Cindy Kent is a healthcare veteran with 20+ years in the industry. She is currently the President & General Manager for the 3M Infection Prevention Division—a $1.6B+ business committed to keeping patients safe from healthcare associated infections and complications. Cindy has global operational P&L responsibilities, including the development of the strategic and annual operating plans, as well as resource allocation across research and development, clinical, manufacturing and commercial functions. Cindy is a member of the Health Care Business Group’s Global Operating Committee as well as a member of 3M’s Executive Leadership Conference—which is the company’s top 100 executives.
She joined 3M in October 2013, as the Vice President of Strategy, Business Development and US Key Accounts before being appointed as the President & General Manager for 3M Drug Delivery Systems Division (DDSD) in 2014, which she held until September 2016. During her tenure in DDSD, Cindy revitalized the product pipeline by launching the division’s first generic respiratory product in Western Europe as well as accelerated innovation with the integration of digital and analytic capabilities into products, while simultaneously driving revenue growth and expanding margins through operating efficiencies and significant COGS reductions. One product, the 3M Intelligent Control Inhaler, won the 2016 CPhI Pharma Award for Excellence Drug Delivery Devices.
Prior to 3M, Cindy was Vice President and General Manager of the Gastro/Urology Therapies business unit at Medtronic—the world’s largest medical technology company. Under Cindy’s leadership, the global franchise grew at a 21% 6-year compounded annual growth rate to become one of the fastest growing businesses at the company. Before joining Medtronic in 2007, Cindy worked for Eli Lilly and Company. Over her fifteen-year tenure, she held roles of increasing responsibility across Manufacturing, Human Resources, Sales and Marketing functions.
Cindy is an accomplished leader: a 2007 German Marshall Fellow, where she represented the United States to officials in Germany, Turkey, Slovakia and Belgium; Twin Cities Business Journal’s “Top 40 under Forty” (2008); the Society of Women Engineers’ Suzanne Jenniches Upward Mobility Award; 2013 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin and River Valleys; 2014 “Top 35 Women Leaders in Healthcare” by the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST of Minnesota; one of six “2015 Wonder Women”—professionals who use their influence to help others by Twin Cities Business Magazine. In February 2015 Cindy received the “President’s Award” from the Informational Technology Senior Management Forum for exemplary achievement in a STEM related field. Cindy is a 2013 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
Cindy is currently on the Board of Visitors for the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, The Links Incorporated, the Executive Leadership Council as well as a member of The Committee of 200 (C200), an invitation-only membership organization of the world’s most successful women business leaders.
Cindy holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University, as well as an MBA in Marketing and a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University. She is Six Sigma Green Belt trained.