Accelerating, Achieving, Sustaining Excellence: A Panel Discussion on Baldrige

Today’s environment is complex: senior leaders are navigating competing priorities amid economic and budget constraints, staffing shifts, and rapid acceleration in AI and digital technologies. Many organizations are asking the same question: how do we focus our limited time and resources on what will actually improve results? 

While not a prescriptive “silver bullet,” the 39‑year‑old Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework provides leaders of any organization or community a proven, evidence‑based structure for setting priorities, aligning efforts, and improving performance. Baldrige is about results. 

 The Performance Excellence Network — in partnership with Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence and the Iowa Quality Center and in cooperation with the Greater Rochester NY Quality Council — is pleased to host an online webinar discussion on Thursday, April 16: “Accelerating, Achieving, Sustaining Excellence: A Panel Discussion on Baldrige.”  The session will feature a panel of senior leaders from healthcare, human services, and government who will share how they are using Baldrige to improve outcomes, optimize resources, and better align operations. 

Panelists:

•  Terra Carey, Chief Quality Officer, State of Minnesota, Direct Care & Treatment 

• Julianne Fries, Director of Organizational Effectiveness, Cassia 

• Anneliese Peterson, Chief Operating Officer, Benedictine

• Craig Smith, Director of Operations, South Dakota Department of Transportation 

All four organizations are on active journeys to excellence and will receive recognition through PEN at the ignite_EX_ 2026 Conference (May 7–8). 

 The discussion will begin with each panelist outlining their improvement efforts—how and why they started using Baldrige, how it fits with other methods they employ, and the context of their excellence journey. A moderated discussion will follow, exploring: 

• How they structure and lead Baldrige efforts 

• How they decide where to focus (and where not to) 

• What impact they’ve seen on results 

• Lessons learned, including what they would do differently 

• How they sustain momentum over time 

Who should attend:

This session is designed for CEOs and senior leaders, as well as improvement, strategy, quality, and operations leaders, who are responsible for results but constrained by time, capacity, and competing priorities. 

Baldrige is more than an award – it is a validated management system used by thousands of organizations nationwide and worldwide to align teams, shape culture, improve outcomes, and sustain high performance. Join this discussion to hear directly from leaders using Baldrige in real‑world settings—and assess whether this approach could help your organization focus, align, and improve results. 

JOIN US FOR THIS FREE PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE NETWORK (PEN) WEBINAR

Date: Thursday, April 16

Time:  9:00 - 10:00 am (ET)

Location:  On-line, via Zoom

Cost:  Free to GRQC members and non-members

Registration:  Click below to register.  Note:  Registration may not work with Internet Explorer; please use a currently supported browser.

Can’t make it live but interested in the content?  Register anyway: all registered attendees get a link to the recording after the session!

Please direct any questions to events@grqc.org.