Al Faber, President and CEO of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc., announced today the Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Award honorees for 2024.
“We have four categories of leadership awards,” said Faber, “that recognize outstanding individuals, leaders, and supporters who embody Baldrige leadership and management values and principles, and who have provided outstanding service to the Baldrige community and beyond.”
E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement Award
The E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement Award honors people who have done truly outstanding work that has altered the world and motivated others to do the same. Mary Bixby, Superintendent of School Services and Founder of The Charter School of San Diego, will receive the Spong Award in 2024. “Mary is a transformational leader who has made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of at-risk students,” said Faber. “For her entire career Mary has applied and championed the Baldrige Criteria to plan and establish futuristic alternative educational settings that cater to individual student needs, improving their opportunities and their lives.”
Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award
“The Hertz Leadership Award recognizes role-model leaders that challenge, encourage, and empower others to achieve performance excellence,” said Faber. The award is being presented this year to Cindy Milrany, CFO/Chief Strategy Officer at Freese and Nichols. “Cindy is a role-model leader deeply committed to the Baldrige Framework,” said Faber. “She leads strategic planning and continuous improvement, and has helped transform Freese and Nichols, resulting in their receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2010.”
Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence
“The Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence were established to recognize leaders who provide exceptional support to Baldrige and the Foundation’s mission, helping to sustain Baldrige into the future, and promoting the positive impact of Baldrige on organizational and community success,” continued Faber, “including U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito and former Member of Congress Robert L Livingston, who have been pivotal actors in restoring and maintaining federal
“The Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence have been presented in Business (Manufacturing, Service, Small Business), Nonprofit, Government, Health Care, Education, and Cybersecurity. With Congress adding “Community” as a sector for the Baldrige Award in 2022, the Foundation is, for the first time, also including Community leaders for these awards.”
The award recipients for 2024 by sector are:
GOVERNMENT
- The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Senator from West Virginia
- Robert L Livingston, Former Member of Congress and founder of The Livingston Group
CYBERSECURITY
- Heather Adkins, Vice President of Security Engineering, Google
- Brad Arkin, Senior Vice President, Chief Security & Trust Officer, Cisco
- Julie Chua, Director, Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC)
- George Finney, CSO, Southern Methodist University
- Gregory T. Garcia, Executive Director, Health Sector Coordinating Council Cybersecurity Working Group
- Carter Groome, Chief Executive Officer, First Health Advisory
- Mari Rose Savickis, MPA, Vice President, Public Policy, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives
BUSINESS
- Robert W. Cain, SVP and CIO North America, Schneider Electric
- Raymond Floyd, Consultant to Private Equity, Operational Excellence for Special Situations
NONPROFIT
- Kevin Lee, President and CEO, Mid-America Transplant
- Jill Schwieters, Health Care Executive & Entrepreneur
EDUCATION
- Dr. Kathleen Hetherington, President Emeritus, Howard Community College
- Tamara A. Johnson, Ph.D., Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Anthony C. Stanowski, DHA, FACHE, President & CEO, Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education
HEALTH CARE
- Michelle Aregood, Director of Quality Assurance, Southcentral Foundation
- Lori Persohn, MSN, RN, NE-BC, VP Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center
- Paul Rosenfeld, Executive Director of Rutland Nursing Home, Schulman & Schachne Institute, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
- Theresa Sullivan, MBA, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, Samaritan Healthcare
- Ashley R. Vertuno, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, HCA Florida JFK North Hospital
COMMUNITY
- Manuel G. Castañeda, Associate & Faculty, Communities of Excellence 2026
- Christel A.K. Gollnick, Founder and President, JUPER Communications/Founder, Roots & Rounds, Associate and Faculty, Communities of Excellence 2026 and Navigation Team, Maximize NWMO
- Kimberly A. Halfhill, Founder, KH Consulting and Associate and Faculty Member, Communities of Excellence 2026
- Barbara Jiménez, MPH, Community Operations Officer, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency
- Brian Lassiter, President, Performance Excellence Network
- Molly McGovern, City Manager, City of Excelsior Springs, MO
- Michelle Mejia, MAA, Health Promotion & Strategic Partnership Consultant, West Kendall Baptist Hospital
- Steve Wenger, Navigation Team Member, Maximize Northwest Missouri
Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship
Recognizing that Baldrige’s long-term viability requires an investment in future generations of Baldrige scholars and practitioners, the Foundation Board of Directors established the Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship to assist graduate students or recent graduates in attending Baldrige Examiner training. Examiners help to raise understanding and application of the Baldrige Framework after they have completed it.
The 2024 Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship recipients are:
- Magnus Ekwunife, Team Coach, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank Group)
- Julie Hall MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, VP of Patient Services and Magnet Program Director, Bassett Medical Center, Bassett Healthcare Network
The Foundation’s Leadership Awards will be presented during the Foundation Awards Ceremony held as part of the annual Quest for Excellence® conference near Washington, D.C. on April 9, 2024.
For more information on these awards or the Quest for Excellence® conference, contact: Mark Wayda, 614-600-0432 or mwayda@baldrigefoundation.org
About The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc.
The Baldrige Foundation was established in 1988 as the private partner of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Its objective is to secure the long-term financial viability of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and to promote organizational performance excellence in the United States and around the world.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is managed and administered solely by the Baldrige Program, which is based at NIST inside the United States Department of Commerce.
For more information on the Baldrige Award process please visit: https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-award.
