Sue Dunn and Jennifer Prinz of Donor Alliance Named as Examiners for 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

DENVER, Aug. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has named Sue Dunn and Jennifer Prinz, CEO and COO of Donor Alliance in Denver, to the Board of Examiners for the 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige Award is the nation's highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

Appointed by the NIST Director, examiners are responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Baldrige Award, as well as other assessment-related tasks. The examiner board is composed of more than 400 leading experts competitively selected from industry, professional, trade, education, health care and nonprofit (including government) organizations from across the United States.

Dunn and Prinz lead Donor Alliance, the federally designated, non-profit organ procurement organization serving Colorado and most of Wyoming. The organization has employed the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence since 1997, when it was one of the first organ procurement organizations to integrate a separate Quality Systems Department. In 2003 Donor Alliance became one of the original six organizations whose data created the foundation for the Quality Council of its national trade association, the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations. 

The individuals selected as the Board of Examiners for the 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition, demonstrating competencies related to customer focus, communication, ethics, action orientation, team building and analytical skills. All members of the board must take part in a nationally ranked leadership development course based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring/evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award.

About Donor Alliance
Donor Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. As the organ and tissue procurement agency for Colorado and most of Wyoming, Donor Alliance serves more than 5.8 million residents and more than 100 hospitals.

Donor Alliance adheres to the highest medical and ethical standards: respectfully working with the families of organ and tissue donors, maintaining partnerships with hospitals and educating residents on the life-saving benefits of donation and inspiring them to sign up on the state's donor registry. Colorado and Wyoming boast some of the highest rates of donor registration in the country, which directly translates to more lives saved and healed through organ and tissue transplantation. Donor Alliance is one of 58 federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States. For more information visit DonorAlliance.org or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages.

About the Baldrige Award
Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Scretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987. Awards may be given annually to organizations in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care and nonprofit. The Award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. Since 1988, 95 organizations have received Baldrige Awards, including the 2013 winners: Pewaukee School District, Pewaukee, Wisc. (education) and Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis, Calif. (health care).

NIST manages the Baldrige Award in close conjunction with the private sector.

For information on the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and the Baldrige Award application process, call (301) 975-2036, send an e-mail to [email protected], or visit http://www.nist.gov/baldrige.

Media with questions, needing background or wishing to arrange interviews with Baldrige Program officials should contact Michael E. Newman, NIST Public Affairs Office, at (301) 975-3025 or [email protected].  

SOURCE Donor Alliance