New Cohort of U.S. Executives Embark on Distinguished Baldrige Fellowship

Eighteen executives of U.S. organizations in multiple sectors have been selected for the newest cohort of the prestigious Baldrige Executive Fellows Program, the only executive leadership fellowship that provides one-on-one access to leaders of Baldrige Award recipient organizations to build understanding of role-model strategies to lead a high-performing organization.  

In a congratulations letter to the newest Baldrige Fellows, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross wrote, “It is our belief that your participation in this program will benefit you personally, your organization, and your organization’s key stakeholders—employees, customers, patients, students, partners, suppliers, and the larger community. Now is a perfect time for executives with vision and foresight to understand and apply the Baldrige concepts as a means to improving their organization and its sustainability. . . . I am committed to encouraging and enabling organizational success and operational excellence in every dimension of performance. I believe that the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program empowers executives to lead their organizations at new levels of excellence.”

The Baldrige Fellows will use the Baldrige Excellence Framework as the foundation of their year-long studies of how world-class U.S. organizations and their senior leaders achieve strategic and operational excellence and stimulate innovation. Within a collegial environment, the Baldrige Fellows will have a unique opportunity to compare the perspectives of executives across sectors, share candid advice on leadership challenges, and use the insights they gain to address a strategic challenge or opportunity within their own organizations as part of their individual capstone projects. 

Following is the 2019 cohort of Baldrige Fellows:

• Martha Boudreau, Executive Vice President, AARP
• William Byers, Chief Information Officer, Western Maryland Health System
• Mary Chatman, Senior Vice President, WellStar Health System; President, Kennestone Hospital and Windy Hill Hospital
• Jennifer Eden, Executive Director of Quality and Development, Tanana Chiefs Conference
• Tom Field, Associate Vice Chancellor for Organizational Improvement, University of Kansas Medical Center
• Sandy Goodman, President, CRGA Design
• Laura Hendricks-Jackson, Vice President of Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer, Sibley Memorial Hospital - Johns Hopkins Health System
• Eileen Jaskuta, System Vice President Quality and Patient Safety, Main Line Health System
• Anil Kotru, Director Pediatric Transplant, Geisinger Health System
• Brandy Oki, Chief Operating Officer, HAWAIIUSA Federal Credit Union
• Jill Ostrem, Senior Vice President, Hospital Operations, Jefferson Health
• Marilyn Powell, Vice Provost, Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, College of Management and Technology, Walden University
• Lindsay Radu, Continuum Care Administrator, Kaiser Permanente
• Meera Riner, Chief Operating Officer, Nexion Health Management, Inc.
• Brian Shepard, Chief Executive Officer, United Network for Organ Sharing
• Sanjeev Srinivasan, Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy, Hypertherm
• Donny Trankler, Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Alandra Washington, Director, Vice President Organizational Effectiveness. and Transformation Lead, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Since its inception in 2010, the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program has been nationally recognized with LEAD Awards as among the very best U.S. and global continuing-education programs in leadership development. The LEAD Awards, highlighted in Leadership Excellence Essentials magazine and presented by HR.com, recognize and honor corporations, educational institutions, and individuals that excel in offering top leadership initiatives and programs on a local to global scale. In 2018, the LEAD Awards ranked the federal Baldrige Performance Excellence Program’s training resources, including the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program, first and fourth, respectively, as the best continuing-education programs with emphases on human resources and leadership/organizational development. The Baldrige Fellows page has more details and information such as how to apply. 

In conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the private sector, the Baldrige Program manages the Baldrige Award, which was named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, and established by Congress in 1987. The Baldrige Award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. The Baldrige Program also currently offers the 2019–2020 Baldrige Excellence Framework: A Systems Approach to Improving Your Organization’s Performance, which includes the regularly revised and world-emulated Criteria for Performance Excellence; Baldrige Excellence Builder, an entry-level version of the framework; Baldrige Cybersecurity Excellence Builder, a self-assessment tool to measure an organization’s cyber risk; and the Baldrige Collaborative Assessment and other assessment services and resources. Visit the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program  to learn more about the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the Baldrige Award application process, call (301) 975-2036, or send an e-mail to baldrige [at] nist.gov (baldrige[at]nist[dot]gov).

The Baldrige Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, supports the Baldrige Program and its offerings through fundraising and advocacy, working to ensure the long-term financial growth and viability of the Baldrige Program and to support organizational performance excellence in the United States and throughout the world. To learn more and support the Foundation’s efforts, visit http://baldrigefoundation.org/.