Aida Somun, the Chief Operations Officers at Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation was named to the Board of Examiners for the 2019 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Baldridge Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation as well as excellence in overall performance.
Somun has 15 years of experience as a business leader focused on profitable growth and saving costs. She consistently contributes to bottom line efficiency, performance, and process improvements and is passionate about strategic decision-making to create the right innovative programs that will improve the physical and socio-economic health.
Those selected for the board of examiners award meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition while demonstrating competencies related to customer focus, communication, ethics, action orientation, team building and analytical skills. The members of the board must take part in a nationally ranked leadership development course focused on the Baldridge Excellence Framework as well as the scoring and evaluation process for the Baldridge Award.
The examiners are appointed by the NIST Director and must review and evaluate applications submitted for the Baldridge Award, and other assessment related tasks. With more than 325 leading experts, the examiner board is composed of knowledgeable members selected from industry, professional, trade, education, healthcare, and nonprofit (including government) organizations across the United States.
The Baldridge Award was established by Congress in 1987 and awards may be given annually to organizations in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, healthcare, and nonprofit. The Award emboldens a spirit of innovation and excellence in organizational performance while recognizing the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, also publicizing the success of certain performance strategies. Beginning in 1988, 124 awards have been presented to 115 organizations, with eight repeat recipients.
