St. David's Healthcare

Hugh Brown has served as Chief Executive Officer of St. David's Georgetown Hospital since 2007. He assumed his role shortly after the hospital was acquired by St. David’s HealthCare, a public-private partnership between HCA and the Austin-based St. David’s Foundation. In 2014 St. David’s HealthCare received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest quality award given to any business by the federal government. In addition, for the past six years St. David’s Georgetown Hospital has specifically been recognized as a “100 Top Hospital”, and as a “Top 5% Hospital in the U.S.” for clinical quality.

Mr. Brown earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Master of Business Administration degree from Winthrop University. After college, he served as a U.S. Navy lieutenant on a fast-attack nuclear-powered submarine based out of Groton, CT. He then worked as a Certified Personnel Consultant before entering the healthcare industry in 1992 where he worked his way up from being a registration clerk and office supervisor to becoming the Chief Operating Officer at a large HCA tertiary referral regional medical center in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Mr. Brown is actively involved in his community including serving on numerous not-for-profit boards and teaching a weekly adult Bible study at his church in Georgetown.

Ballad Health

Rob Adams joined Ballad Health in 2007 and has been in healthcare quality/process improvement, in some form, for 12 years. For 5 of the past 6 years he led operations as the Associate Administrator of FWCH, an 80 bed community hospital in Johnson City, TN.

While in this role he directed 8 departments including the lean process improvement activities of the Value Optimization team. The team’s work over that time reduced infections and shortened length of stay in inpatient areas, as well as in the perioperative area. He also was the executive sponsor and administrative lead for the improvements in the 22 bed ED, which sees around 25,000 patients a year.

Currently, Adams is supporting the Southwest and Southeast markets, corporate resources and Greeneville facilities of Ballad Health, in Operational Excellence.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from East Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in business, from Milligan College. Adams also earned his FABC (Fellow of the Advisory Board Company) in 2017.

Adams is married to the most compassionate woman on earth, Robin, and together they have 4 incredible boys. They spend most weekends and nights following travel sports of some kind.

Bristol Tennessee Essential Services

Leslie Blevins is the Public Relations and Communications Manager at Bristol Tennessee Essential Services (BTES) where she is responsible for company publications, public relations and the organization’s quality program. She is a member of the Continuous Improvement Team which led the organization in receiving the TNCPE Excellence Award in 2012 and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2017. Leslie was a recipient of the Tri-Cities 40 Under Forty award in 2012 and is the Past President of the Rotary Club of Tri-Cities. She is a master examiner with TNCPE with nine years of experience with the program. Leslie received the TNCPE Champion of Excellence award in 2017.

Tri County Tech

Lindel Fields is the CEO of Tri County Tech, one of the only public schools to decline federal funding in the United States. In fact, as a result of his inclusive and transparent leadership, Tri County Tech is the only public education institution on Fortune's Great Places to Work list for four years in a row. This past November, Tri County crossed a finish line ten years in the making when they won the prestigious presidential award for excellence, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Lindel Fields could go toe-to-toe with any Fortune 100 CEO. He is fearless in the pursuit of excellence without being reckless. He is methodical with the direction and vision for Tri County and inspires his staff with bold intention.

Leaders often ask him what’s his secret. How does he motivate a high-performing, grace-filled culture of excellence? His usual reply is, "our secret sauce isn't about doing things, it's about touching hearts. You have to touch their hearts before you can ask for their hands."

Stellar Solutions

Mike Noel is the Director, for National Programs at Stellar Solutions Inc., a leading provider of expert systems engineering, integration and program management. Serving intelligence, defense, civil, and commercial customers, Stellar Solutions delivers aerospace and systems engineering capabilities involving satellites in space, sensors on Earth, and intricate technology connections across multiple frontiers. Mr. Noel has been with Stellar Solutions since 2016 and has been placed in roles of increasing responsibility and influence since he joined.  The National Programs portfolio that Mr. Noel manages includes work across several contracts with various members of the Intelligence Community, and working on new aspects for the company including developing an Agile Training and Coaching offering, and in addition he is working to help broker advances in technology with Stellar’ s Chief Technology Officer and some large firms you may have heard of (Amazon, Intel, HP, Dell, etc…).

