Thank You to TPE’s Outgoing Board Chair
The Partnership for Excellence (TPE) has been extremely fortunate to have Kurt Schoch leading the TPE Board of Trustees as board chair for the past three years. He has been generous with his time, talent and treasure and has contributed to TPE’s growth and expansion. As his term as chair comes to an end, TPE extends our gratitude, admiration, and thanks to Kurt for his unwavering service.
Kurt is the President of Performance Improvement Consultants and an adjunct professor for the University of Fredericton. He is a lifelong learner having a Doctorate degree in Adult Education and several certifications, which he leverages to develop his clients. Kurt became a practitioner of Baldridge almost 30 years ago. Throughout his performance excellence journey, Kurt has made significant contributions to the national Baldrige program and The Partnership for Excellence. Kurt is finishing up his term as Chair of the TPE Board of Trustees and chairs the TPE Education Committee. He has served as a TPE Judge, training facilitator, Team Leader, Advising and Partnering coach, past board secretary, and Leader2Leader mentor. He has been a national Baldrige examiner since 1998 and a judge for Communities of Excellence. Kurt is a true ambassador for TPE and Baldrige and as a result received TPE’s 2024 Frank J. Perez Leadership award.
As Kurt concludes his term as TPE Board Chair, we asked him to share a bit about himself and his experience as TPE Board Chair. Following are his responses.
What experiences led you to the role of TPE Board Chair?
It all started about, well, many years ago. I was always the quality guy – always wanted things done right, and when I learned about work as process, and then systems – that answered all my questions, put it all together for me. I knew I had found my place. When I first learned of Baldrige and my kids (still at home then) tried to figure out what I was doing, they just gave up and declared, “he’s Baldriging.” (A new verb; needs to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary.) That was 1998 in Illinois.
Fast forward to 2008 when Indiana tried to establish a regional Baldrige award program. Due to economic conditions in that era, that was not to be. Slower forward to 2011 when I learned that Indiana had joined with Ohio (and West Virginia) to be part of The Partnership for Excellence (TPE). I asked Al Faber, then the TPE President/CEO, if he needed any examiner team members. He turned me down, but then promptly made me a team leader. Team leader led to examiner trainer led to award judge, then finally to a place on the TPE Board of Trustees. (Margot Hoffman didn’t know what else to do with me.) My knack for precision (see first paragraph about doing things right) got me the role of Board Secretary. Then Vice Chair, then Chair, for the past three years.
What led me to the role of Chair was the same thing that led me to every other role: being around people who think like I do (process, systems, results focus), having opportunities to make a difference in the lives of organizations, and the chance to (hopefully) make a difference in the life of the organization behind it all: TPE. During my first year on the Board I looked around the room (literally and figuratively) and realized these are people guiding the organization that’s making a difference. I wanted to be one of them.
As the outgoing TPE Board Chair, what are some of your proudest accomplishments leading the board?
Many advancements have been made during my time as Board Chair.
TPE has grown from three states to four (adding Illinois), then to four and a half (adding western Pennsylvania). With that, additional Board members were added from Illinois, Missouri, and hopefully soon from western Pennsylvania. With the addition of Illinois, TPE adopted several best practices from the Illinois quality award process to the TPE application examination process.
Using a collaborative effort from several Board members, we developed and implemented a more structured approach to evaluating and providing incentive compensation to the President/CEO. This new approach allows the Board to ensure that the President is focused on the key strategic priorities and ensure the most appropriate use of fiscal and other resources.
The Partnership for Excellence has become an Entrusted Partner with the Indiana Hospital Association, providing opportunities for collaboration to enhance the mission of each organization. TPE’s President/CEO and Board Chair attended the IHA Patient Safety Summit in June 2025 and the IHA Annual Meeting in November 2025.
Just prior to beginning my role as Chair, a task force of the Board spent some focused time in 2021 on the TPE values, adding definitions and clarity so that it is clear how and when TPE lives out those values. Two values were added at that time as well: Inclusion and Agility. I was Board Secretary at that time and was pleased to help move the Board and TPE in clarifying these principles.
With Diversity and Inclusion as two of its values, the Board continues to work on diversity in its membership. With the addition of Illinois to the organization, representatives from Illinois and Missouri have been added. Ethnic Diversity has also improved. In 2021 there were 18 Caucasian members but none from other ethnicities. A year later, that “Other” number improved to 1, with the number of Other Ethnicities in 2025 at 2, out of a total of 20 Board members.
Having said all that, any and all accomplishments are the results of collaboration, the diligent and hard work of the President/CEO, her staff, and the contributions of all Board members and committees.
What encouragement/advice would you give organizations thinking about starting their Baldrige journey and becoming engaged with TPE as an applicant or in some other capacity?
In the numerous ways to engage with TPE, there are many advantages and virtually no downsides. Involvement in Thursday webinars, examiner training, Advising and Partnering, will all lead the organization to new insights and wisdom.
Advice: First make the commitment to getting better; to focusing on a systems approach to leading and managing. Without that commitment, use of the Baldrige framework and becoming engaged with TPE will only be window dressing.
And with that, internal communication needs to come from senior leaders, reinforcing the drive to improve. Do not delegate communication and leadership to another person, group, or department. Many organizations are successful by downplaying the Baldrige language and elevating the focus on customer satisfaction and systems thinking with process improvement.
How do you see the Baldrige Excellence Framework providing value to organizations today?
There is no part of any organization that cannot be identified and improved using the Baldrige framework. The value comes in providing a systems—focused approach to understanding how the organization works, how processes and approaches are aligned and integrated, and how that process emphasis leads to more effective outcomes and results. As an organization enhances its understanding of its systems approach, additional added value comes from all members of the workforce working together on common aim, purpose, and vision.
Are there any other questions you would like to address?
Whatever structural or administrative changes occur at the federal and other levels of responsibility for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the framework, including the values and criteria, will always be a true north of guidance for any organization. That has become clear to me in almost 30 years of involvement and seeing the value others have realized.
Responses to questions submitted by:
Kurt Schoch
Board of Trustees Chair, 2023 – 2025
The Partnership for Excellence
