• Beginning with the 2026 award cycle, the Alliance for Performance Excellence and the Baldrige Foundation will assume the majority of operations for the Baldrige Program.
• NIST and the Department of Commerce will maintain ultimate responsibility for the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the Baldrige Award process.
• The Baldrige program has helped thousands of organizations improve, bringing better manufacturing, education, healthcare products, and services to millions of Americans.

PHOENIX, AZ – For 38 years, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program has united the public and private sectors to improve national competitiveness and quality of life—recognizing role-model organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, sharing best practices, and promoting proven leadership and management methods that drive lasting success. Today, we are excited to announce the next phase of this journey: a strengthened public-private partnership that will expand Baldrige’s impact, better serve our customers and other stakeholders, and accelerate innovation.

The Alliance for Performance Excellence will provide management and operations of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process, while the Baldrige Foundation will manage the operations of the Quest for Excellence conference, Baldrige Excellence Framework revisions, and the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program.

“We are eager to expand our partnership with the Baldrige Program and collaborate with the Baldrige Foundation to improve and innovate these key offerings, expanding the reach and impact of the Baldrige mission,” said President and CEO of the Alliance for Performance Excellence Brian Lassiter. “Baldrige has improved the results and competitiveness of thousands of organizations and communities in the United States for nearly 40 years; this exciting new partnership will help us expand and accelerate that impact for the next 40.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Department of Commerce will maintain ultimate responsibility for the Baldrige Excellence Framework, the Baldrige Award process, and other requirements codified in 15 U.S.C. §3711a, as amended. The agreements reflect the three organizations’ commitment to ensuring a successful transition that protects and sustains the rigor, integrity, and value of the program’s key offerings.

“Since 1988, the Baldrige program has helped to improve thousands of manufacturing and service businesses, health care and education providers, governments, and nonprofit organizations,” said Margot Hoffman, Chair of the Alliance. “The partnership will ensure the continued success of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program, which helps U.S. organizations achieve and sustain high-quality, performance excellence, and long-term success.”

Now that the federal government shutdown has ended, an official release by NIST and the Baldrige Program is forthcoming.

NIST has completed the 2025 award cycle and anticipates announcing the award recipients in the coming weeks. For more information on the transition, please visit the Alliance’s FAQ at www.baldrigealliance.org/awardFAQ.

Why The Baldrige Alliance?

The need to improve your organization’s performance has never been greater: customers expect more, good employees are hard to find, you have to do more with less, and competition is intensifying. Let one of our Members guide you on your journey to Performance Excellence.

• But where do you start?
• How do you know which processes need the most attention?
• And how do you achieve – and sustain – high performance over time?

The Baldrige Alliance and Member programs and partners can help you get started.

A recent research paper concludes that Using the Baldrige Excellence Framework Improves Organizational Resilience and Sustainability.  See the paper to learn from leaders of sixteen organizations recognized by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and Alliance for Performance Excellence Programs as they navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic and see the sixteen themes identified from their interviews.

examiners@rmpex.org