Before Mr. Noel assumed his current, he served as a Program Manager on one of Stellar’s prime contracts with the National Reconnaissance Organization ((NRO).  In this capacity he lead a team that was responsible for helping to prepare the NRO for any contingencies that would involve securing continuity of government and maintaining continued operations, Mr. Noel also led a contracting and proposal effort for Stellar Solutions for a new systems integration role with a space program associated with a mission in support of the Intelligence Community.

Prior to joining Stellar Solutions, Mr. Noel worked for 26 years at a small company named Scitor Corporation.  At Scitor he held a variety of positions from Systems Engineer, to a Team and Business Lead, and finally as a Program Manager for a 200 person contract supporting NRO Operations around the globe.. After Scitor was acquired by a large firm (SAIC) Mr. Noel began to seek a new place of employment more consistent with his priorities and values. His focus was on a smaller company where he could make a difference and where the culture was focused on satisfying customer’s critical needs with people working in their dream jobs – this lead him to Stellar Solutions. 

Mr. Noel has also served in various positions with Ultrasystems, and the US Air Force.

Prior to attending the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Mr. Noel was a resident of the great state of Tennessee and he graduated from Knoxville Catholic High School. Today Mr. Noel resides in Leesburg, VA, and with his wife Kimberlyn; they are the proud parents of three; Jacquelyn (20), Sarah (15) and John (11).

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

I am Bob, Director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. I have been with Baldrige since 1997 serving on many of the teams in the office in many different roles. Before becoming the Deputy Director in late 2011, I served on the Management Team. Prior to that, I served as Team Leader on the former Award Process Team, Team Leader of the Administrative Support and Electronic Information Team, and Team Leader on the former Examiner and Staff Development Team.

Over the past several years I have been heavily involved with the ongoing transition of the Baldrige Program, leading the effort to design, develop, and implement a new business model. As Deputy Director, I managed overall Program operations, focusing on implementing and tracking performance against the business plan, ensuring efficient and effective operations, as well as planning for strategic capability and capacity needs. In addition, I spend significant time and energy helping to lead and guide the development and implementation of the Baldrige Enterprise. I am thrilled to be a part of the Baldrige Program where I get to work with and learn from people and organizations committed to achieving excellence.

My background includes owning and managing small service-based businesses, six years as a human resources specialist, a Bachelors degree in Psychology, and an MBA from the University of Maryland. When not working, I enjoy exercising and spending time with my wonderful wife, three kids, and Buddy, my boxer dog.

Chris purchased Griffin Mechanical, LLC in 2010. He holds a Master Mechanical license with the state of Tennessee. Before Griffin Mechanical, Chris spent five years as the vice president of a local mechanical construction and service company.

Chris holds an MBA from Belmont University and a BA from Penn State University. He served as a Ranger qualified infantry officer (Captain) in the US Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. He is a life member of DAV.

Chris is the past president of the Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling Contractors (PHCC), Middle Tennessee Chapter. Since 2008, he has volunteered as a Master Examiner, Team Leader, and Judge for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE).

Chris lives in Middle Tennessee with his wife and two daughters. His free time is spent practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and attending his daughters competitive cheer competitions.

Tennessee Department of Human Resources

Rebecca Hunter serves on Governor Bill Haslam’s cabinet as Commissioner of the Department of Human
Resources. Prior to this appointment, she spent six years as the Director of Human Resources for Hamilton County Government in Chattanooga and held management positions in governmental finance for over 25 years. Rebecca is a Certified Public Accountant and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

During her tenure with State government, Rebecca has established the Department of Human Resources as a leader in innovative human resources practices, while shaping the best workforce for state government. She led a successful effort to transform the State’s employment practices with the passage of the T.E.A.M. Act, which is moving the State from a focus on seniority to a focus on performance. As a result, all state employees have a S.M.A.R.T. performance plan which aligns their work with the agency goals and the Governor’s priorities.

