Jen Miff named to Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners for 2021

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has named Jen Miff, President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) Foundation in Irving, Texas, to the Board of Examiners for the 2021 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

Appointed by the NIST Director, examiners are responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Baldrige Award, as well as other assessment-related tasks. The examiner board is composed of leading experts competitively selected from industry, professional, trade, education, health care, and nonprofit (including government) organizations from across the United States.

Those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition, demonstrating competencies related to customer focus, communication, ethics, action orientation, team building, and analytical skills. All members of the board must take part in a nationally ranked leadership development course based on the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the scoring/evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award. They must also complete an independent review of a Baldrige Award application or other comparable examiner task.

As President of the DFWHC Foundation, Miff runs a non-profit 501C3 organization dedicated to healthcare improvement in North Texas. The DFWHC Foundation brings together 90-plus member hospitals, business partners and the community through collaboration, research and education.

Prior to the DFWHC Foundation, Miff worked for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program as the healthcare category was launched. She managed internal Baldrige assessments and improvement teams at Motorola as part of the corporate chief technology office. She also participated as an advisor to other Motorola organizations during the time when the commercial, government and industrial solutions sector received the Baldrige Award.

In her current role, Jen and her team deliver data management and business intelligence dashboards to the member hospitals, including over 250 hospital employees and staff and more than 200 community-based and academic partners. In addition to data services, Miff’s team at the DFWHC Foundation focuses on workforce development, patient safety, healthcare quality and community health.

Before the DFWHC Foundation, Jen led market and sales strategies for a SaaS-based integrated analytics and care management company serving the healthcare market. Jen also spent 12 years in telecommunications where she led consumer insights and market strategy following her Baldrige-based role in technology planning.

Jen received her B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and her MBA, with distinction, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She lives in Dallas with her husband and nine-year old daughter.

Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987. Awards may be given annually to organizations in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. The Award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. Since the first group was recognized in 1988, 134 awards have been presented to 124 organizations (including eight two-time award recipients and one three-time recipient).

NIST manages the Baldrige Award in close conjunction with the private sector.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program also offers the 2021–2022 Baldrige Excellence Framework: Proven Leadership and Management Practices for High Performance, Baldrige Excellence Builder, nationally ranked leadership training, and other assessment tools. For information on the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and the Baldrige Award application process, call (301) 975-2036, send an e-mail to baldrige@nist.gov, or visit http://www.nist.gov/baldrige.

Media with questions, needing background, or wishing to arrange interviews with Baldrige Program officials should contact the NIST Public Affairs Office at (301) 975-2762.