Stericycle executive honored by several Chicago organizations

Stericycle Inc. Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Janet Zelenka has received the 2022 CIO+ award from several Chicago area organizations.

The Executives’ Club of Chicago, The Society of Information Management (SIM) Chicago and The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), Chicago, sponsored and presented the award in October.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by these prestigious Chicago organizations as this year’s CIO+. It is also a testament to the team of IT professionals that I am privileged to work alongside at Stericycle,” Zelenka says. “I’d like to congratulate all of the CIO winners and finalists who are making a positive impact in their respective organizations and the IT industry.”

Bannockburn, Illinois-based Stericycle Inc., a leading provider of regulated medical waste management, secure information destruction and patient engagement solutions, says in a news release the award recognizes CIOs who have expanded their roles into other business areas, broadening their impact on success for the business.

“Stericycle has benefited enormously from Janet’s leadership, expertise and ability to intersect the finance and IT [information technology] functions to work toward our broader business goals,” Steriycle President and CEO Cindy J. Miller says. “Janet is highly deserving of the honor of CIO+, and we’re proud to see her contributions recognized.”

Zelenka joined Stericycle in 2019 as CFO, bringing a breadth of expertise across corporate finance, accounting, information technology and operations. She assumed the additional duties and responsibilities of CIO in 2020 to support IT-related internal controls, implement a North American enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and enhance the efficiency of financial systems. Throughout her tenure at Stericycle, Zelenka has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and has relentlessly pursued projects and innovative solutions to advance Stericycle’s key business priorities while also addressing today’s many business and technological challenges facing organizations.

For more than 25 years, the program sponsors have honored Chicago area CIOs whose accomplishments and innovations have created meaningful advances in the city’s information technology (IT) field. CIOs are nominated by CIO peers, company CEOs and other executives based on leadership in driving business value and technological innovation, business partnerships and creating best-in-class workplaces for IT professionals.

Zelenka serves as the audit committee chair on the board of directors for U.S. Venture, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Ideal Industries Inc., Sycamore, Illinois. She also serves on Rockford University’s board of trustees and is a member of The Chicago Network and the Chicago Chapter of the American Statistical Association. Earlier this year, she was recognized as the 2022 Chicago CIO of the Year Orbie award winner in the enterprise category.