fight COVID-19.
- Scaled up operations and inventory to support shifting demands and vaccination rollout.
-Supporting medical waste disposal at quarantine and treatment facilities in nearly 40 states and 4,500+ COVID-19 testing sites.
-Established a Coronavirus Knowledge Center, a critical information resource for customers and organizations.
-Created a new line of COVID-19 services to help non-healthcare facilities dispose of used personal protective equipment.
-Expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion across the company.
-Signed the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion™ pledge, demonstrating our commitment to cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
-Prioritized the recruitment, hiring, and development of team members who have diverse backgrounds and unique experiences.
-Created and fostering five employee resource groups compromised of diverse populations that are regularly consulted for perspective.

Stericycle’s brand promise is to protect what matters, and that includes playing an essential role during the COVID-19 pandemic by helping our customers safely manage the transportation, treatment, and disposal of potentially infectious items. Under Ms. Miller’s leadership, Stericycle worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) as well as state regulatory agencies to help customers navigate the pandemic and vaccine rollout. Stericycle also provided guidance to hospitals, retail pharmacies, mass vaccination sites, and vaccine distributors to navigate the intricacies of determining compliant waste classification, disposal, and reverse distribution.

Ms. Miller’s leadership and the company’s work during the pandemic were recognized by Business Intelligence Group with an Enterprise Company of the Year Award and Silver Stevie Award for Company of the Year – Health Products & Services from the American Business Awards. Ms. Miller was also personally recognized by Forbes in its inaugural 50 Over 50 list this Spring. The 50 Over 50 list is a new initiative from Forbes with Mika Brzezinski’s Know Your Valueplatform, which shines a light on women who are stepping into their power over the age of 50. The first-ever list is comprised of women who are rejecting societal expectations and redefining what it means to be a woman over 50. With more than 10,000 applications, the final 50 were selected based on three main criteria: achievements after turning 50, success at scale, and a pay-it-forward mindset. https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value

Reference any attachments of supporting materials

Included in this nomination are links to the 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50 List highlighting Ms. Miller’s recognition, as well as news releases for Stericycle’s award wins and commitment to the Diversity and Inclusion coalition. Also included are links to Stericycle’s Coronavirus Knowledge Center and its COVID-19 services as mentioned above.