Rebecca’s commitment to excellence and performance is demonstrated not only in her leadership of the department, but extends to her leadership on various boards and associations. She serves on the board of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, whose mission is to drive organizational excellence in Tennessee. She serves on the Executive Committee and is a past president of the National Association of State Personnel Executives.  She is also a past president and currently serves on the board of the Tennessee Personnel Management Association.

Rebecca is a 2014 graduate of the inaugural class of Leadership Tennessee. She also serves on the board of HealthCare 21 Business Coalition, the board of Hixson Utility District and was appointed by Governor Haslam to the Utilities Management Review Board.

Rebecca strongly believes that continuous improvement, life-long learning and performance excellence are keys to success both personally and professionally.

Pal's Business Excellence Institute

David Jones is Vice President for Pal’s Business Excellence Institute (2015 TNCPE Excellence Award Winner) where he both instructs and consults. With more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, health care, and education, David is passionate about helping organizations improve their performance, particularly through the use of the Baldrige framework. His expertise includes Operational Excellence, Management, Leadership, Performance Excellence, Strategic Planning, Lean, Manufacturing, Marketing, and ISO 9000 and 13485. He has extensive hands-on experience in the Baldrige Excellence Framework having served twelve years on the Baldrige Board of Examiners and as a training facilitator. He also served twenty years with the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence as an examiner, judge, and training facilitator, and one year with the Virginia Senate Productivity and Quality Award as an examiner and trainer.

In 2007 David co-founded Edamar, Inc., an award-winning educational products company serving the K-12 science classroom with innovative hands-on teaching tools.

David has been an adjunct instructor in the College of Business and Technology at East Tennessee State University and in the MBA program at Milligan College; and he serves on the Advisory Board for the Mayberry Chair of Excellence at Tennessee Technological University. David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

BaldrigeCoach

KAY KENDALL is CEO and principal of BaldrigeCoach, Inc., a private consulting firm in Texas and a member of the Baldrige Connect program. The firm predominately works with organizations committed to using the Baldrige Excellence Framework to increase employee engagement and customer loyalty, and to improve results. BaldrigeCoach has worked with 21 Baldrige Award recipients, 38 top-level state award recipients, and 16 AHCA Gold Award recipients as clients.

Kay is an Alumni Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners from 1996 through 2018. She served a three-year term on the Baldrige Panel of Judges. She also served five years as a Judge for CAPE and eight years as a Judge for the (former) VA Carey Program. She has served on the PiPEx Panel of Judges since 2012 and is the current chair. She has also supported various Alliance Programs as an “added” examiner and was a Master Examiner for the AHCA/NCAL program for four years. She served five years as a Director-at-Large for the Alliance. She has facilitated examiner training at the national level and for several Alliance programs. She has served as a Technical Editor for the Baldrige program since 2002. She was also on the Alliance Panel of Judges Standardization Committee in 2016. 

Kay holds a BS degree in Microbiology from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Arizona.

Caterpillar Financial

Jill Krummel is the Customer Experience Manager at Caterpillar’s Financial Products Division located in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Bradley University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

As the Customer Experience Manager, she has responsibility for Customer Research, Competitive Intelligence and Customer Experience. Jill has worked for Caterpillar since 1997, starting in Peoria, Illinois with the Competitive Analysis team before moving into Market Research in 2002.

She has received three certifications from the Burke Institute for Market Research, certification for Human Centric Design from IDEO and most recently Forrester’s Customer Experience Certification. Jill has lived in Nashville since 2006.

Stellar Solutions

Kimberly Lowe is a Cyber Systems Engineer with Stellar Solutions and is currently assigned to a government program Continuity and Critical Infrastructure Office (CCIP). Her work as a Systems Engineering Technical Advisor (SETA) includes protecting national security assets and assuring the ability to maintain critical intelligence operations in the face of a catastrophic event or national disaster.

Prior to joining Stellar Solutions, Kim worked for Lockheed Martin for 16 years as a Program Manager and Computer Systems Architect after serving in the Navy as a Cryptologic Technician (Maintenance). Kim earned a B.S. in Information Technology from Colorado State University as well as an A.S in Mathematics. Technical certifications include: Project Management Professional (PMP),Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Cyber Intelligence Tradecraft Professional (CCIT), VMware Certified Associate – Data Center Virtualization (VCA-DCV), VMware Certified Associate – Cloud (VCA-C), VMware Certified Associate – Workforce Mobility (VCA-WM), and CompTIA Security +.

