John A. Pieno, Jr. Leadership Award
John A. Pieno, Jr. Leadership Award
In January 2025, the Sterling Council Board of Directors approved the John A. Pieno, Jr. Leadership Award. Sponsored by the Sterling Foundation, this annual award will recognize one recipient in its inaugural year at the Governor’s Sterling Awards Banquet during the 34th Sterling Leadership Conference.
The criteria for the award is based on benchmarking other award programs, including the Baldrige organization. The criteria are based on seven of the 11 Sterling Core Values:
- Systems Perspective
- Visionary Leadership
- Customer-Focused Excellence
- Valuing People
- Ethics and Transparency
- Delivering Value and Results
John A. Pieno, Jr. had an illustrious career as a Navy captain for 28 years. He was also a pilot who flew over 200 Vietnam missions, earning him three Silver Stars. John ended his Navy career as the commander of an aircraft carrier.
John subsequently established the Sterling Council, which seeks to enhance performance excellence and cultivate the highest level of leadership development. He will be remembered for his over 60 years of strong, steadfast leadership and lifelong commitment to excellence.
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The Honorable Nancy C. Millan Named the 2026 Recipient of the John A. Pieno, Jr. Leadership Award by The Sterling Council
The Sterling Council is pleased to announce that Nancy C. Millan is the recipient of the 2026 John A. Pieno, Jr. Leadership Award. The award will be presented at the Governor’s Sterling Award Banquet during the 34th Sterling Leadership Conference.The Sterling Leadership Award was established in January 2025 by The Sterling Council Board of Directors and is sponsored by The Sterling Foundation. The award recognizes exceptional leaders who exemplify the Sterling Core Values and will be awarded annually at the Governor’s Sterling Award Banquet at the Sterling Leadership Conference. The award is named in honor of the late John A. Pieno, Jr., Founder and Chair Emeritus of The Sterling Council, who served 28 years as a Navy captain, completing over 200 Vietnam missions and earning three Silver Stars. John also led as a commander of an aircraft carrier before founding The Sterling Council, dedicating more than 60 years to leadership and performance excellence.
The 2026 award recipient, Nancy C. Millan, Hillsborough County, Florida, Tax Collector, has led a 37-year rise from accounting clerk to Hillsborough County’s first female and first Hispanic Tax Collector, which is a testament to transformational leadership. Her “Golden Thread” framework connects every employee’s daily work to the organization’s broader mission, and a clarity of purpose that has driven staff confidence scores above local government benchmarks for three consecutive years and earned HCTC Florida’s Governor’s Sterling Award in 2025 for the second time.
The Sterling Foundation’s President, Randy Ledbetter, CEO of R Ledbetter & Associates, said, “The Sterling Foundation is honored to name Nancy C. Millan as the 2026 recipient of the John A. Pieno, Jr. Sterling Leadership Award, as her decades of continuous leadership have had a tremendously positive impact throughout Hillsborough County in every aspect of the Tax Collector’s operation, both internally and throughout the community she serves We look forward to recognizing Nancy’s exemplary leadership at the Sterling Leadership Conference.”
About The Sterling Foundation:
The Sterling Foundation was established to further the mission of The Sterling Council, which is to elevate organizational performance excellence. The Foundation provides The Sterling Council with the means to accomplish the following objectives: raise sufficient funds to support a foundation to supplement the assessment processes; oversee the investment and management of Foundation funds; identify fundraising goals and approve associated funding requirements for subsequent years to contribute to the long-term sustainability of the assessment processes; and review Foundation accomplishments.