Karen Cecil
Nominated for: Lifetime Achievement Award
Title: Director, Global Environmental Sustainability (Retired)
Company: Cummins Inc.
Years in Profession: 11 in sustainability, 30+ years experience
Nominator: Brijesh Krishnan, Director, Integration Strategy, Cummins Inc., colleague of Karen.
Provide an overview of the nominee's 20-plus years of professional experience, including previous management positions held, current role, and key accomplishments. (500 words max.)*
Karen Cecil, Cummins Global Director of Environmental Sustainability since 2012 until her retirement in May 2023, is an inspirational example of how cross-functional experience and consensus-building can result in a powerful environmental sustainability program and drive impactful actions.
Karen leveraged her twenty years' plus experience in Quality Management, Lean Operations, Supply Chain, Executive Level Problem Solving, and leading complex change to expand the lens of sustainability through the business, using a pragmatic shared-value approach.
She created and led the cross-functional, cross-business team called Action Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES). ACES is responsible for setting the company direction for environmental actions, including strategy development, evaluating risks and opportunities, goal setting, engaging internal and external stakeholders, transparent environmental reporting, and business integration. Under her leadership, Cummins announced the first comprehensive sustainability strategy in 2014 plan that included Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction, water reduction, waste recycling, zero disposal and community water neutrality goals, one of the first such plans in the industry. And in 2019, as part of the company’s 100th year anniversary, Cummins announced its visionary long-term sustainability strategy, PLANET 2050, including two science-based targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, an increased commitment to circular economy and communities. This is significant for an organization with more than 1 billion metric tons of Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions.
Karen was also instrumental in broadening her impacts through leadership roles including Sustainability Working Group Chair for Association for Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and serving as a mentor and role model to many within and outside the organization. Her inclusive leadership style, emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and commitment to fostering a culture of sustainability have inspired employees at all levels to embrace sustainability as a core value. Karen proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, which was named Board of the Year (2017) and Agency of the Year (2018) for mid-sized affiliates. PLANET 2050 team also won the 2020 Hoosier Resilience Heroes Award and Cummins received many accolades from external stakeholders including US Department of Energy Better Plants awards, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) award, to name a few.
Please list a minimum of two examples that demonstrate the nominee's distinguished service and leadership within the fields of environment, health, safety and/or sustainability at the corporate management level. Examples may include: Company or industry-related recognition and awards, board appointments, publications, public speaking engagements, and relevant service or volunteer positions. (500 words max.)*
- Karen chaired the PLANET 2050 Influencer program with more than 600 volunteer employees
- Karen Cecil chaired the Sustainability Working Group for Association for Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)
- Karen serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, which was named Board of the Year (2017) and Agency of the Year (2018) for mid-sized affiliates
- PLANET 2050 team, under Karen's leadership, won the 2020 Hoosier Resilience Heroes Award
- Cummins received many accolades from external stakeholders including No. 47 ranking on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies list for 2022, US Department of Energy Better Plants awards, Dow Jones Sustainability World and/or North America Index, Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) award, to name a few
Identify and define the nominee's impact on company performance. Outline pertinent EHS&S initiatives and/or programs. Provide measurement of impact through metrics or KPIs. (500 words max.)*
Cummins wrapped up work on the company’s 2020 environmental sustainability goals with a number of achievements, including significant gains in water conservation, waste, energy and products ghg reduction.
- Water Use Reduction: The company, achieved its goal of reducing water use intensity (water use adjusted by hours worked) by 50% in 2018 and extended that reduction to 53% in 2020 from a 2010 baseline. This is an reduction of more than 1 billion gallons of water use annually in global facilities & operations.
- Water Neutrality: Sixteen sites achieved Cummins’ definition of water neutrality by the end of 2020 — exceeding the goal of 15.
- Zero Disposal: 35 sites with more than 100HC reached the company’s zero disposal certification, exceeding the goal of 30
- Waste Recycling: Cummins recycled 93% of the total waste it generated, the highest performance in company history, although just short of the company’s 2020 goal of 95%. The performance continued to improve and reached 94% in 2021
- Energy Use Reduction: Cummins’ 2020 energy goal was the company’s fourth energy greenhouse gas reduction goal since 2006. The company had been on track to reach its goal, achieving a 31 percent intensity reduction in late 2019, but the year-end 2020 intensity reduction was impacted by COVID-19 and achieved 27 percent reduction. The impacts are significant with avoided emissions from global facilities & operations is more than 500,000 metric tons annually
- Cummins significantly increased its use of renewable wind and solar energy with more than installations worldwide, 75MW Windfarm VPPA in Indiana, high efficiency LED lighting coverage to about 85%, etc. Between 2016-2020, Cummins invested $65 million in energy improvements, saving about $19 million per year
- Cummins worked with customers to exceed for a third consecutive year Cummins’ goal of reaching an annual run-rate reduction of 3.5 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide (CO2) from Cummins products in use, ending 2020 with a run rate reduction of 4.9 million MMT of CO2
- Cummins' 2022 progress on PLANET 2050, 2030 goals are: 29% absolute reduction on GHG, 17% absolute water use reduction, 2% reduction in waste intensity and reduction in use of sold products emissions. The final progress will be published in August
Describe the nominee's leadership style and provide examples of his/her commitment to advancing professionals within the EHS&S fields. (500 words max.)*
Karen has been a mentor and role model to countless individuals within and outside the organization. Her inclusive leadership style, emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and commitment to fostering a culture of sustainability have inspired employees at all levels to embrace sustainability as a core value. Karen chaired the Sustainability Working Group in Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. Karen's ability to lead by example and instill a sense of purpose and responsibility in others is truly commendable.
Provide two examples of nominee's commitment to industry advancements and lifelong learning. Examples may include: Continuing education, corporate or university teaching, patents, strategic initiatives, breakthrough program development, and other definable actions. (500 words max.)*
Under Karen's leadership, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) unveiled its Sustainability Toolkit that provides assessments and resources to help manufacturers and their supply chains minimize operational impacts on the environment. According to AEM, the purpose of the toolkit is to advance the equipment manufacturing industry’s efforts to align with evolving regulation and support a more sustainable world.
The toolkit features several assessments designed to help company leaders navigate the evolving sustainability landscape and identify areas for improvement.
- Sustainability Maturity Model Assessment – This assessment encompasses the aspects of an organization’s business through a list of attributes. By taking this assessment, AEM says an organization can determine where it falls on the maturity model and develop an action plan to determine how to move forward
The toolkit offers action plans, tools, and best practices to implement under each of the four phases of the sustainability maturity model.
- Supply Chain Readiness Assessment – This self-assessment addresses the range of corporate social responsibility program elements that companies have implemented or are considering. This assessment provides a comparable measure of an organization’s sustainability readiness and indicates areas for potential improvement
- Operations Risk Assessment – This survey offers a high-level, common industry risk assessment tool used by OEMs and Tier 1s to identify suppliers that pose risks to the supply chain
Content Reference:
- https://www.pitandquarry.com/aem-launches-sustainability-toolkit-for-manufacturers/
- https://www.aem.org/news/caterpillar-cummins-and-deere-weigh-in-on-equipment-manufacturings-push-for-a-sustainable-future
For internal employee engagement, Karen's leadership launched PLANET 2050 influencer program with more than 600 employees actively participating, her vision of creating more value by educating more individuals and creating more champions in every part of the organization and community. The PLANET 2050 Influencer initiative aims to create employee advocates who understand how Cummins' environmental sustainability strategy will impact the company and society as a whole as the world tackles climate and other critical environmental issues.