Kim is also a Certified Yoga Instructor, Level 3 Whitewater Stand Up Paddle Instructor and loves spending time in the Colorado Rockies with her husband, step-son, and two fur babies.

Pal's Business Excellence Institute

David McClaskey is the President of Pal’s Business Excellence Institute (BEI), which he co-founded in 2000 with Thom Crosby, Pal’s Sudden Service President and CEO. Pal’s BEI, the 2015 winner of the TNCPE Excellence Award, inspires, enables, and supports leaders to create extraordinary organizations through operational excellence. It does this through teaching and consulting with organizations of all types on world-class management practices based on those used by the Baldrige-winning Pal’s Sudden Service. In short, people attend Pal’s BEI, 100% use one or more things they learned within 4 weeks, and their organizations improve.

As a Baldrige expert and performance excellence consultant for more than 40 years, David has worked with thousands of organizations from every sector, including health care, service, small business, government, manufacturing, education, and non-profit. He works with organizations that want to be extraordinary. He has helped seven companies (including Ritz-Carlton) to win eight Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards; and assisted Florida Power and Light to be the first company outside of Japan to win the Deming Prize, Japan’s national quality award. David helped develop and deliver the original training for the Baldrige Board of Examiners in 1988. He served as a judge for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for three years and as a TNCPE judge for twelve years. In 2011 his outstanding leadership in the pursuit of performance excellence was recognized with the TNCPE Ned R. McWherter Leadership Award and by the American Society for Quality with its prestigious international E. L. Grant Award for the development and presentation of meritorious educational programs in quality management.

David holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering.

Caterpillar Financial

Travis Portis is the Chief Information Security Officer at Caterpillar Financial located in Nashville, Tenn. He has over 25 years of experience in Information Technology and has experience as a Six Sigma Black Belt. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and holds a variety of information security industry certifications, including: Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP).

He is a fan of world history, an avid reader, a photography enthusiast, and likes to travel.

Heather Schoch is a Performance Excellence Consultant specializing in the Baldrige Framework, performance metrics and scorecards, operational planning, and process improvement. She is a TNCPE veteran of almost 15 years, serving as an examiner, team leader, applicant, member of the Panel of Judges, and most recently as the Chief Operations Officer of the organization.

Prior to TNCPE, Heather served as the Business Excellence Leader at CIGNA Government Services with responsibility for all quality management, strategic planning, Balanced Scorecard, and project management initiatives. In this role she ultimately led the organization to achieve the prestigious Excellence Award for the state of Tennessee. In 2009, Heather received TNCPE’s Champion of Excellence Award for furthering performance excellence within her organization.

Heather graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics.

Systematic Inventive Thinking™

Erez Tsalik is a Senior Facilitator at SIT – Systematic Inventive Thinking™, and an opinion leader in the areas of Innovation and Creativity. He facilitates in all of SITs applications – New Product Development, Marketing Communications/Advertising, Problem Solving and Innovative Strategy – and is an SIT expert in Conflict Resolution and Co-Opetition applications.

He has conducted projects with scores of leading international clients including Disney, Airtel, Kraft, Siemens, Molex, OCBC, BP, HP and Tnuva, and has deep experience working in developing markets, and with social and environmental organizations. Erez is frequently invited as a keynote speaker to conferences around the world. He lectures in leading academic institutes worldwide, including Columbia University, London Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Tel Aviv University. At TED India (2009), Erez ran an innovation workshop as part of the TED University, supported TEDMED in Jerusalem and recently presented at TEDx Klagenfurt.

Erez has nearly 10 years' experience in the field of IT and Hi-Tech developments as a CIO and Systems Management. He has also worked as an academic consultant, with a rich background in education, specifically the development and production of educational workshops and seminars.

Ballad Health

Tom Tull, FACHE, VP, and Chief Experience Officer, for Ballad Health, has provided support and expertise within multiple industries, focusing the last 30 years on healthcare. He delivers numerous presentations and workshops each year at regional and national conferences in the areas of customer service, culture development, hospital operations, and leadership.

