July 10, 2026

13 Finalists to Receive Site Visits for 2026 Baldrige Award

byAlliance for Performance Excellence

Phoenix, AZ — Thirteen 13 U.S. businesses and organizations – the highest number in nearly a decade – have been named finalists for the 2026 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award® and will receive site visits this fall. The Baldrige Award identifies national role models of excellence among U.S. businesses, other organizations, and communities. The Award is presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce, overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and is now being administered by the Alliance for Performance Excellence on behalf of NIST.

The 13 Finalist organizations will receive rigorous evaluations of their performance against criteria that examine organizational results and the processes used to achieve them. Evaluations focus on leadership, strategy, customer focus, organizational intelligence, workforce, and operations and culminate with hybrid site visits that will include both virtual and on-site interviews of organizational leaders.

This is the first year that all applicants automatically receive finalist status and a national site visit, having either received an Alliance Top Tier Award (recognition of excellence within their state, region, and/or sector), a recent national Baldrige site visit, or demonstrated high performance with a pre-application screen. The new 2026 Award eligibility standards were released last March.

The 13 Finalists represent a mix of size and sectors, including nine healthcare organizations, two nonprofits (one of which is a government entity), and one each in service and small business (a manufacturer). Applicants range in size from 450 to 5500 employees and come from every region of the country.

A volunteer Board of Examiners will conduct evaluations. This year, 132 examiners were selected from more than 230 who applied and average 10 years’ Baldrige experience. Examiners represent a broad range of sector and industry expertise.

Baldrige recipients will be announced later this fall/winter and will be recognized at the 2027 Quest for Excellence® Conference, hosted by the Baldrige Foundation in Baltimore.

About the Baldrige Award
With the passing of Public Law 100-107, the Baldrige Award was created by Congress in 1987, with the purpose of recognizing and raising the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economies; providing assessment tools and criteria; and educating leaders in all types of organizations and communities. The Baldrige Award recognizes the nation’s top-level performers in seven categories: manufacturing, service, small business, healthcare, education, nonprofit, and community. The Baldrige Award is not given for specific products or services, but rather overall organizational or community performance. Since the first Baldrige Award recipients were recognized in 1988, 144 awards have been presented (including 11 two-time award recipients and two three-time award recipients).

In the first year administered by the Alliance, the 2026 Baldrige Award cycle introduces several meaningful enhancements designed to simplify participation, strengthen feedback, and increase value for applicants and examiners. Those changes were announced last March.

About The Alliance for Performance Excellence
The Alliance for Performance Excellence is the umbrella organization for regional Baldrige-based programs across the United States. It promotes the Baldrige Excellence Framework® and fosters a culture of excellence by providing resources, training, and recognition to organizations and communities seeking to enhance their performance. Beginning in 2026, the Alliance also administers the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on behalf of NIST. Learn more about the Alliance.

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Baldrige Excellence Framework

Overview: Baldrige Framework National Technical Committee

The Baldrige Framework National Technical Committee is a formally convened body of recognized experts, recipients, examiners, and sector representatives charged with maintaining the technical integrity, precision, and consistency of the Baldrige Excellence Framework as a globally recognized standard of excellence.

Operating under the authority of the Baldrige Foundation Board of Directors, and with the approval of the U.S. Department of Commerce, this Advisory Committee, guided by its Chair, ensures that the Framework continues to reflect the highest standards of systems thinking, organizational assessment, and performance excellence, which will allow organizations and communities to improve their performance, achieve results, and sustain excellence.

The Committee’s purpose is to:

Preserve and validate the technical accuracy of the Framework’s concepts, criteria, and structure.
Advise the Foundation on proposed revisions, updates, cross-sector adaptations, and the development of additional tools and resources.
Ensure consistency across versions and sectors, maintaining the Framework’s unity, integration, and interpretive reliability.
Provide expert recommendations regarding emerging practices, data requirements, and alignment with related industry-recognized standards.
Safeguard the integrity of the Baldrige model as a trusted national and global standard.
Partner with others in the Baldrige ecosystem to coordinate a relationship between the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the Baldrige Award Criteria that is based on consistency, logic, and harmony to benefit user groups such as Applicants.

Membership in the Committee represents a professional distinction and reflects deep expertise in applying, teaching, or advancing the Baldrige Excellence Framework. Members serve as the technical stewards of the nation’s standard for organizational excellence. The term of a committee member is one (1) year and is renewable by invitation only.

Baldrige Framework National Technical Committee Listing

Data Table
Role	Name	Title	Company
Chair	Denise Shields	Board Chair	California Council for Excellence
Officer / Ex-Officio	Josh Racette	President & CEO	Baldrige Foundation
Member	Dawn Bailey	Program Manager / Senior Technical Writer and Editor	Baldrige Executive Fellows Program / Forensic Building Science, Inc.
Member	Margot Hoffman	President & CEO / Board Chair	The Partnership for Excellence / Alliance for Performance Excellence
Member	Jan Johnson	President & CEO	Jordan Johnson, Inc.
Member	Cindy Milrany	Chief Strategy Officer/Chief Administrative Officer	Freese & Nichols
Member	Urvi Patel	Senior Director - Quality and Programs	American Health Care Association
Member	JoAnn Sternke	Founder	Leader Excellence
Committee Advisor	Bob Fangmeyer	Program Director	Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
Committee Advisor	Harry Hertz	Director Emeritus - retired	Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
Committee Advisor	Brian Lassiter	President & CEO	Alliance for Performance Excellence

We are Building a Legacy of Excellence

Help us provide inspiration to the thousands of organizations in manufacturing, health care, education, communities, and government that are using the Baldrige Framework to create jobs and strengthen the economy, increase the quality and access to health care, and improve K-12 and higher education as we navigate these challenging times.

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