FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2021
Contact: Martha M. Parham, Ed.D.
202-728-0200 x209
mparham@aacc.nche.edu
Washington, DC – The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc. announced the recipients of the 2021 Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Awards. Among those selected for Leadership Excellence was Dr. Walter G. Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
“Each year we accept nominations for hundreds of individuals working tirelessly to promote the Baldrige Framework,” said Al Faber, president and CEO of the Baldrige Foundation. “Through their efforts to grow the use of the Baldrige Framework, they help thousands of organizations across the country to improve their performance. Baldrige makes health care safer and more accessible, education more effective, businesses more efficient and customer-focused, cyber systems more secure, governments more streamlined, and nonprofits more responsive across the spectrum,” said Faber. “These great leaders are helping to ensure the sustainability of Baldrige into the future.”
The Baldrige Excellence Framework is designed to help organizations to become empowered to better achieve their goals and set criteria for performance excellence. Designed to help leaders innovate and improve across all sectors, the Leadership Awards are presented to individuals that achieve excellence and work to advance the principles of mission-based high-quality, measurable, and sustainable improvement in performance and outcomes.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this award,” Bumphus stated. “It is a testament to the work that our community colleges do each day to eliminate barriers to student success. That work is never complete and is vital to closing the achievement gaps for all Americans in pursuit of a better life. I share this award with all community college leaders and the millions of students they serve.”
The awards will be conferred virtually at the Baldrige Foundation’s Quest for Excellence conference on April 14, 2021.
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About AACC
As the voice of the nation’s community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic opportunity for nearly 12 million diverse students in search of the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for all students, AACC’s nearly 1,000 member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers and family-supporting wages. Located in Washington, D.C., AACC advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to ensure they have the resources and support they need to deliver on the mission of increasing economic mobility for all. https://www.aacc.nche.edu/
About The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc.
The Baldrige Foundation is the private-sector partner of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) in the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the Department of Commerce. Its mission is to ensure the long-term financial viability of BPEP and to support organizational performance excellence. For more information on these awards or the Quest for Excellence® conference, contact: Mark Wayda, 614-785- 0172 or mwayda@baldrigefoundation.org