Tom provides administrative and leadership support across the integrated health system and oversees the engagement and experience activities for patients/families, and physicians. He has provided support developing leaders from middle managers through executives with a goal of guiding high performing leaders.

Tom has been a member of the Board of Examiners for both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and served as an examiner trainer for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and the State of Virginia Quality Award. Tom was an inaugural member of the Leaders Board for Service Excellence – a collection of the nation’s leading healthcare facilities in the areas of service.

He is a part‐time faculty member in the College of Business and Technology at East Tennessee State University and was inducted into ETSU’s College of Business and Technology’s Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of the university’s Horizon Award, was awarded the Medal of Honor from the ETSU National Alumni Association and a member of the Board of Directors for ETSU’s National Alumni Association. Tom was also awarded MSHA’s Servant Heart Award – the highest honor given inside Mountain States Health Alliance for exemplifying patient-centered care.

Tom earned a BS in communications from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a Master’s in business administration from East Tennessee State University. Tull is also a fellow of the Advisory Board, a national think tank for healthcare delivery, and a certified Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability Trainer.

Blaze Performance Solutions

In the past 30 years Kent has helped 100’s of organizations gain 100’s of Millions dollars through growth in top line revenue, sales growth, client acquisition, process, productivity and quality improvements, and reduction in turnover. 

He has conducted over 2,000 days of Strategy & Execution Consulting, Leadership Development, and process improvement work for these organizations. His clients (past and present) include FedEx, Nissan, Honda, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Wal-Mart, Nike, Eastman Chemical, U.S. Army, NHC, Covenant Transport, USXPress, ABF Freight, ServiceMaster, First Tennessee Bank, Volunteer Bank, Jewelry Television, Pilot, MLGW, Halton, NGK Metals and The State of Tennessee to name a few.

Kent has lived all over America and in Europe He graduated from the University of Alabama; where he completed a B.S. in Business Administration/Finance and an MBA (all in four years) graduating with Honors.

Kent’s work experience has varied tremendously. Prior to Co-Founding BPS he spent 24 years with Franklin Covey as a Managing Director leading a large Sales and Consulting Team, Consultant and Client Partner. He was a Soviet Intelligence Analyst in Europe, a Financial Manager and Operations Leader with a Fortune 100 company along with several other jobs along the way.

Kent and his wife (the love of his life) have been married for 35 years and have three amazing children. He loves swimming, running, cycling, Marital Arts, working out, and hanging out with his family. Kent continues to be goal oriented earning a black belt on his 40th birthday, running a marathon for his 45th birthday, completing a mile swim for his 50th and recently completing multiple Sprint Triathalons. 

Kent’s new Leadership book “Everyone Can Lead” is available on Amazon.

Sonja Wulff has dedicated the past 15 years of her career to performance excellence and brings unique Baldrige experience as an award recipient, examiner, judge, and consultant. During her decade with Baldrige Recipient Poudre Valley Health System, she wrote four Baldrige National Quality Award Applications, supported four site visits, and played a key role in operationalizing the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Before leaving her role as Vice President of the Poudre Valley Center for Performance Excellence, Sonja co-founded Poudre Valley’s consulting business and helped organizations across the country take their next step forward in performance excellence. Most recently, Sonja led performance excellence for Texas Health Resources, a 20+-hospital system in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. During her tenure, she wrote two Baldrige National Quality Award Applications, which earned two national site visits, and transformed the organization’s performance measurement system. In 2016, Sonja became an independent consultant, working with organizations across the country to advance excellence and develop their executive teams. 

Sonja is an Alumni Examiner on the Malcolm Baldrige Board of Examiners. During her 15 years on the Board, she has facilitated national examiner training, led numerous examiner teams, and served on multiple advisory teams in support of the Baldrige Program for Performance Excellence. She also served as a judge for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence and has led numerous application writing workshops across the country.

Sonja is a Certified Lean Master. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

In all interactions, Sonja brings her passion for performance excellence and holds true to a strong sense of personal integrity, genuine respect for each organization’s individual culture, and a desire to make Baldrige as easy and practical as possible.